The Treason Act 1800 was 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 Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the Kingdom of Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

. It assimilated the procedure on trials for 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...

 and misprision of treason

Misprision of treason

Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a proper authority...

 to the procedure on trials for murder in certain cases. It was passed as a result of an attempt on the life of George III

George III of the United Kingdom

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

 by James Hadfield

James Hadfield

James Hadfield or Hatfield attempted to assassinate George III of the United Kingdom in 1800 but was acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity....

 earlier that year. The Criminal Lunatics Act 1800

Criminal Lunatics Act 1800

The Criminal Lunatics Act 1800 was a British Act of Parliament that required and established a set procedure for the indefinite detention of mentally ill offenders...

 was passed at the same time.

The Act provided that in all cases of high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

 which consisted of compassing or imagining the death of the King, or of misprision

Misprision

Misprision is a term of English law used to describe certain kinds of offence. Writers on criminal law usually divide misprision into two kinds, negative or positive....

 of that species of high treason, where the overt act

Overt Act

In criminal law, an overt act , an open act, 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...

 (or acts) of that species of high treason alleged in the indictment

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

 for that offence was the assassination or killing of the King, or a direct attempt against his life, or a direct attempt against his person whereby his life might be endangered or his person might suffer bodily harm

Bodily harm

Bodily harm is a legal term of art used in the definition of both statutory and common law offences in Australia, Canada, England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. It is a synonym for injury or bodily injury and similar expressions, though it may be used with a precise and limited...

, the accused could be, and was to be, indicted, arraigned

Arraignment

Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...

, tried

Trial

A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...

 and attainted

Attainder

In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...

, in same manner, and under the same procedure

Criminal procedure

Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated criminal law.-Basic rights:Currently, in many countries with a democratic system and the rule of law, criminal procedure puts the burden of proof on the prosecution – that is, it is up to the...

 ("course and order of trial") and on the same evidence

Evidence

Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...

, as if he was charged with murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

.

It further provided that nothing in the Treason Act 1695

Treason Act 1695

The Treason Act 1695 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 Ireland in 1821...

 or the Treason Act 1708

Treason Act 1708

The Treason Act 1708 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. It came into effect on 1 July 1709. Some of it is still in force today...

 was to extend to any indictment for high treason consisting of compassing or imagining the death of the King, or for misprision of such treason, which alleged any of the overt acts specified above.

It further provided that nothing contained in the Act was to be construed to affect the penalty for treason fixed by law.

The provisions of the Act were amended and extended to all cases of treason and misprision of treason by section 1 of the Treason Act 1945

Treason Act 1945

The Treason Act 1945 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.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 cases of treason, and assimilate it to...

; subject to a saving for the 1695 and 1708 Acts (s. 2(2)) and five separate repeals of words (s. 2(1)).