Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1817
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The Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1817 (57 Geo. III, c. 3) was an Act passed by 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 suprem ...
. The
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
,
Lord Sidmouth Viscount Sidmouth, of Sidmouth in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 12 January 1805 for the former prime minister, Henry Addington. In May 1804, King George III intended to confer the titles ...
, introduced the second reading of the Bill on 24 February 1817. In his speech he said there was "a traitorous conspiracy...for the purpose of overthrowing...the established government" and referred to "a malignant spirit which had brought such disgrace upon the domestic character of the people" and "had long prevailed in the country, but especially since the commencement of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
". This spirit belittled Britain's victories and exalted the prowess of her enemies and after the war had fomented discontent and encouraged violence: "An organised system has been established in every quarter, under the semblance of demanding parliamentary reform, but many of them, I am convinced, have that specious pretext in their mouths only, but revolution and rebellion in their hearts". The Act was renewed later in the parliamentary session (57 Geo. III, c. 55). In autumn 1817 Sidmouth went through the list of all those detained under the Act and released as many as possible, personally interviewing most of the prisoners. He also tried to alleviate some of their conditions: "Solitary confinement will not be continued except under special circumstances". The Act was repealed in February 1818 by the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1818 (58 Geo. III, c. 1).


See also

*
Habeas Corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
* Habeas Corpus Suspension Act *
Treason Act 1817 The Treason Act 1817 (57 Geo 3 c 6) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It made it high treason to assassinate the Prince Regent. It also made permanent the Treason Act 1795, which had been due to ...
*
Seditious Meetings Act 1817 The Seditious Meetings Act 1817 (57 Geo. III c. 19) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which made it illegal to hold a meeting of more than 50 people. Content The provisions of the Act were similar t ...


Notes


References

*{{cite book , first=Philip , last=Ziegler , title=Addington. A Life of Henry Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth , url=https://archive.org/details/addingtonlifeofh0000zieg , url-access=registration , publisher=Collins , date=1965 United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1817 Habeas corpus Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament