Odger's English Common Law

168 BREACHES OF THE PEACE.
or not, or whether the statutory hour has or has not elapsed
since the reading. 1
But where there has not yet been any felonious violence, the
rioters do not become felons until one hour has elapsed after
the proclamation has been read, and they cannot therefore be
shot down. If at the end of that period they are still rioting,
the magistrate may summon the military to his assistance if
there is reason to fear that the civil force present may be over-
powered. The military are bound to obey this summons, but
they should not be called upon to take action until action is
necessary for the protection of life or property. If the mob
still refuses to disperse, the magistrate and the commanding
officer should consult together as to the "means to be employed
for dispersing them. It is primarily the duty of the magis-
trate, if one be present, to decide whether the time has arrived
to use deadly weapons ; if he decides that it has, it is for
him to instruct the officer " to take action," and he generally
does so in writing. 2 Without such instructions from the
magistrate the officer should not command his men to fire,
unless the rioters are actually committing or evidently on the
point of committing felonious violence. And even when so
instructed the officer has a discretion as to when to give the
order to fire, and as to what precise order to give, e.g., whether
to fire with blank cartridges in the first instance. He should
also warn the people before firing that deadly weapons are
about to be used, and used effectively. He must throughout
the proceedings exercise a humane discretion, and cease fire
the instant it is no longer necessary. 3
The distinction between the degrees of force which may lawfully be
used (a) when the mob are merely misdemeanants and (&) when they have
become felons through disobedience to the provisions of the Eiot Act
is well pointed out in the report of the Commission on the Featherstone
riots which took place in 1893. It is of course only in the latter case that
those who attempt to disperse the rioters are entitled to the indemnity
given by section 3 of the Act. In the case of the Featherstone riots the
hour had not elapsed after the reading of the proclamation in the Riot
Act before the mob was fired upon. But some of the rioters had already
1 Per Lord Loughborough in It. v. Lord, George Gordon (1781), 21 St. Tr. at
p. 493.
2 The King's Regulations and Orders for the Army (1914). 963.
3 lb. 967, 971.
'