FORGERY ACT 1830
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High treason in the United KingdomUnder the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; committing adultery with the sovereign's consort, with the sovereign's eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid or comfort; and attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeiting money and being a Catholic priest. High treason was generally distinguished from petty treason, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, or of a bishop by a clergyman. Petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828, and consequently high treason is today often referred to simply as treason. Considered to be the most serious of offences (more than murder or other felonies), high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, because it threatened the safety of the state. Hanging, drawing and quartering was the usual punishment until the 19th century. Subsequent to the Judgement of Death Act 1823, it was the only crime other than murder for which a death sentence was mandatory. Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 became law, the maximum sentence for treason in the UK has been life imprisonment. The last treason trial was that of William Joyce, "Lord Haw-Haw", who was executed by hanging in 1946. The last conviction under a Treason Act was of Jaswant Singh Chail in 2023, who was charged with an offence relating to a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of the trial his offences were referred to in the media as simply "treason", but the statute he was charged under describes it as "a high misdemeanour".
Treason Act 1351The Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 Stat. 5. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England where, according to William Blackstone, common law treason offences were enumerated and no new offences were created. 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, better known as "Lord Haw-Haw", 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. Like other laws of the time, it was written in Norman French. The act is the origin of the definition of treason in the United States (in Article III of the Constitution). Joseph Story wrote in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States that: they have adopted the very words of the Statute of Treason of Edward the Third; and thus by implication, in order to cut off at once all chances of arbitrary constructions, they have recognized the well-settled interpretation of these phrases in the administration of criminal law, which has prevailed for ages.
Treason Act 1708The Treason Act 1708 (7 Ann. c. 21) 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. This act is partly still in force in Great Britain (as of 2018).
Forgery Act 1861The Forgery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 98) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was) that consolidated provisions related to forgery from a number of earlier statutes into a single act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier consolidation act, the Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) (and the equivalent Irish Act), incorporating subsequent statutes. Most of it was repealed by the Forgery Act 1913, and today forgery is mostly covered by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 and the Identity Documents Act 2010. However three offences under the 1861 act remain in force today (in sections 34, 36 and 37). These deal with forgery of registers of births, marriages and deaths, and with impersonation of a surety. The whole act so far as unrepealed, except ss. 34, 36, 37 & 55, was repealed for England and Wales and Northern Ireland by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, s.30 & Sch., Pt.I. The whole act was repealed in the Republic of Ireland by section 3(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. Certain kinds of forgery used to be high treason until this act downgraded them to felonies. Section 55 of the act provided that the act does not apply to Scotland.
Forgery Act 1837The Forgery Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 84) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that abolished the punishment of the death penalty for all offences of forgery, substituting it for transportation or imprisonment. The act was one of the Acts for the Mitigation of the Criminal Law (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. cc. 84–91), which reduced the severity of punishments in the criminal justice system and abolished the death penalty for several offences.
Forgery Act 1830The Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo 4 & 1 Will 4 c 66) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It consolidated into one Act all legislation imposing the death penalty for forgery (except for counterfeiting coins). (It did not apply to Scotland or Ireland.) Two years later the death penalty was abolished for most of these offences, and for the remaining offences in 1837. This Act was adopted in New South Wales by section 1 of the Act 4 Will 4 No 4. The whole Act, except for section 21, was repealed on 1 November 1861 by section 1 of, and the Schedule to, the 24 & 25 Vict c 95. The whole Act, except section 21, was repealed as to New Zealand by section 3 of, and the First Part of the Schedule to, the Repeals Act 1878 (42 Vict No 28). The Forgery Act 1830 was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by sections 2 and 3 and Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. As to trial of offences under this Act at quarter sessions, see section 17 of the Central Criminal Court Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will 4 c 36).
Perjury Act 1728The Perjury Act 1728 (2 Geo 2 c 25) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain. So much of the act as related to the stealing or taking by robbery any orders or other securities therein enumerated was repealed by section 1 of the 7 & 8 Geo 4 c 27. The whole act, except so far as it related to perjury and subornation of perjury, was repealed by section 31 of the Forgery Act 1830. Section 5 of the act was repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1871. The whole act was repealed as far as it applied to England and Wales on 1 January 1912 by section 19 of the Perjury Act 1911, section 19
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