The Treason Outlawries (Scotland) Act 1748 (22 Geo.II c.48) was an Act of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

which applied only to Scotland. Its long title was "An Act to ascertain and establish the Method of Proceeding to and upon Outlawries for High Treason and Misprision of High Treason, in Scotland." The Act set out the procedure to be followed when anyone was prosecuted for treason or misprision of treason in Scotland. In particular, anyone who failed to surrender to the justice of the Scottish courts was to be automatically

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

ed and

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...

for the crime they were charged with, without the need for a trial, unless they had been out of Great Britain at the time, in which case they were still entitled to a trial provided that they returned and submitted themselves to the court within one year. The Act was repealed in 1977,Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977, s.1(1) & Sch.1, Pt.IV. although it had been obsolete well before then.

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