Treason Act (Ireland) 1537 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Treason Act 1537 (28 Hen 8 c. 7, long title An Act of Slander) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

of the former Parliament of Ireland

Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...

which adds several offences to the law of treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It was repealed in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

in 1962 (but was obsolete well before then).

The Act makes the following conduct treason:

to "maliciously wish, will, or desire, by words, or writing, or by craft, imagin (sic), invent, practise, or attempt, any bodily harm to be done or committed to the King's most royal person, the Queen," or their heirs apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

;
or by such means to deprive them of the dignity, title or name of their royal estates;
to slanderously publish "by express writing, or words" that the Sovereign is a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

, tyrant, schismatic
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...

, infidel or usurper of the Crown; or
to rebelliously "detain, keep or withhold" from the Sovereign his fortresses, ships, artillery, "or other munitions or fortifications of war," for longer than six days after being commanded to surrender them to the Sovereign.

The penalty for treason was death until 1998, when it was reduced to imprisonment for life or a lesser term. During the debate on the abolition of the death penalty, the Earl of Onslow

Michael Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow

Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow , styled Viscount Cranley from 1945 to 1971, was a British Conservative politician.-Background and education:...

said:

Text

Section I of the Act reads as follows:

"...if any person or persons, after the first day of February next coming, doe maliciously wish, will, or desire, by words, or writing, or by craft, imagin, invent, practise, or attempt, any bodily harm to be done or committed to the King's most royal person, the Queen, or their heyres apparent, or to deprive them, or any of them, of the dignitie, title, or name of their royal estates, or slanderously and maliciously publish and pronounce by express writing, or words, that the King our soveraign lord should be heretick, schismatick, tyrant, infidell, or usurper of the crown, or rebelliously doth detain, keep, or withhold from our said soveraign Lord, his heyres or successors, any of his fortresses, fortilesses or holds, within this realm, or any other the King's dominions or marches

Marches

A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....

, or rebelliously detain, keep, or withhold from the King's said Highness, his heyres or successors, any of his or their ships, ordinances, artillery, or other munitions of fortifications of war, and doe not humbly render and give up to our said soveraign Lord, his heyres or successors, or to such persons as shall be deputed by them, such castles, fortresses, fortilesses, holds, ships, ordnances, artillery, and other munitions and fortifications of war rebelliously kept, or detayned, within six dayes next after they shall be commanded, by our said soveregn Lord, his heyres and successors, by open proclamations under the great seale: that then every such person and persons so offending in any of the premisses, after the said first day of February, their aydors, counsaylors, consentors, and abbettors, being thereof lawfully convicted, according to the laws and customes of this realm, shall be adjudged traditours; and that every such offence in any of the premisses that shall be committed or done after the said first day of February, shall be reputed, accepted, and adjudged high treason, and the offenders therein, and their aydors, consentors, counsailors, and abbettors, being lawfully convict of any such offence as is aforesaid, shall [be liable to imprisonment for life and to such]* other penalties, as is limited and accustomed in cases of high treason."

* The words in square brackets were substituted by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 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...

. The text originally read "...shall [have and suffer such pains of death and] other penalties..."

Text

See also