|
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.〔''The Rights of Persons, According to the Text of Blackstone: Incorporating the Alterations Down to the Present Time'', Sir William Blackstone and James Stewart, 1839, p.77〕 It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended.〔(legislation.gov.uk )〕〔''Archbold'' 2013, para. 25-1〕 It was extended to Ireland in 1495〔Poynings' Law (10 Hen.7 c.22)〕 and to Scotland in 1708.〔Treason Act 1708 (7 Anne c.21)〕 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. The Act is still in force in the United Kingdom. It is also still in force in some former British colonies, including New South Wales.〔The Crimes Act 1900, (section 16 )〕 ==Content== The Act distinguishes two varieties of treason: high treason and petty treason (or ''petit'' treason), the first being disloyalty to the Sovereign, and the second being disloyalty to a subject. The practical distinction was the consequence of being convicted: for a high treason, the penalty was death by hanging, drawing and quartering (for a man) or drawing and burning (for a woman), and the traitor's property would escheat to the Crown; in the case of a petty treason the penalty was drawing and hanging without quartering, or burning without drawing; and property escheated only to the traitor's immediate lord. A person was guilty of high treason under the Act if they: *"compassed or imagined" (i.e. planned; the original Norman French was "fait compasser ou ymaginer") the death of the King, his wife or his eldest son and heir (following the coming into force of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 on 26 March 2015,〔(Statement by Nick Clegg MP, UK parliament website ), 26 March 2015 (retrieved on same date).〕 this has effect as if the reference was to the eldest child); *violated the King's companion, the King's eldest daughter if she was unmarried or the wife of the King's eldest son and heir (following the coming into force of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, this has effect as if the reference was to the eldest son only if he is also the heir〔(Succession to the Crown Act 2013 ), from the UK Statute Law Database.〕); *levied war against the King in his Realm; *adhered to the King's enemies in his Realm, giving them aid and comfort in his Realm or elsewhere; *counterfeited the Great Seal or the Privy Seal (repealed and re-enacted in the Forgery Act 1830; death penalty abolished in 1832;〔Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will 4 c 123)〕 reduced to felony in 1861〔Forgery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c 98), section 1〕 (except in Scotland〔Forgery Act 1861, section 55〕)); *counterfeited English coinage or imported counterfeit English coinage (reduced to felony in 1832〔Coinage Offences Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will 4 c 34)〕); *killed the Chancellor, Treasurer (this office is now in commission), one of the King's Justices (either of the King's Bench or the Common Pleas), a Justice in Eyre, an Assize judge, and "all other Justices", while they are performing their offices. (This did not include the barons of the Exchequer.〔Hawkins' ''Treatise of the Pleas of the Crown'' (1824) (p. 19, section 47 ), (from Google Books).〕) The penalty for counterfeiting coins was the same as for petty treason.〔1 Hale (219-220 )〕 The offence had previously been ''called'' petty treason, before the Act elevated it to high treason.〔(''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', William Blackstone, Book 4 chapter 6 )〕 Under the Act petty treason was the murder of one's lawful superior: that is if a servant killed his master or his master's wife, a wife killed her husband or a clergyman killed his prelate. This offence was abolished in 1828. The Act originally envisaged that further forms of treason would arise that would not be covered by the Act, so it legislated for this possibility. The words from "Et si per cas" onwards have been translated as: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Treason Act 1351」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|