Treason Act 1351
The Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw 3 St 5 c 2) 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 been very significantly amended. It was extended to Ireland in 1495 and to Scotland in 1708. The Act was passed at Westminster in the Hilary term of 1351, in the 25th year of the reign of Edward III and was entitled "A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason". It was passed to clarify precisely what was treason, as the definition under common law had been expanded rapidly by the courts until its scope was controversially wide. The Act was last used to prosecute William Joyce in 1945 for collaborating with Germany in World War II.
This Act is still in force in the United Kingdom (as of June 2012).
In New South Wales, nothing in Part 2 of the Crimes Act 1900 lessens the force of, or in any matter affects, anything enacted by the Treason Act 1351.
It was repealed in the Republic of Ireland on 16 May 1983, and in New Zealand on 1 January 1962.
Read more about Treason Act 1351: Content, The Act in Scotland, Interpretation, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words treason and/or act:
“Our kinsman Gloucester is as innocent
From meaning treason to our royal person
As is the sucking lamb or harmless dove.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The only ones who are really grateful for the war are the wild ducks, such a lot of them in the marshes of the Rhone and so peaceful ... because all the shot-guns have been taken away completely taken away and nobody can shoot with them nobody at all and the wild ducks are very content. They act as of they had never been shot at, never, it is so easy to form old habits again, so very easy.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)