High treason in the United Kingdom

William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") was the last person to be tried for treason in the UK, here seen under armed guard in 1945.

Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; committing adultery with the sovereign's consort, with the sovereign's eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid or comfort; and attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeiting money and being a Catholic priest.[1]

High treason was generally distinguished from petty treason, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, or of a bishop by a clergyman. Petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828, and consequently high treason is today often referred to simply as treason.

Considered to be the most serious of offences (more than murder or other felonies), high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, because it threatened the safety of the state. Hanging, drawing and quartering was the usual punishment until the 19th century. Subsequent to the Judgement of Death Act 1823, it was the only crime other than murder for which a death sentence was mandatory. Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 became law, the maximum sentence for treason in the UK has been life imprisonment.[2]

The last treason trial was that of William Joyce, "Lord Haw-Haw", who was executed by hanging in 1946. The last conviction under a Treason Act was of Jaswant Singh Chail in 2023, who was charged with an offence relating to a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of the trial his offences were referred to in the media as simply "treason",[3] but the statute he was charged under describes it as "a high misdemeanour".[4]

  1. ^ Jesuits, etc. Act 1584
  2. ^ "Treason: The Facts", The Guardian, 17 October 2014 (retrieved 28 August 2017).
  3. ^ "A man has been jailed for offences including treason after he was arrested at Windsor Castle". Mynewsdesk. 5 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  4. ^ Treason Act 1842, section 2 at the National Archives website (retrieved 6 October 2023)