High treason in the United Kingdom - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Under the law of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown

The Crown

The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid or comfort; and attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession

Line of succession to the British Throne

The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...

. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeit

Counterfeit

To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...

ing money and being a Catholic priest.

High treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

was formerly distinguished from petty treason

Petty treason

Petty treason or petit treason was an offence under the common law of England which involved the betrayal of a superior by a subordinate. It differed from the better-known high treason in that high treason can only be committed against the Sovereign...

, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, or of a bishop. Petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828.

Considered to be the most serious of offences, high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, because it threatened the security of the state. A particularly horrific manner of execution

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

known as hanging, drawing and quartering was often employed. The last treason trial was that of William Joyce

William Joyce

William Joyce , nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an Irish-American fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British as a result of his wartime activities, even though he had renounced his British nationality...

, who was executed in 1946.

Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was published on 2 December 1997 and received Royal Assent in July 1998...

became law, the maximum sentence for high treason in the UK has been life imprisonment

Life imprisonment (England and Wales)

In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence which lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole after a fixed period set by the judge. This period is known as the "minimum term"...

Offences

High treason today comprises:

Treason Act 1351
Treason Act 1351
The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. It was extended to...

:
- compassing the death of the sovereign, or of the sovereign's wife or eldest son and heir
- violating the sovereign's wife, or the sovereign's eldest unmarried daughter, or the sovereign's eldest son's wife
- levying war against the sovereign in the realm
- adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid and comfort, in the realm or elsewhere
- killing the King's Chancellor
  Lord Chancellor
  The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
  
  , Treasurer
  Lord High Treasurer
  The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...
  
  (an office long in commission) or Justices
Treason Act 1702
Treason Act 1702
The Treason Act 1702 is an Act of the Parliament of England, passed to enforce the line of succession to the English throne, previously established by the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701....

and Treason Act (Ireland) 1703:
- attempting to hinder the succession to the throne
  Succession to the British Throne
  Succession to the British throne is governed both by common law and statute. Under common law the crown is currently passed on by male-preference primogeniture. In other words, succession passes first to an individual's sons, in order of birth, and subsequently to daughters, again in order of birth....
  
  under the Bill of Rights 1689
  Bill of Rights 1689
  The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
  
  and the Act of Settlement 1701
  Act of Settlement 1701
  The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...
Treason Act 1708
Treason Act 1708
The Treason Act 1708 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. It came into effect on 1 July 1709. Some of it is still in force today...

:
- killing the Lords of Session
  Senator of the College of Justice
  The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...
  
  or Lords of Justiciary
  Senator of the College of Justice
  The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...
  
  in Scotland
- (in Scottish law only) counterfeiting the Great Seal of Scotland
  Great Seal of Scotland
  The Great Seal of Scotland allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each document individually. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to make official...

See the English History section below for detail about the offences created by the 1351 Act.

In addition to the crime of treason, the Treason Felony Act 1848

Treason Felony Act 1848

The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....

(still in force today) created a new offence known as treason felony, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment instead of death

Capital punishment in the United Kingdom

Capital punishment in the United Kingdom was used from the creation of the state in 1707 until the practice was abolished in the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom, by hanging, took place in 1964, prior to capital punishment being abolished for murder...

(but today, due to the abolition of the death penalty, the maximum penalty both for high treason and treason felony would be the same—life imprisonment). Under the traditional categorisation of offences into treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

, felonies

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

, and misdemeanours, treason felony was merely another form of felony. Several categories of treason which had been introduced by the Sedition Act 1661 were reduced to felonies. While the common law offences of misprision

Misprision

Misprision is a term of English law used to describe certain kinds of offence. Writers on criminal law usually divide misprision into two kinds, negative or positive....

and compounding

Compounding a felony

Compounding a felony was an offence under the common law of England and was classified as a misdemeanour. It consisted of a prosecutor or victim of an offence accepting anything of value under an agreement not to prosecute, or hamper the prosecution of, a felony...

were abolished in respect of felonies (including treason felony) by the Criminal Law Act 1967

Criminal Law Act 1967

The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. However, with some minor exceptions, it generally applies to only England and Wales. It made some major changes to English criminal law...

, which abolished the distinction between misdemeanour and felony, misprision of treason

Misprision of treason

Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a proper authority...

and compounding treason

Compounding treason

Compounding treason is an offence under the common law of England. It is committed by anyone who agrees for consideration to abstain from prosecuting the offender who has committed treason.It is still an offence in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland...

are still offences under the common law.

According to the law in force, it is treason felony to "compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend":

to deprive the sovereign of the Crown,
to levy war against the sovereign "in order by force or constraint to compel her to change her measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon or in order to intimidate or overawe both Houses or either House of Parliament", or
to "move or stir" any foreigner to invade the United Kingdom or any other country belonging to the sovereign.

Northern Ireland

In addition to the acts of 1351, 1703, and 1848, two additional acts passed by the old Parliament of Ireland

Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...

apply to Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

alone. The following is also treason:

Treason Act (Ireland) 1537
Treason Act (Ireland) 1537
The Treason Act 1537 is an Act of the former Parliament of Ireland which adds several offences to the law of treason in Northern Ireland...

:
- attempting bodily harm to the king, queen, or their heirs apparent
  Heir apparent
  An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
- attempting to deprive them of their title
- publishing that the sovereign is a heretic
  Heresy
  Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
  
  , tyrant, infidel or usurper of the Crown
- rebelliously withholding from the sovereign his fortresses, ships, artillery etc.
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 is an Act of the Parliament of Ireland , declaring that King Henry VIII of England and his successors would also be Kings of Ireland. Since 1171 the monarch of England had held the title Lord of Ireland...

:
- doing anything to endanger the sovereign's person
- doing anything which might disturb or interrupt the sovereign's possession of the Crown

(Note that although the Irish Act of Supremacy 1560 is still in force, it is no longer treason to contravene it.)

History: England and Wales

In England, there was no clear common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

definition of treason; it was for the king and his judges to determine if an offence constituted treason. Thus, the process became open to abuse, and decisions were often arbitrary. For instance, during the reign of Edward III

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

, a knight was convicted of treason because he assaulted one of the king's subjects and held him for a ransom of £90. It was only in 1351 that Parliament passed legislation on the subject of treason. Under the Treason Act 1351

Treason Act 1351

The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. It was extended to...

, or "Statute of Treasons", which distinguished between high and petty treason, several distinct offences constitute high treason; most of them continue to do so, while those relating to forgery

Counterfeit

To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...

have been relegated to ordinary offences.

First, it is high treason to "compass or imagine the death of our Lord the King, of our Lady his Queen, or of their eldest son and heir." The terms "compass or imagine" indicate the premeditation of a murder; it would not be high treason to accidentally kill the sovereign or any other member of the Royal Family (though someone could be charged with manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

or negligent homicide

Negligent homicide

Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against people who, through criminal negligence, allow others to die.Negligent Homicide is a lesser included offense to first and second degree murder, in the sense that someone guilty of this offense can expect a more lenient sentence, often with...

). However it has also been held to include rebelling against or trying to overthrow the monarch, as experience has shown that this normally involves the monarch's death. The terms of this provision have been held to include both male and female sovereigns, but only the spouses of male Sovereigns. It is not sufficient to merely allege that an individual is guilty of high treason because of his thoughts or imaginations; there must be an overt act

Overt Act

In criminal law, an overt act , an open act, one that can be clearly proved by evidence, and from which criminal intent can be inferred, as opposed to a mere intention in the mind to commit a crime...

indicating the plot.

A second form of high treason defined by the Treason Act 1351 was having sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

with "the King's companion, or the King's eldest daughter unmarried, or the wife of the King's eldest son and heir." If the intercourse is not consensual, only the rapist is liable, but if it is consensual, then both parties are liable (as Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

and Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....

, wives of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

, discovered to their cost). The jurist Sir William Blackstone

William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke...

writes that "the plain intention of this law is to guard the Blood Royal from any suspicion of bastardy, whereby the succession to the Crown might be rendered dubious." Thus, only women are covered in the statute; it is not, for example, high treason to rape a Queen-Regnant's husband. Similarly, it is not high treason to rape a widow of the sovereign or of the heir-apparent. Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

admitted that she had an affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt

James Hewitt

James Hewitt is a former British household cavalry officer in the British Army. He had an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales for five years, receiving extensive media coverage after revealing details of the affair.-Early life:...

, between 1987 and 1992. As she was then the wife of the Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

, heir to the throne, this fitted the definition of high treason, and a national newspaper briefly attempted to have Hewitt prosecuted for what was then still a capital offence.

It is high treason "if a man do levy war against our Lord the King in his realm" or "if a man be adherent to the King's enemies in his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere." Conspiracy to levy war or aid the sovereign's enemies do not amount to this kind of treason, though it may be encompassing the Sovereign's death. In modern times only these kinds of treason have actually been prosecuted (during the World Wars and the Easter Rising

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

).

The Treason Act 1351 made it high treason to "slay the Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

, Treasurer

Lord High Treasurer

The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...

, or the King's justices of the one bench or the other, justices in eyre

Justice in Eyre

In English law, the Justices in Eyre were the highest magistrates in forest law, and presided over the court of justice-seat, a triennial court held to punish offenders against the forest law and enquire into the state of the forest and its officers...

, or justices of assize, and all other justices assigned to hear and determine, being in their places doing their offices."

The last types of high treason defined by the Treason Act 1351 were the forgery of the Great Seal

Great Seal of the Realm

The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...

or Privy Seal

Privy Seal

A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official government document.-Privy Seal of England:The Privy Seal of England can be traced back to the reign of King John...

, the counterfeiting of English (later British) money and the importing of money known to be counterfeit. These offences, however, were reduced to felonies

Felony

rather than high treasons in 1861 and 1832 respectively.

Finally, the Treason Act 1351 specified that the listing of offences was meant to be exhaustive. Only Parliament, not the courts, could add to the list. It provided that if "other like cases of treason may happen in time to come, which cannot be thought of nor declared at present", the court may refer the matter to the King and Parliament, which could then determine the matter by passage of an Act.

After the passage of the Treason Act 1351, several other offences were deemed to comprise high treason by Act of Parliament. Parliament seemed especially unrestrained during the reign of Edward III's successor, Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

. Numerous new offences—including intending to kill the Sovereign (even without an overt act demonstrating such intent) and killing an ambassador—were declared treasonable. Richard II, however, was deposed; his successor, Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

, rescinded the legislation and restored the standard of Edward III.

In 1495 Poynings' Law extended English law to cover Ireland.

From the reign of Henry IV onwards, several new offences were made treasons; most legislation on the subject was passed during the reign of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. It became high treason to deface money; to escape from prison whilst detained for committing treason, or to aid in an escape of a person detained for treason; to commit arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

to extort money; to refer to the Sovereign offensively in public writing; to counterfeit the Sovereign's sign manual

Royal sign-manual

The royal sign manual is the formal name given in the Commonwealth realms to the autograph signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses his or her pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive actfor example, an...

, signet or privy seal

Privy Seal

; to refuse to abjure the authority of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

; to marry any of the Sovereign's children, sisters, aunts, nephews or nieces without royal permission; to marry the Sovereign without disclosing prior sexual relationships; attempting to enter into a sexual relationship (out of marriage) with the Queen or a Princess; denying the Sovereign's official styles and titles; and refusing to acknowledge the Sovereign as the Supreme Head of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

. Some offences, whose complexion was entirely different from traitorous actions, were nevertheless made treasons; thus, it was high treason for a Welshman to steal cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

, or for an assembly of twelve or more rioters to refuse to disperse when so commanded.

All new forms of high treason introduced since the Treason Act 1351, except those to do with forgery and counterfeiting, were abrogated by the Treason Act 1547

Treason Act 1547

The Treason Act 1547 was an Act of the Parliament of England. It is mainly notable for being the first instance of the rule that two witnesses are needed to prove a charge of treason, a rule which still exists today in the United States Constitution.-Abolition of new offences:During the reign of...

, which was passed at the beginning of the reign of Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

. The Act created new kinds of treason however, including denying that the King was the Supreme Head of the Church, and attempting to interrupt the succession to the throne as determined by the Act of Succession 1543

Third Succession Act

The Third Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by the Parliament of England in July 1543, and returned both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of the succession behind Prince Edward....

.

When Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

became queen in 1553, she passed an Act abolishing all treasons whatsoever which had been created since 1351. Later that year, however, the offence of forging the Sovereign's sign manual or signet once again became high treason. Furthermore, the anti-counterfeiting laws were extended so as to include foreign money deemed legal tender in England. Thus, it became high treason to counterfeit such foreign money, or to import counterfeit foreign money and actually attempt to use it to make a payment. (But importing any counterfeit English money remained high treason, even if no attempt were made to use it in payment.) Mary also made it high treason to kill Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

, her king consort

King consort

King consort is an alternative title to the more usual "prince consort" - which is a position given in some monarchies to the husband of a reigning queen. It is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a prince consort, which is the male equivalent of a...

, or to try to deprive him of his title.

William III

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

made it high treason to manufacture, buy, sell or possess instruments whose sole purpose is to coin money. He also made adding any inscription normally found on a coin to any piece of metal that may resemble a coin high treason. George II

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...

made it high treason to mark or colour a silver coin so as to make it resemble a gold one.

Aside from laws relating to counterfeiting and succession, very few acts concerning the definition of high treason were passed. Under laws passed during the reign of Elizabeth I, it was high treason for an individual to attempt to defend the jurisdiction of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

over the English Church for a third time (a first offence being a misdemeanour and a second offence a felony), or for a Roman Catholic priest to enter the realm and refuse to conform to the English Church, or to purport to release a subject of his allegiance to the Crown or the Church of England and to reconcile him or her with a foreign power. Charles II's

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

Sedition Act 1661 made it treason to imprison, restrain or wound the king. Although this law was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1998, it still continues to apply in some Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

countries. Under laws passed after James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

was deposed, it became treasonable to correspond with the Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

claimants (main article
Correspondence with James the Pretender (High Treason) Act 1701
The Correspondence with James the Pretender Act 1701 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1701. The long title of the Act is "An Act for the Attainder of the pretended Prince of Wales of High Treason"...

), or to hinder succession to the Throne under the Act of Settlement 1701

Act of Settlement 1701

The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...

, or to publish that anyone other than the individual specified by the Act of Settlement had the right to inherit the Crown.

History: after union with Scotland

In 1708, following the Union of England and Scotland

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

in the previous year, Queen Anne signed the Treason Act 1708

Treason Act 1708

The Treason Act 1708 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. It came into effect on 1 July 1709. Some of it is still in force today...

, which harmonised the treason laws of both former kingdoms (effective from July 1709). The English offences of high treason and misprision of treason

Misprision of treason

(but not petty treason) were extended to Scotland, and the treasonable offences then existing in Scotland were abolished. These were: "theft in Landed Men", murder in breach of trust, fire-raising, "firing coalheughs" and assassination. The Act also made it treason to counterfeit the Great Seal of Scotland

Great Seal of Scotland

The Great Seal of Scotland allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each document individually. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to make official...

, or to slay the Lords of Session

Senator of the College of Justice

The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...

or Lords of Justiciary

Senator of the College of Justice

"sitting in Judgment in the Exercise of their Office within Scotland". In general, treason law in Scotland remained the same as in England, except that when in England the offence of counterfeiting the Great Seal of the United Kingdom

Great Seal of the Realm

The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...

etc. (an offence under other legislation) was reduced from treason to felony

Felony

by the Forgery Act 1861, this change was not made in Scotland until later, and though in England it has not been treason to forge the Scottish Great Seal since 1861, in Scotland this remains treason today. When the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

was set up in 1998, treason and treason felony

Treason Felony Act 1848

The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....

were among the "reserved matters" it was prohibited from legislating about, ensuring that the law of treason remains uniform throughout the United Kingdom.

Between 1817 and 1820 it was treason to kill the Prince Regent

Prince Regent

A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....

. In 1832 counterfeiting money ceased to be treason and became a felony. In Ireland, counterfeiting seals ceased to be treason in 1861, in line with England and Wales.

First World War

A notable treason trial occurred at the Old Bailey in 1916 when Sir Roger Casement

Roger Casement

Roger David Casement —Sir Roger Casement CMG between 1911 and shortly before his execution for treason, when he was stripped of his British honours—was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist....

was accused of siding with Germany for his role in the Easter Rising

Easter Rising

in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The charge against him was that he tried to encourage Irish soldiers in the British Army to desert and fight for Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

as a means to secure Irish freedom. Casement argued that, as an Irishman, he was a foreigner and could not be tried in an English court. This argument failed because he had been in the employment of the British Government

Government of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...

as a diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

for almost all of his adult life, and had accepted a knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

hood and a pension

Pension

In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...

from the British Government on his retirement in 1911. He was hanged in Pentonville Prison on 3 August 1916, regarded as a martyr by the Irish Republican movement.

The Titles Deprivation Act 1917

Titles Deprivation Act 1917

The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which authorised enemies of the United Kingdom during the First World War to be deprived of their British peerages and royal titles. -Background:...

authorised the king to deprive peers

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

of their peerage if they had assisted the enemy during the war, or voluntarily resided in enemy territory. This was mainly in response to the closeness of the British royal family with some German thrones, leading to the loss of British titles from the dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the fourth and last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two duchies in Germany , and the head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1900 until his death in 1954...

and Brunswick, the Crown Prince of Hanover, and the Viscount Taaffe

Henry Taaffe, 12th Viscount Taaffe

Heinrich von Taaffe, 12th Viscount Taaffe, also 12th Baron of Ballymote was an Austrian Irish peer until 1919.He was born at Innsbruck, the son of Count Eduard Taaffe, Minister-President of Austria from 1879 to 1893...

. Whilst the act allowed for their descendants to petition for the restoration of these titles, , no descendant has done so.

Second World War

John Amery

John Amery was a British fascist who proposed to the Wehrmacht the formation of a British volunteer force and made recruitment efforts and propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany...

was executed in 1945 after pleading guilty to eight charges of treason for efforts to recruit British prisoners of war into the British Free Corps

British Free Corps

During World War II, the British Free Corps was a unit of the consisting of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by the Nazis. The unit was originally known as The Legion of St...

and for making propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

broadcasts for Nazi Germany.

The last execution for treason in the United Kingdom was held in 1946. William Joyce

William Joyce

(also known as Lord Haw Haw) stood accused of levying war against King George VI

George VI of the United Kingdom

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

by travelling to Germany in the early months of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

and taking up employment as a broadcaster of pro-Nazi propaganda to British radio audiences. He was awarded a personal commendation by Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

in 1944 for his contribution to the German war effort. On his capture at the end of the war, Parliament rushed through the Treason Act 1945

Treason Act 1945

The Treason Act 1945 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.It was introduced into the House of Lords as a purely procedural statute, whose sole purpose was to abolish the old and highly technical procedure in cases of treason, and assimilate it to...

to facilitate a trial that would have the same procedure as a trial for murder. Before the Act, a trial for treason short of regicide

Regicide

The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

involved an elaborate and lengthy medieval procedure. Although Joyce was born in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

to an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

father and an English mother, he had moved to Britain in his teens and applied for a British passport in 1933 which was still valid when he defected to Germany and so under the law he owed allegiance to Britain. He appealed against his conviction to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

on the grounds he had lied about his country of birth on the passport application and did not owe allegiance to any country at the beginning of the war. The appeal was not upheld and he was executed at Wandsworth Prison on 3 January 1946.

It is thought the strength of public feeling against Joyce as a perceived traitor was the driving force behind his prosecution. The only evidence offered at his trial that he had begun broadcasting from Germany while his British passport was valid was the testimony of a London police inspector who had questioned him before the war while he was an active member of the British Union of Fascists

British Union of Fascists

The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...

and claimed to have recognised his voice on a propaganda broadcast in the early weeks of the war (he already had previous convictions for assault

Assault

In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...

and riotous assembly as a result of street fights with communists and anarchists).

Treachery Act 1940

Until 1945 treason had its own rules of evidence and procedure which made it difficult to prosecute accused traitors, such as the need for two witnesses to the same offence. Consequently in the Second World War it was perceived that there was a need for a new offence with which to deal with traitors more expediently. The Treachery Act 1940 was passed creating a felony

Felony

called treachery, to punish disloyalty and espionage. It was a capital offence. Seventeen people were sentenced to be shot or hanged for this offence instead of for treason (one death sentence was commuted). Theodore Schurch

Theodore Schurch

Theodore William John Schurch was an Anglo-Swiss soldier who was executed for treachery following the end of the Second World War. He was the last person to be executed in Britain for an offence other than murder.-Early life:...

was the last person to be put to death for treachery, in 1946. He was also the last person to be executed for a crime other than murder. Josef Jakobs

Josef Jakobs

Corporal Josef Jakobs was a German spy, who was executed by firing squad in the Tower of London during the Second World War after conviction under the Treachery Act 1940. His trial took place in camera...

, a German spy executed for treachery, was the last person to be executed in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

.

The Treachery Act 1940 was suspended in February 1946, and was repealed in 1967.

1945 to 1998

In June 1945 the Treason Act 1945

Treason Act 1945

abolished the special rules of evidence and procedure formerly used in treason trials, and replaced them with the rules applicable to murder trials, to simplify the law. As discussed above, the last treason prosecutions occurred later that year.

From 1945, treason consisted of the offences which are treason today (see above), plus two other kinds. The Succession to the Crown Act 1707

Succession to the Crown Act 1707

The Succession to the Crown Act 1707 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain which is still in force in the United Kingdom, with amendments...

made it treason to affirm that any person has a right to succeed to the Crown otherwise than according to the Act of Settlement

Act of Settlement 1701

and Acts of Union

Acts of Union 1707

, or that the Crown and Parliament cannot legislate for the limitation of the succession to the Crown. This was abolished in 1967. The Treason Act 1795

Treason Act 1795

The Sedition Act 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England, although it was extended to Scotland in 1708. The long title was "An Act for Safety and Preservation of His Majesties Person and Government against Treasonable and Seditious practices and attempts"...

made it treason to "compass, imagine, invent, devise or intend death or destruction, or any bodily harm tending to death or destruction, maim or wounding, imprisonment or restraint, of the person of ... the King." This was abolished in 1998, when the death penalty was also abolished.

Liability

As a general rule, no British criminal court has jurisdiction over the Sovereign, from whom they derive their authority. As Sir William Blackstone

William Blackstone

writes, "the law supposes an incapacity of doing wrong from the excellence and perfection ... of the King." Furthermore, to charge the sovereign with high treason would be inconsistent, as it would constitute accusing him of disloyalty to himself. After the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, however, Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

was tried for treason against the people of England. His trial and execution were irregular; they were more accurately products of a revolution, rather than a legal precedent, and those responsible were themselves tried for treason after the monarchy was restored (see List of regicides of Charles I). However, a person who attempts to become the Sovereign without a valid claim can be held guilty of treason. Consequently Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

was executed for treason for usurping the throne in 1553.

An alien resident in the United Kingdom owes allegiance

Allegiance

An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...

to the Crown, and may be prosecuted for high treason. The only exception is an enemy lawful combatant in wartime, e.g. a uniformed enemy soldier on British territory.

A British subject resident abroad also continues to owe allegiance to the Crown. If he or she becomes a citizen of another state before a war during which he bears arms against the Crown, he or she is not guilty of high treason. On the other hand, becoming a citizen of an enemy state during wartime is high treason, as it constitutes adhering to the sovereign's enemies.

Insane individuals are not punished for their crimes. During the reign of Henry VIII, however, it was enacted that in the cases of high treason, an idiot could be tried in his absence as if he were perfectly sane. In the reign of Mary I, the statute was repealed.

The Treason Act 1495

Treason Act 1495

The Treason Act 1495, which is sometimes referred to as the Rex de facto statute, is an Act of the Parliament of England which was passed in the reign of Henry VII of England...

provides that in a civil war between two claimants to the throne, those who fight for the losing side cannot be held guilty of a crime merely for fighting against the winner.

Duress and marital coercion

Duress

Duress in English law

Duress in English law is a complete common law defence, operating in favour of those who commit crimes because they are forced or compelled to do so by the circumstances, or the threats of another. The doctrine arises in both English criminal law, and in civil law, where it is relevant to English...

is not available as a defence to treason involving the death of the sovereign.

In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, the statutory defence of marital coercion

Marital coercion

Marital coercion is a statutory defence to most crimes under English criminal law and under the criminal law of Northern Ireland. It is similar to duress.-Legislation:The defence is contained in of the Criminal Justice Act 1925:...

is not available to a wife charged with treason.

Trial

Peers and their wives and widows were formerly entitled to be tried for treason and for felonies in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

or the Lord High Steward

Lord High Steward

The position of Lord High Steward of England is the first of the Great Officers of State. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, except at coronations and during the trials of peers in the House of Lords, when the Lord High Steward presides. In general, but not invariably, the Lord...

's Court, the former being used in every case except when Parliament was not in session. In the House of Lords, the Lord High Steward presided, but the entire House acted as both judge and jury. In the Lord High Steward's Court, the Lord High Steward was a judge, and a panel of "Lords Triers" served as a jury. There was no right of peremptory challenge

Peremptory challenge

Peremptory challenge usually refers to a right in jury selection for the defense and prosecution to reject a certain number of potential jurors who appear to have an unfavorable bias without having to give any reason...

in either body. Trial by either body ceased in 1948, since which time peers have been tried in the same courts as commoner

Commoner

In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...

s.

Commoners, and now peers and their wives and widows, are entitled to be tried for high treason, and also for lesser crimes, by jury

Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...

. Formerly, commoners were entitled to thirty-five peremptory challenges in cases of treason, but only twenty in cases of felony and none in cases of misdemeanours; all peremptory challenges, however, were abolished in 1988.

Another mode of trial for treason, and also for other crimes, is in the House of Lords following impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

by the House of Commons. Normally, the Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

presides during trials; when a peer is accused of high treason, however, the Lord High Steward

Lord High Steward

must preside. By convention, however, the Lord Chancellor would be appointed Lord High Steward for the duration of the trial—the post of Lord High Steward ceased to be regularly filled in 1421, being revived only for trials of peers and for coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

s. Whilst impeachments are still possible, no impeachment has occurred since 1806.

Finally, it was possible for Parliament to pass an Act of attainder

Bill of attainder

A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...

, which pronounces guilt without a trial. Historically, Acts of attainder have been used against political opponents when speedy executions were desired. In 1661, Parliament passed acts posthumously attainting Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, Henry Ireton

Henry Ireton

Henry Ireton was an English general in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.-Early life:...

and John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw (judge)

John Bradshaw was an English judge. He is most notable for his role as President of the High Court of Justice for the trial of King Charles I and as the first Lord President of the Council of State of the English Commonwealth....

—who were previously involved in Charles I's trial—of treason. These three individuals were posthumously executed

Posthumous execution

Posthumous execution is the ritual or ceremonial mutilation of an already dead body as a punishment.-Examples:* Li Linfu, Chancellor of Tang China during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong in the latter years, was exhumed and executed for crimes of high treason by his rival Yang Guozhong for his...

, and are the only individuals to have suffered this fate posthumously under English treason laws. (In 1540, a Scottish court summoned Robert Leslie, who was deceased, for a trial for treason. The Estates-General

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

declared the summons lawful; Leslie's body was exhumed, and his bones were presented at the bar of the court. This procedure was never used in England.)

Before 1945

Certain special rules procedures have historically applied to high treason cases. The privilege of the peerage

Privilege of Peerage

The privilege of peerage is the body of special privileges belonging to members of the British peerage. It is distinct from Parliamentary privilege, which applies only to those peers serving in the House of Lords and the members of the House of Commons, while Parliament is in session and forty days...

and parliamentary privilege

Parliamentary privilege

Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...

preclude the arrest of certain individuals (including peers, wives and widows of peers and members of Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

) in many cases, but treason was not included (nor were felony or breach of the peace). Similarly, an individual could not claim sanctuary

Sanctuary

A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

when charged with high treason; this distinction between treasons and felonies was lost as sanctuary laws were repealed in the late 17th and early 19th century. The defendant, furthermore, could not claim the benefit of clergy

Benefit of clergy

In English law, the benefit of clergy was originally a provision by which clergymen could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ecclesiastical court under canon law...

in treason cases; but the benefit of the clergy, as well, was abolished during the 19th century.

Formerly, if an individual stood mute and refused to plead guilty or not guilty for a felony, he would be tortured until he enter a plea; if he died in the course of the torture, his lands would not be seized to the Crown, and his heirs would be allowed to succeed to them. In cases of high treason, however, an individual could not save his lands by refusing to enter a plea; instead, a refusal would be punished by immediate forfeiture of all estates. This distinction between treasons and felonies ended in 1772, when the court was permitted to enter a plea on a defendant's behalf.

Formerly, an individual was not entitled to assistance of counsel in any capital case, including treason; the rule, however, was abolished in treason cases by the Treason Act 1695

Treason Act 1695

The Treason Act 1695 is an Act of the Parliament of England which laid down rules of evidence and procedure in high treason trials. It was passed by the English Parliament but was extended to cover Scotland in 1708 and Ireland in 1821...

. The same Act restored a rule from 1661 which had made it necessary to produce at least two witnesses to prove each alleged offence of high treason. Nearly one hundred years later a stricter version of this rule was incorporated into the Constitution of the United States. The 1695 Act also provided for a three year time limit on bringing prosecutions for treason (except for assassinating the king) and misprision of treason

Misprision of treason

, another rule which has been imitated in some common law countries.

These rules made it difficult to prosecute charges of treason, and the rule was relaxed by the Treason Act 1800

Treason Act 1800

The Treason Act 1800 was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain. It assimilated the procedure on trials for treason and misprision of treason to the procedure on trials for murder in certain cases. It was passed as a result of an attempt on the life of George III by James...

to make attempts on the life of the King subject to the same rules of procedure and evidence as existed in murder trials (which did not require two witnesses). This change was extended to all assaults on the Sovereign by the Treason Act 1842

Treason Act 1842

The Treason Act 1842 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was passed early in the reign of Queen Victoria...

. Finally the special rules for treason were abolished by the Treason Act 1945

Treason Act 1945

when the rules of evidence and procedure in all cases of treason were made the same as for murder. However, the original three-year time limit stated above survived into the present day. This meant that when James Hewitt

James Hewitt

was accused of treason because of his affair with the Princess of Wales, he could not be prosecuted because it could not be proved that he had done it within the foregoing three year period.

Modern procedure

The procedure on trials for treason is the same as that on trials for murder. It is classified as an indictable-only offence.

Alternative verdict

England and Wales

On the trial of an indictment for treason, the jury cannot return an alternative verdict to the offence charged in that indictment under section 6(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1967

Criminal Law Act 1967

. For this purpose each count is considered to be a separate indictment (s.6(7)). For example, the jury cannot give an alternative verdict of manslaughter

Manslaughter

in cases of the assassination of the monarch. The Homicide Act 1957

Homicide Act 1957

The Homicide Act 1957 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted as a partial reform of the common law offence of murder in English law by abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice , reforming the partial defence of provocation, and by introducing the partial defences...

does not apply.

Northern Ireland

On the trial of an indictment for treason, the jury cannot return an alternative verdict to the offence charged in that indictment under section 6(2) of the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967. For this purpose each count is considered to be a separate indictment (s.6(7)).

Limitation

A person may not be indicted for treason committed within the United Kingdom (subject to the following exception) unless the indictment is signed within three years of the commission of that offence. This limitation does not apply to treason which consists of designing, endeavouring or attempting to assassinate the sovereign. There is no time limit on the prosecution of treason committed outside of the United Kingdom.

Bail

In England and Wales, a person charged with treason may not be granted bail

Bail

Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...

except by order of a High Court judge

High Court judge

A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...

or of the Secretary of State

Secretary of State (United Kingdom)

In the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department ....

. In Northern Ireland, such a person may not be admitted to bail except by order of the High Court or of the Secretary of State.

In Scotland, all crimes and offences which are treason are bailable.

Before 1998

The form of execution once suffered by traitors was often (though not invariably) torturous

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

. The condemned could not walk or be carried to the place of execution; the sentence required that they were to be drawn: they might be dragged along the ground, but were normally tied onto a hurdle which was drawn to the place of execution by a horse. A man would then be hanged

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

by a noose around the neck, but not so as to die: there would be no "drop" to break the neck. Whilst still alive, he would be cut down and allowed to drop to the ground, stripped of his clothes, his genitals cut off, his viscera pulled out and burnt before his own eyes, and other organs would be torn out of his body. The body would be decapitated, and cut into four quarters. The body parts would be at the disposal of the Sovereign, and generally they would be gibbet

Gibbet

A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...

ed or publicly displayed. This torturous sentence was amended in 1814 so that the offender would hang to death; the disembowelling, beheading and quartering to be carried out posthumously.

Women were excluded from this type of punishment and instead were drawn and then burned at the stake

Execution by burning

Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....

, until this was replaced with hanging by the Treason Act 1790

Treason Act 1790

The Treason Act 1790 was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain which abolished burning at the stake as the penalty for women convicted of high treason, petty treason and abetting, procuring or counselling petty treason, and replaced it with drawing and hanging.Identical...

and the Treason by Women Act (Ireland) 1796

Treason by Women Act (Ireland) 1796

The Treason by Women Act 1796 was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland. It made equivalent provision to the Treason Act 1790 for Ireland....

.

The penalty for high treason by counterfeiting or clipping coins was the same as the penalty for petty treason

Petty treason

(which for men was drawing and hanging without the torture and quartering, and for women was burning or hanging.)

Individuals of noble birth were not subjected to either form of torture, but merely beheaded. Even commoners' sentences were sometimes commuted to beheading—a sentence not formally removed from the British law until 1973.

In addition to being tortured and executed, a traitor was also deemed "attainted". The first consequence of attainder was forfeiture; all lands and estates of a traitor were forever forfeit to the Crown. A second consequence was corruption of blood; the attainted person could neither inherit property, nor transmit it to his or her descendants. This may have been open to abuse, either by avaricious monarchs or by parliament when little (if any) evidence was available to secure a conviction. There was a complex and ceremonial procedure used to try treason cases, with a strict requirement for a minimum of two witnesses to the crime.

In 1870, attainder was abolished. In the same year in England, and in 1949 in Scotland, posthumous drawing and quartering was abolished, and so the sole punishment was hanging.

By 1965, capital punishment had been abolished for almost all crimes, but was still mandatory (unless the offender was pardoned or the sentence commuted) for high treason until 1998. By section 36 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was published on 2 December 1997 and received Royal Assent in July 1998...

the maximum punishment for high treason became life imprisonment. (See also Treason Act 1814
Treason Act 1814
The Treason Act 1814 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which modified the penalty for high treason for male convicts....

.)

The last beheading of a peer for high treason was that of Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat , was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser, who was famous for his violent feuding and his changes of allegiance. In 1715, he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover, but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of Scotland...

in 1747. The last execution by burning for high treason was that of Catherine Murphy

Catherine Murphy (counterfeiter)

Catherine Murphy was an English counterfeiter, the last woman to be officially sentenced and executed by the method of burning in England and Great Britain....

in 1789. The last sentences of hanging, drawing and quarterings were those on the Cato Street Conspirators

Cato Street Conspiracy

The Cato Street Conspiracy was an attempt to murder all the British cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1820. The name comes from the meeting place near Edgware Road in London. The Cato Street Conspiracy is notable due to dissenting public opinions regarding the punishment of the...

in 1820, (but the drawing and quartering were omitted by Royal command). One of the last executions for high treason was that of John Amery

John Amery

John Amery was a British fascist who proposed to the Wehrmacht the formation of a British volunteer force and made recruitment efforts and propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany...

, the last person in the United Kingdom to plead guilty to high treason. The last execution of any kind for high treason was that of William Joyce

William Joyce

by hanging in 1946.

No person has been prosecuted for treason since Joyce. A number of cases of treason (especially during the Northern Ireland Troubles) have been prosecuted as ordinary murder or other crimes, and the admitted adultery of Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

, was never prosecuted.

Today

A person convicted of treason is liable to imprisonment for life or for any shorter term. (See Life imprisonment in England and Wales

Life imprisonment (England and Wales)

for more details).

Treason also entails disqualification from public office, and loss of suffrage

Suffrage

Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...

(except in local elections). (This rule does not apply in Scotland.)

Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly

Treason (including constructive treason

Constructive treason

Constructive treason refers to the judicial extension of the statutory definition of the crime of treason. For example, the English Treason Act 1351 declares it to be treason "When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King." This was subsequently interpreted by the courts to...

) is a reserved matter on which the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

cannot legislate.

Treason (but not powers of arrest or criminal procedure) is an excepted matter on which the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

cannot legislate.

Treason today

Almost all treason-related offences introduced since the Treason Act 1351 was passed have been abolished or relegated to lesser offences. The Treason Act 1351, on the other hand, has not been significantly amended; the only changes involve the removal of counterfeit

Counterfeit

To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...

ing, as explained above. For the state of the law today, see the Offences section above.

In Autumn 2001 following 9/11, the British government threatened British citizens who fought for the Taliban army in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

against Anglo-American troops with prosecution for treason, although no one was subsequently tried, at least not for treason.

On 8 August 2005, it was reported that the UK Government was considering bringing prosecutions for treason against a number of British Islamic clerics who have publicly spoken positively about acts of terrorism against civilians in Britain, or attacks on British soldiers abroad, including the 7 July London bombings and numerous attacks on troops serving in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

and Afghanistan

Afghanistan

. Following this threat one foreign cleric who the British government had failed to deport fled to Lebanon, only to request to be rescued by the British military during the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon War. However later that year prosecutors indicted Abu Hamza al-Masri

Abu Hamza al-Masri

Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...

for inciting murder (he was convicted in February 2006), and it now seems unlikely that anyone will be charged with treason in the foreseeable future.

In 2008 the former attorney-general, Lord Goldsmith QC, published a report on his review of British citizenship

British nationality law

British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...

. One of his recommendations was for a "thorough reform and rationalisation of the law" of treason.

Acts in force today

Acts containing substantive or procedural law

Treason Act 1351
Treason Act 1351
The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. It was extended to...

(most forms of treason)
Treason Act 1495
Treason Act 1495
The Treason Act 1495, which is sometimes referred to as the Rex de facto statute, is an Act of the Parliament of England which was passed in the reign of Henry VII of England...

(special defence to treason)
Treason Act (Ireland) 1537
Treason Act (Ireland) 1537
The Treason Act 1537 is an Act of the former Parliament of Ireland which adds several offences to the law of treason in Northern Ireland...

(Northern Ireland only)
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 is an Act of the Parliament of Ireland , declaring that King Henry VIII of England and his successors would also be Kings of Ireland. Since 1171 the monarch of England had held the title Lord of Ireland...

(Northern Ireland only)
Treason Act 1695
Treason Act 1695
The Treason Act 1695 is an Act of the Parliament of England which laid down rules of evidence and procedure in high treason trials. It was passed by the English Parliament but was extended to cover Scotland in 1708 and Ireland in 1821...

(limitation on prosecution)
Treason Act 1702
Treason Act 1702
The Treason Act 1702 is an Act of the Parliament of England, passed to enforce the line of succession to the English throne, previously established by the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701....

(a further form of treason)
Treason Act (Ireland) 1703 (equivalent to Treason Act 1702)
Treason Act 1708
Treason Act 1708
The Treason Act 1708 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. It came into effect on 1 July 1709. Some of it is still in force today...

(further forms of treason)
Treason Act 1814
Treason Act 1814
The Treason Act 1814 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which modified the penalty for high treason for male convicts....

and Forfeiture Act 1870
Forfeiture Act 1870
The Forfeiture Act 1870 is a British Act of Parliament that abolished forfeiture of goods and land as a punishment for treason and felony. It does not apply to Scotland...

(the penalty for treason)
Treason (Ireland) Act 1821 (extends provisions of the 1695 Act to Northern Ireland)
Treason Felony Act 1848
Treason Felony Act 1848
The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....

(still-existing offences which used to be treason)

Acts which are spent

Treason Act 1945
Treason Act 1945
The Treason Act 1945 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.It was introduced into the House of Lords as a purely procedural statute, whose sole purpose was to abolish the old and highly technical procedure in cases of treason, and assimilate it to...

(section 3 seems to remain in force in England and Wales, but appears to be spent
Spent law
A spent law or spent enactment is a piece of legislation which is still in force, but which could be repealed without any practical consequences.-United Kingdom:The repeal of spent legislation is primarily the responsibility of the Law Commission...

)

Acts creating similar offences

See also the Treason Act 1842

Treason Act 1842

The Treason Act 1842 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was passed early in the reign of Queen Victoria...

(assaulting the Queen), the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989

Official Secrets Act 1911

The Official Secrets Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889....

(espionage), the Trading with the Enemy Act 1939

Trading with the Enemy Act 1939

The Trading with the Enemy Act 1939 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes it a criminal offence to conduct trade with the enemy in wartime, with a penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment...

and the Terrorism Acts.

Offences

Northern Ireland

History: England and Wales

History: after union with Scotland

First World War

Second World War

Treachery Act 1940

1945 to 1998

Liability

Duress and marital coercion

Trial

Before 1945

Modern procedure

Alternative verdict

Limitation

Bail

Before 1998

Today

Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly

Treason today

Acts in force today

Further reading