The Sedition Act 1661 (13 Car 2 St 1 c 1) was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

, although it was extended to

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 ...

in 1708. Passed shortly after the Restoration of Charles II, it is no longer in force, but some of its provisions continue to survive today in the

Treason Act 1695 The Treason Act 1695 (7 & 8 Will 3 c 3) is an 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 in 1708 and Irel ...

and the

Treason Felony Act 1848 The Treason Felony Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Parts of the Act are still in force. It is a law which protects the King and the Crown. The offences in the Act w ...

. One clause which was included in the Treason Act 1695 was later adapted for the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

Two witnesses rule

The most important feature of the Act was that it reintroduced a significant new rule of evidence in

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 ...

trials, namely that nobody could be convicted of treason except by the evidence of "two lawful and

credible witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

es upon oath ... brought in person before him or them face to face", or if he confessed "willingly without violence". (This rule had previously been enacted in section 22 of the

Treason Act 1547 The Treason Act 1547 (1 Ed. 6 c.12) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It is mainly notable for being the first instance of the rule that two witnesses are needed to prove a charge of treason, a rule which still exists today in the United S ...

, and again in section XI of the Treason Act 1554, which however differed from the other versions by only requiring the witnesses "if

hey were Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

living and within the realm".) This clause of the 1661 Act, section 5, was replaced by the Treason Act 1695, which added that the two witnesses had to have witnessed the same offence (although not necessarily the same "

overt act In criminal law, an overt act is the one that can be clearly proved by evidence and from which criminal intent can be inferred, as opposed to a mere intention in the mind to commit a crime. Such an act, even if innocent ''per se'', can potentiall ...

" of the offence). The rule was inherited by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and was incorporated into the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

in 1787, which added that both witnesses had to have witnessed the same overt act. Section 5 of the 1661 Act was cited by US Supreme Court justice

Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...

in his judgement in '' Crawford v. Washington'', a case about the "

Confrontation Clause The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that ''"in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to be confronted with the witnesses against him."'' The right only applies to cri ...

" of the Sixth Amendment. The 1661 version of this rule only applied to the new forms of treason (and other offences) which were created by the 1661 Act (see below). The 1695 Act applied to all forms of high treason, except counterfeiting coins. The rule was abolished in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

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 ...

, which made the rules of evidence and procedure in treason cases the same as in a murder trial. During the passage of the Treason Bill through Parliament 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 nationa ...

, Sir Donald Somervell, said:

Sir William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family in ...

wrote in his ''

Commentaries on the Laws of England The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765–1770. The work is divided into four volum ...

'':

New offences

Treason

The Act created four new kinds of

, in addition to those already existing. The Act made it

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 ...

to: that is: * within the realm or without * compass, imagine, invent, devise or intend: ** to deprive the King of his crown, or ** to levy war against the King, "within this realm, or without", or ** to "move or stir" any foreigner to invade England or any other country belonging to the King (this latter clause was derived from the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "R ...

's Treasons Act 1649, which had been declared void in 1660). These provisions were expressed only to have effect during the lifetime of the King, Charles II. However they were temporarily re-enacted, with two modifications, by the Treason Act 1795, and then made permanent by the

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 ...

. In the 1795 version, "the realm" meant

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 ...

(in 1848 the Act was extended to cover

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

), and levying war against the King was only an offence under the Act if done in order to compel the King to change his policies or to "intimidate or overawe" Parliament. (However 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 ...

, which was not affected, levying war against the King was still treason, without these additional criteria.) The difference between the Treason Act 1351 and the Acts of 1661 and 1795 was that while the 1351 Act required an actual levying of war, the later Acts also made it treason to "compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend" a levying of war. The penalty for treason was death. However the last three treasons on the above list were reduced to

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

by the

, which made the maximum sentence

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

. The 1848 Act is still in force (see

for a fuller quote from the text). Imprisoning or otherwise harming the Sovereign continued to be high treason, punishable by death, until the 1795 Act was repealed by the

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was published on 2 December 1997 and received Royal Assent in July 1998. Its key areas were the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex ...

. However assaulting the Sovereign is still an offence under the

Treason Act 1842 The Treason Act 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c.51) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was passed early in the reign of Queen Victoria. The last person to be convicted under the Act was Marcus Sarjeant in 198 ...

, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. In some

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

countries, such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Crimes Act 1961, section 73
/ref> it is still

to imprison or harm the King.

Other offences

Besides treason, the 1661 Act created other offences designed to protect the national security. These offences required the evidence of two witnesses or a confession, and had to be prosecuted within six months of the offence being committed. The king had to personally authorise a prosecution. Anyone who in speech or writing called the King a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

papist The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

, or who incited "hatred or dislike of the Person of His Majestie or the established Government" was to be disqualified from holding any public, military or ecclesiastical office (but could keep his

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

). This measure was expressed only to last during the King's lifetime. A permanent offence (until it was repealed) was committed by any person who claimed (in writing or in speech) that the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septe ...

had not been dissolved, or that anyone had a duty to obey an

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

to change the government, or that Parliament could legislate without the king's assent.

Other provisions

The Act declared that the

Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August 1 ...

was null and void. It also preserved Parliament's privilege of free speech, and the right of a peer to be tried in the House of Lords. A peer who was convicted of any offence under the Act was to be disqualified from sitting in the House of Lords, unless

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed (although he would keep his title).

Repeal

Sections 1 and 2 were repealed on 28 January 1863 by section 1 of, and the Schedule to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 1863 The Statute Law Revision Act 1863 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes. The enactments which were repealed (whether for the whol ...

. There were some other repeals over the years, and then the whole Act, so far as unrepealed, was repealed by 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 ...

References

External links

The Sedition Act 1661
(as enacted),

John Raithby John Raithby (1766–1826), lawyer, born in 1766, was eldest son of Edmund Raithby of Edenham, Lincolnshire. On 26 January 1795 he was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn, and was subsequently called to the bar. He practised in the Court of Chancer ...

The Statutes of the Realm ''The Statutes of the Realm'' is an authoritative collection of Acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen Anne ...

, vol. 5, pp 304 – 306 (from

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Uni ...

)
The Treason Act 1795
(at the time of its repeal in 1998), from the

UK Statute Law Database legislation.gov.uk, formerly known as the UK Statute Law Database, is the official web-accessible database of the statute law of the United Kingdom, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force since 1267 and a ...

{{UK legislation Acts of the Parliament of England 1661 in law Treason in England 1661 in England English criminal law