Treason Act 1795
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The Treason Act 1795 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (36 Geo. 3 c. 7). It is no longer in force, but some of the offences it created continue to survive today in the Treason Felony Act 1848.
The Act created four new kinds of high treason, in addition to those already existing. The Act made it treason to:
"within the realm or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise or intend death or destruction or any bodily harm tending to death or destruction maim or wounding, imprisonment or restraint, of the person of ... the King,"
Or:
"within the realm or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise or intend":
- to deprive the King of His crown,
- to levy war against the King, in order by force to compel the King to change his policies or to "intimidate or overawe" Parliament,
- to "move or stir" any foreigner to invade Great Britain or any other country belonging to the King.
The penalty for treason was death. However the last three treasons on the above list were reduced to felonies by the Treason Felony Act 1848, which made the maximum sentence life imprisonment. The 1848 Act is still in force (see article for a fuller quote from the text).
Imprisoning or otherwise harming the Sovereign continued to be high treason, punishable by death, until the Act was repealed in 1998. However assaulting the Sovereign is also an offence under the Treason Act 1842, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.
In some Commonwealth of Nations countries, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand it is still treason to imprison or harm the Queen.
See also: High treason in the United Kingdom
