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MASTER Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

ing out of tho exigencies thereof, arbitrary i:i its character, and depending only ou the will of the commander of an army, which is established and administered in a place or district of hostile territory held in belligerent possession, or, sometimes, in places occupied or pervaded by insurgents or mobs, and which suspends all existing civil laws, as well as the civil authority and the ordinary administration of justice. See In re lizeta (IX C.) 02 Fed. 072; Diekelman v. U. S., 11 Ct. CI. 4:;!); Com. v. Shortall, 200 l’a. 105, 55 Atl. 052, 05 I- R. A. 103, !>8 Am. St. ltep. 75!); Griffin v. Wilcox, 21 Ind. 377. See, also. MILITARY LAW. “Martial law, which is built upon no settled principles, but is entirely arbitrary in its decisions, is in truth and reality no law, but something indulged rather than allowed as a law. ‘i lie necessity of order and discipline iu an army is the only tiling w hich can give it countenance, and therefore it ought not to be permitted in time of peace, when the king’s courts are open for all persons to receive justice according to the laws of the land.” 1 ill. Comm. 413. Martial law is neither more nor less than the will of the general w ho commands the army. It overrides aud suppresses all existing civil laws, civil officers, and civil authorities, by the arbitrary exercise of military power; and every citizen or subject

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