The Treason Felony Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 12) is an Act of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

. Parts of the Act are still in force. It is a law which protects the King and

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

. The offences in the Act were originally

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 Sedition Act 1661 (later the Treason Act 1795), and consequently the penalty was death. However it was found that juries were often reluctant to convict people of capital crimes, and it was thought that the conviction rate might increase if the sentence was reduced to exile to the penal colonies in Australia (the penalty is now life imprisonment). Consequently, in 1848 three categories of treason (all derived from the 1795 Act) 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 ...

. (This occurred during a period when the death penalty in the United Kingdom was being abolished for a great many offences.) The Act does not prevent prosecutors from charging somebody with treason instead of treason felony if the same conduct amounts to both offences. It is treason felony to "

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

, imagine, invent, devise, or intend": * to deprive the Sovereign of his crown, * to levy war against the Sovereign, or * to "move or stir" any foreigner to invade the United Kingdom or any other country belonging to the Sovereign.

Punishment and procedure

Treason felony is an indictable-only offence. It is punishable with

imprisonment for life 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 for ...

or any shorter term. Despite the name, it is no longer a felony, as the distinction between felony and misdemeanour was abolished 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 ...

. In Northern Ireland, a person charged with treason felony may not be admitted to

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

except by order of the High Court or of the Secretary of State.

Scottish Parliament

Treason felony is a

reserved matter In the United Kingdom, devolved matters are the areas of public policy where the Parliament of the United Kingdom has devolved its legislative power to the national assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while reserved matte ...

on which the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

cannot legislate.

Text

The full text of the Act is available online. The wording of section 3 of the Act is: The ellipses represent words that have subsequently been repealed. Section 10 of the Interpretation Act 1978 says that references to the Sovereign reigning at the time of the passing of the Treason Felony Act are to be construed as references to the Sovereign for the time being.

Repealed provisions

Penal transportation Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became thei ...

was abolished in 1868, leaving life imprisonment as the maximum sentence. Section 4 of the Act contained strict rules about treason felony when committed only by speaking. A conviction required a confession in open court, or the evidence of two witnesses to prove the words spoken. Also a prosecution had to be brought within six days of the offence. Section 4 was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1891 The Statute Law Revision Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict c 67) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.The Chronological Table of the Statutes, 1235 - 2010. The Stationery Off ...

Discussions

In 2001, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' newspaper mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge to the Act in the High Court, alleging that the act "makes it a criminal offence, punishable by life imprisonment, to advocate abolition of the monarchy in print, even by peaceful means". They sought a declaration that the

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

had altered its meaning so that only violent conduct was criminal. The court held that this was a hypothetical question that did not deserve an answer, since ''The Guardian'' was not being prosecuted. The case eventually went to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

on appeal in 2003. In a unanimous judgement, the Lords agreed that the litigation was unnecessary; but the judges nevertheless agreed with Lord Steyn's view that

e part of section 3 of the 1848 Act which appears to criminalise the advocacy of republicanism is a relic of a bygone age and does not fit into the fabric of our modern legal system. The idea that section 3 could survive scrutiny under the Human Rights Act is unreal.

In December 2013, the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

said that Section 3 of the Act, which had made it an offence punishable by life imprisonment to print, or otherwise "by any overt act or deed" to support the abolition of the monarchy or to "imagine, invent, devise, or intend to deprive or depose" the monarch, had been repealed in early 2013, without publicity. However, the Government later stated that the announcement that it had been repealed was wrong, and that it was still on the statute book.

Relevant cases

*''R v. Mitchel'' (1848) 7 State Tr. N.S. 599 *''R v. Cuffey'' (1848) 7 State Tr. N.S. 467, 12 JP 648 *''R v. Meany'' (1867) 10 Cox CCbr>506
IR 1 CL 500 *''Mulcahy v. R'' (1868) LR 3 HL 306 *''R v. Davitt'' (1870) 11 Cox CC 676 *''R v. Deasy'' (1883) 15 Cox CC 334 The last reported case under the Act in the United Kingdom was in 1883, although the Act was used in Australia in 1916 to prosecute the "

Sydney Twelve The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the ''Crimes Act 1900'' (NSW) Treason-Felony. which incorporated the ''Treason Felony Act'' ...

". In 1972 three

Irish republicans Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The developm ...

Joseph Callinan, Louis Marcantonio and Thomas Quinn were initially charged with treason felony, although this was later dropped in favour of lesser charges of seditious utterances.

Parliamentary debates

Hansard (House of Commons)
10 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 20 - 59 (first reading)
Hansard (House of Commons)
10 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 74 - 135 (second reading)
Hansard (House of Commons)
11 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 153 - 175 (motion to go into committee)
Hansard (House of Commons)
12 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 223 - 259 (motion to go into committee)
Hansard (House of Commons)
14 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 341 - 379 (committee)
Hansard (House of Commons)
17 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 417 - 431 (report)
Hansard (House of Commons)
18 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 453 - 479 (third reading)
Hansard (House of Lords)
18 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 447 (first reading)
Hansard (House of Lords)
19 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 486 - 507 (second reading)
Hansard (House of Lords)
20 April 1848, vol. 98, col. 534 - 537 (third reading)
Hansard (House of Lords)
22 April 1848, vol. 98 (royal assent)

References

*Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th Edition, 2006 reissue, Volume 11(1), Paragraph 367

External links

Lords halt challenge to treason law
- The Guardian, Thursday 26 June 2003

- UK Parliament website {{Young Ireland 1848 in law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1848 Republicanism in the United Kingdom English criminal law Treason in the United Kingdom Lèse-majesté