This gave them the authority to hear cases brought before him by the dockyard police (which were then the dockyard divisions of the Metropolitan Police). The rest of the Act dealt with punishments for forgery and impersonation of naval seamen (Sections 6 to 9) and clarified issues over the Board of Admiralty's involvement in legal actions (Sections 1–4). The final sections set up a reporting system for Orders in Council relating to the Act (Section 11), set 1 January 1866 as the latest date for the Act to come into effect (Section 10) and specified the Act's short title (Section 12).
Repeal
Section 2 of the Act was repealed by the Crown Proceedings Act 1947[2] and the 1865 Act's Sections 6 to 9 (as well as the phrase "of all the offences specified in this Act, and" in its Section 5) were repealed by the Theft Act 1968[3] The rest of the Act has also been repealed.