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

Parliament of the United Kingdom 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 suprema ...

. 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 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 ...

, and assimilate it to the procedure on trials for murder: It also abolished the rule that treason trials in Scotland had to be conducted according to the rules of English criminal law.

Provisions

Section 1

Section 1 of the Act applied the

Treason Act 1800 The Treason Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo.3 c.93) 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 pa ...

to all cases of treason and misprision of treason, subject to five separate repeals of words, and to a saving clause in section 2(2):

Section 2

Section 2(1) of the Act effected consequential repeals. The application of the Treason Act 1800 was subject to a saving clause in section 2(2).

Section 3

Section 3(1) of the Act provided that it may be cited as the Treason Act, 1945. Section 3(2) of the Act extended the

, as applied by the Act, to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Section 3(3) of the Act provided that, for the purposes of section 6 of the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

, the Act was to be deemed to be an Act passed before the appointed day.

Use of the Act

The procedure established by this Act was used in four trials: those of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, J ...

John Amery John Amery (14 March 1912 – 19 December 1945) was a British fascist and Nazi collaborator during World War II. He was the originator of the British Free Corps, a volunteer Waffen-SS unit composed of former British and Dominion prisoners-o ...

Thomas Haller Cooper Thomas Haller Cooper (29 August 1919 – 1987 or late 1990s), also known as Tom Böttcher, was a member of the German Waffen-SS British Free Corps and former member of the British Union of Fascists. Biography Early life Thomas Cooper was born ...

and Walter Purdy. ''J. W. Hall'' said that if the statutory requirement for corroboration had not been repealed by this Act, William Joyce could not have been convicted on the basis of the evidence offered at his trial. One witness, Detective Inspector Hunt, connected him with the broadcasts ''during the period before the expiration of the passport'' (though other witnesses might have come forward).

Repeal and replacement

The schedule to this Act was repealed on 18 December 1953 by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1953, except in so far as it related to 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 ...

. Those two entries could not be repealed because they were referred to in section 2(2). The other entries were spent because their sole effect was to repeal other enactments. Sections 1 and 2 of, and the Schedule to, this Act were repealed for

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

by section 10(2) of, and Part III of Schedule 3 to, the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

. The Act was repealed for Northern Ireland by section 15(2) of, and Part 2 of Schedule 2 to,

Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 The Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c 18) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Criminal Law Act 1967 for Northern Ireland. Section 2 This section was repealed barticle 90(2)of, and Pa ...

,According to the Chronological Table of the Statutes and for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

by section 83(3) of, and Schedule 8 to, the

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1980 c.62). It decriminalized private homosexual acts between two consenting adults in Scotland when it came into effect on 1 February 1981. "Subjec ...

. Section 3(3) of the Act was repealed for Northern Ireland by section 41(1) of, and Part I of Schedule 6 to, the

Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the royal assent on 18 July 1973. The Act abolished the suspended Parliament of Northern Ireland and the post of Governor and made pro ...

(c.36). Section 1 of this Act, and the Treason Act 1800, have been replaced for England and Wales by section 12(6) of the

and for Northern Ireland b
section 14(7)
of the

. They were replaced for Scotland by section 39 of the

(also repealed).

References

Hansard (House of Lords), 17 May 1945
vol. 136 col. 227 (first reading)
Hansard (House of Lords), 30 May 1945
vol. 136, col. 265 - 276 (second reading)
Hansard (House of Commons), 31 May 1945
vol. 411, col. 380 - 381 (first reading)
Hansard (House of Commons), 11 June 1945
vol. 411, col. 1393 - 1398 (second reading)
Hansard (House of Commons), 12 June 1945
vol. 411, col. 1605 - 1606 (committee and third reading)
Hansard (House of Lords), 13 June 1945
vol. 136, col.567
Hansard (House of Commons), 15 June 1945
vol. 411, col. 1887 - 1904 (royal assent) {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1945 Treason in the United Kingdom