death penalty for treason

[supergran]

Does the death penalty for treason still exsist , if so why can't terrorists have the death penalty when they are convicted, with the crimes they commit , I'm sure that's treason or am I wrong ?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

it still exists for certain crimes against the crown,but officially the death penalty has been abolished.

[jno]

the death penalty has been completely abolished in Britain, it doesn't exist for any crimes at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishmen t_in_the_United_Kingdom

[supergran]

I know the death penalty has been abolished , shame. I just wondered if it DID exist for treason and are the terrorists commiting treason.

[jno]

treason usually implies trying to overthrow king or government, though I don't think either anti-monarchists or the Tory party are ever likely to be charged with it. I have no idea what the guys setting their hair on fire were trying to achieve but it's a fair bet that it was so half-baked it could never possibly have achieved those aims, and a court would probably throw out a treason charge and substitute one of being a public nuisance.

[jake-the-peg]

According to Wikipedia -( I know not the best source)
High treason today comprises only:

Treason Act 1351:
encompassing the Sovereign's death;
killing or conspiring or attempting to kill the Sovereign's wife or eldest son;
violating the Sovereign's wife, or the Sovereign's eldest unmarried daughter, or the Sovereign's eldest son's wife;
levying war against the Sovereign in the United Kingdom;
adhering to the Sovereign's enemies, giving them aid and comfort, in the realm or elsewhere;
killing the King's Chancellor, Treasurer (an office long in commission) or Justices; and
Treason Act 1702:
attempting to hinder the succession under the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701.

Note the one about violating the wife of the sovreigns eldest son.

The mirror tried to use this to get James Hewitt prosecuted for treason for having an affair with Princess Di

It seems that sleeping with neurotic princesses is as vile a crime as conspiring against your country

[jno]

Jake, I suspect what this really means is that treason was originally seen as a crime against the person of the sovereign - possibly even before there was a proper country to betray. You might think a lot of this was ripe for repeal, but parliament is too busy passing bad new laws to repeal bad old ones.

[Arnold_Corns]

Whatever laws have been passed and abolished, The European Convention of Human Rights put a final end to any doubt and specualation re the death penalty.

Protocol 13

"Provides a total abolition of the death penalty"

Simple as that.

[supergran]

thanks for the answers guy's, especially Jake that was a very interesting piece of reading, just about answer's my question , I wish we could say that certain people are quote " levying war against the sovereign in the U.K. " its a shame that justice does not get served sometimes.

[jake-the-peg]

Well as jno points out all this soverign stuff is just silly and outdated and needs clearing up.

Nobody's been charged with Treason for 60 years and we've replaced it all with specific anti-terrorism legislation anyway.

Probably time it was all done away with people need to be charge with specific crimes not a seventeenth century catch-all that includes sleeping with the Queen

[jedimistress]

Yes but if it wasn't for James Hewitt there may have been one less Prince.

[Joe_Bloggs]

All the treason acts are still valid at law.

The 1842 Treason Act was used just 29 years ago, in 1981 to prosecute Marcus Sarjeant after he fired blank cartridges in the vicinity of the Queen. He was jailed for five years.

However the 1998 Crime & Disorder act finally abolished the death penalty for treason by reducing the penalty to life imprisionment.

As Arnold_Corns put it "The European Convention of Human Rights put a final end to any doubt and specualation re the death penalty".

[Joe_Bloggs]

All the treason acts are still valid at law.

The 1842 Treason Act was used just 29 years ago, in 1981 to prosecute Marcus Sarjeant after he fired blank cartridges in the vicinity of the Queen. He was jailed for five years.

However the 1998 Crime & Disorder act finally abolished the death penalty for treason by reducing the penalty to life imprisionment.

As Arnold_Corns put it "The European Convention of Human Rights put a final end to any doubt and specualation re the death penalty".