Treason Act 1842
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The Treason Act 1842 is a British law which was passed early in the reign of Queen Victoria. Part of it is still in force today. It was last used in 1981 to prosecute Marcus Sarjeant.
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[edit] Section 1
In 19th century Britain, treason had its own special rules of evidence and procedure, which made it difficult to prosecute traitors successfully, such as the requirement that the prosecution produce two witnesses to the same overt act. (See Treason Act 1695 for details.) In 1800 these rules had been relaxed in relation to attempts on the King's life, bringing the rules in such cases in line with the less restrictive rules which then existed in ordinary murder cases. Section 1 of the 1842 Act went further, removing the special rules in all cases of treason involving any attempt to wound or maim the Queen. This section was repealed by the Treason Act 1945, which extended the ordinary rules of evidence and procedure to all kinds of treason. Although the 1945 Act has itself been repealed, its effect is preserved by the Criminal Law Act 1967.
[edit] Section 2
This section is still in force. It created a new offence (less serious than treason) of assaulting the Queen, or of having a firearm or offensive weapon in Her presence with intent to injure or alarm her or to cause a breach of the peace. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for seven years. In 1981 Marcus Sarjeant was sentenced to five years on pleading guilty to firing blank shots at the Queen when she was on parade.
[edit] Section 3
This section is also still in force, and provides that section 2 does not affect the crime of treason. It therefore allows prosecutors the choice of whether to proceed with a charge of treason or a charge of the less serious offence under section 2. It should be noted however that under the present law only attempts to kill the Queen are treason, as non-lethal assaults are no longer treasonable.
