Citation 1 & 2 Geo 4 c 24 | Royal assent 19 April 1821 | |
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Long title An Act to extend certain Provisions of an Act of King William the Third, intituled "An Act for regulating of Trials in Cases of Treason and Misprision of Treason," to [that part of the United Kingdom called] Ireland. Commencement Section 1 commenced on 1 January 1822 Repealed by Treason Act 1945 (UK)
Statute Law Revision Act 1983 (RI) | ||
The Treason (Ireland) Act 1821 (1 & 2 Geo 4 c 24) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It extended most of the English Treason Act 1695 to Ireland. Previously the 1695 Act only applied to England and Scotland (having been extended to Scotland in 1708).
Contents
The whole Act was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by the Statute Law Revision Act 1983.
Section 1
As originally enacted, section 1 extended sections 2 to 5 of the Treason Act 1695 to Ireland. All but section 5 of the 1695 Act were repealed by the Treason Act 1945. Therefore, today the effect of section 1 is only to extend section 5 of the Treason Act 1695 to Northern Ireland. Section 5 imposes a three-year time limit on bringing prosecutions for treason.
Section 2
This section stated that the above time limit did not apply to attempts on the life of the king, or to misprision of such treason. (Similar provision had been made in section 6 of the 1695 Act.) Section 2 also stated that trials for such treason or misprision were to be conducted according to the rules of evidence and procedure applicable in ordinary murder trials, which were different from the rules for treason trials. (This rule had been introduced in Great Britain by the Treason Act 1800.)
Repeals in the United Kingdom
The beginning of section 1, up to the words "twenty two", was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890. The words "that Part of the United Kingdom called", used before the word "Ireland", were repealed by section 4(b) of the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Section 2, from "and be it" to "aforesaid", was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1888. The rest of the section was repealed by the Treason Act 1945, which abolished the special rules for treason trials in all cases.