The Correspondence with Enemies Act 1793 ( 33 Geo. 3. c. 27) was an Act of the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

passed at the beginning of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. France had declared war on Great Britain on 1 February; the Act was passed on 7 May to prohibit trade between the countries.

Provisions of the Act

The Act made it

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

for any person resident in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

to "knowingly and wilfully" supply materials to France during the war, without a licence from the king. Buying land in France, or lending somebody money with which to buy land in France, was also made treason. Merely travelling to France was punishable with imprisonment for up to 6 months. Any insurance policy relating to any ship or wares belonging to French subjects was made void. The rules of procedure and evidence contained in the

Treason Act 1695 The Treason Act 1695 (7 & 8 Will 3 c 3) is an Act of Parliament, 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 ...

and the

Treason Act 1708 The Treason Act 1708 (7 Ann c 21) 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. This Act is partly st ...

were to apply to treason under this Act. The Act did not apply to anyone in the army or navy (but such people were subject to military or naval law instead).

Commencement

The Act contained an unusual feature, in that instead of coming into force on one particular date, it instead came into force on different dates in different parts of the world.Section 8 It came into force in May 1793 in respect of acts done in Great Britain, and also in May in respect of anything done outside of Great Britain by anyone who had been in Great Britain at any time after 1 April. It came into force on 1 June in respect of anything done in Europe (other than Great Britain) by anyone who had not been in Great Britain at any time between 1 April and 1 June. It came into force on 1 August as to any acts done outside Europe, but not beyond the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, by anyone who had not been in Great Britain between 1 April and 1 August. It came into force on 1 November in respect of anything done beyond the Cape of Good Hope by anyone who had not been in Great Britain between 1 April and 1 November 1793.

The Netherlands

In 1798 the provisions of the Act were extended to cover the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

(the French-occupied Netherlands) by the Correspondence with Enemies Act 1798 (38 Geo. 3. c. 28). That Act had commencement provisions similar to the 1793 Act.

References

*''Statutes at Large'', vol. XII, London: Eyre, Straham, Woodfall (1794).

Provisions of the Act

Commencement

The Netherlands

References

See also