Until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in a period of war. This use of the crown's prerogative by Charles I in a contentious manner (the crown's right to make and enforce rules for the military) caused Parliament to pass the Petition of Right in 1628. This Act stated that neither civilians nor soldiers and officers who were in England during peace were subject to military courts or law. Only common-law courts and courts of equity could exercise authority over individuals in peacetime England. Because the articles of war did not fall under these court's jurisdiction, military law could not be applied to anyone in England, whether soldier or civilian.

In 1689, the first Mutiny Act was passed which passed the responsibility to enforce discipline within the military to Parliament. The Mutiny Act, altered in 1803, and the Articles of War defined the nature and punishment of mutiny until the latter were replaced by the Army Discipline and Regulation Act 1879. This, in turn, was replaced by An Act to consolidate the Army Discipline and Regulation Act, 1879, and the subsequent Acts amending the Same, to be known as the Army Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 58).

The Army Act 1881 applied to members of the regular British Army, whether during wartime or peace. Although the traditional reserve military forces (not to be confused with the newer British Army reserves made up of regular soldiers who remained liable for recall after completing their full-time engagements) of the Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteer Force were increasingly integrated with the British Army during the latter decades of the nineteenth century, as with the previous Mutiny Acts, the members of these units were not subject to the Army Act unless embodied for active service or for training with the regular army. This remained the case with the Territorial Force (created by the amalgamation of the Yeomanry and the Volunteer Force under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907) and the Territorial Army as the Territorial Force was renamed by the Territorial Army and Militia Act 1921.

As specified in the Army Act 1955, in reference to the Act's application to reservists, pensioners, and members of the Territorial Army:

PART VI

APPLICATION OF ACT AND SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS

205. (1) The following persons are subject to military law: ...

(e) every officer holding a commission in the Territorial Army who is on the active list (as defined by the regulations for the Territorial Army) or on the permanent staff of the Territorial Army, or, being in the Territorial Army reserve, is doing duty with any body of troops for the time being subject to military law or is ordered on any duty or service for which he is liable as an officer of that reserve;