The Treason Act (Ireland) 1765 (5 Geo 3 c. 21 (I.)) was an Act of the former

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

which gave defendants in trials for

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 ...

under the

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 b ...

the right to be represented by

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

and the right to be given a copy of the

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

in advance of their trial. (These rights had been available under English law since 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 under Scottish law since that Act was extended to Scotland by 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 ...

.) The Act's

long title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. The ...

was ''An Act for the better regulating of trials in cases of high treason under the statute of the twenty fifth of Edward the third'' (sic). It was repealed by the

Treason Act 1945 The Treason Act 1945 (8 & 9 Geo.6 c.44) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 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 ca ...

, by which time it had long been obsolete.

References

*''The Irish Statutes 1310–1800'' Revised edition, Dublin: Round Hall Press, 1995, page 532 Acts of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) 1765 in law Law of Northern Ireland 1765 in Ireland Repealed Irish legislation

See also

References