People accused of treason should have the right to be represented by up to two counsel.
Nobody could be convicted of treason except by the evidence of two witnesses to the same offence.
Nobody could be prosecuted or punished for treason or misprision of treason unless the indictment was signed by the grand jury within three years of the crime being committed.
A defendant should be allowed to have a copy of the indictment against him.
No evidence could be used against him except what was pleaded in the indictment.
The Act was passed because previously the law had been extremely harsh, allowing little opportunity for a defendant to defend himself and enabling trumped-up charges of treason to succeed. By the 1680s even the notoriously severe Judge Jeffreys was prepared to admit that it was "hard" that the accused in a treason trial had no right to counsel. However between 1817 and 1998 the protection of the Act was removed from those accused of treason by assaulting the heir to the throne, or misprision of such treason. Today most of the Act has been repealed, but the three year time limit still survives, and of course the rights to be represented and to have a copy of the indictment still exist in other legislation. However the "two witnesses" rule no longer exists in the United Kingdom. In 1800 this rule, and all other special rules of evidence in treason cases, were abolished for cases of killing or attempting to kill the Sovereign. The Treason Act 1842 extended this exception still further, to all attempts to maim or wound the Sovereign. Finally, in 1945, the special status of treason was removed for all kinds of treason, and ever since then the evidence required, and the procedure followed, in treason proceedings has been the same as in murder trials. Repeals Sections 2 and 4 were repealed in part by the Statute Law Revision Act 1888. The Treason Act 1945 repealed the whole Act, except for sections 5 and 6. Section 5 was repealed in part by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
The Act today
The three year time limit described above – and the original exception to it – are still on the law books today, and are contained in sections 5 and 6 of the Act. When in 2000 a British newspaper suggested that James Hewitt be prosecuted under the Treason Act 1351 for an alleged affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, it was pointed out that the mooted evidence fell outside the time limit.
