Treason Act 1351

Treason Act 1351[a]
Parliament of England
Long titleDeclaration what Offences shall be adjudged Treason.[b]
Citation25 Edw. 3 Stat. 5. c. 2
Other legislation
Amended byForgery Act 1830
Status: Amended
Revised text of statute as amended

The Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 Stat. 5. c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of England wherethrough, according to William Blackstone, common law treason offences were enumerated and no new offences were, by statute, created.[1] It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended.[2][3] It was extended to Ireland in 1495[4] and to Scotland in 1708.[5] The Act was passed at Westminster in the Hilary term of 1351, in the 25th year of the reign of Edward III and was entitled "A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason". It was passed to clarify precisely what was treason, as the definition under common law had been expanded rapidly by the courts until its scope was controversially wide. The Act was last used to prosecute William Joyce in 1945 for collaborating with Germany in World War II.

The Act is still in force in the United Kingdom. It is also still in force in some former British colonies, including New South Wales.[6][7] Like other laws of the time, it was written in Norman French.

The Act is the origin of the definition of treason in the United States (in Article III of the Constitution). Joseph Story wrote in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States that:

they have adopted the very words of the Statute of Treason of Edward the Third; and thus by implication, in order to cut off at once all chances of arbitrary constructions, they have recognized the well-settled interpretation of these phrases in the administration of criminal law, which has prevailed for ages.[8]


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  1. ^ Blackstone, William; Stewart, James (1839). The Rights of Persons, According to the Text of Blackstone: Incorporating the Alterations Down to the Present Time. p. 77. Statutes also are either declaratory of the common law, or remedial of some defects therein. Declaratory, where the old custom of the kingdom is almost fallen into disuse, or become disputable; in which case the parliament has thought proper, in perpetuum rei testimonium, and for avoiding all doubts and difficulties, to declare what common law is and ever hath been. Thus the statute of treasons, 25 Edw. III cap. 2 doth not make any new species of treasons; but only, for the benefit of the subject, declares and enumerates those several kinds of offence, which before were treason at common law.
  2. ^ The Treason Act 1351 legislation.gov.uk
  3. ^ Archbold 2013, para. 25-1
  4. ^ Poynings' Law (10 Hen.7 c.22)
  5. ^ "Treason Act 1708". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1708. 7 Anne c.21.
  6. ^ The Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), section 16
  7. ^ Aisha, Gani (17 October 2014). "Treason Act: the facts". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. ^ Story, Joseph (1833). "1793". Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States.