Treason Act 1747

The Treason Act 1747 (21 Geo.II c.19) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain[1] which appplied only to Scotland. It stated that anyone who was prosecuted on or after 1 April 1748 for treason or misprision of treason could be tried anywhere in Scotland if the crime had been committed in any of the shires of Dunbartain, Stirling,[2] Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty,[3] Argyll, Forfar, Banff,[4] Sutherland, Caithness, Elgine, Ross, and Orkney.[5] Normally a crime had to be tried in the shire where it had been committed. The Act also said that in such a trial, the jurors could come from adjoining counties, instead of (as would otherwise be the case) the county where the trial was held.[6]

It also provided that His Majesty's Advocate could move the trial to the High Court of Justiciary,[7] and that peers had the right to be tried by their peers.[8] These provisions were to expire after seven years.[9]

References

  1. ^ The Act was actually passed in 1748, but is listed under 1747 because under the common law acts of Parliament took effect retrospectively from the beginning of the session in which they were passed, which in this case was 1747: see the article Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 for the explanation as to why. However this Act was expressed to take effect from 1 April 1748.
  2. ^ Spelled "Sterling" in the Act.
  3. ^ Spelled "Cromartie" in the Act.
  4. ^ Spelled "Bamff" in the Act.
  5. ^ Section 1.
  6. ^ Section 2.
  7. ^ Section 3.
  8. ^ Section 4.
  9. ^ Section 6, which applied to sections 1 to 5.

See also