Treason Act 1695

The Treason Act 1695 is an act of the Parliament of England which laid down rules of evidence and procedure in high treason trials. It was passed by the English Parliament but was extended to cover Scotland in 1708 by the Treason Act 1708 and Ireland by the Treason (Ireland) Act 1821.
The act was notable for the provision that two witnesses were needed to prove a charge of treason, a rule which still exists today in the United States Constitution.
, sections 5 and 6 of the act are still in force for England and Wales.

Provisions

The act provided that:

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., the Treason Act 1554 and the Sedition Act 1661
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.

However, the act did not apply to forgery, or to petty treason.

History

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Today most of the act has been repealed, but the three-year time limit still survives, and of course, the rights to be represented and to have a copy of the indictment still exist in other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 Treason Act 1945 removed the special status of treason for all kinds of treason, and ever since then the evidence required, and the procedure followed, in treason proceedings have been the same as in murder trials.
Repeals
Sections 2 and 4 of the act were repealed in part by section 1 of, and part I of the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1888. The Treason Act 1945 repealed the whole act, except for sections 5 and 6. Section 5 of the act was repealed in part by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, 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.