Treason Act 1553

Treason Act 1553 ^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An Acte repealing certayne Treasons Felonies and Premunire. [b]
Citation	1 Mar. Sess. 1. c. 1
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	21 October 1553
Commencement	5 October 1553 [c]
Repealed	1 January 1968
Other legislation
Amends	Treason Act 1399 Treason Act 1429 Treason Act 1535 Riot Act 1549
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1863 Statute Law Revision Act 1888
Repealed by	Criminal Law Act 1967
Relates to	Treason Act 1351 Riot Act 1553
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Treason Act 1553 (1 Mar. Sess. 1. c. 1) was an act of the Parliament of England. It should not be confused with another act about treason passed in the same year, Mary's second general Treason Act (1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 6).

Section 1 of the act abolished all forms of treason that had been created since 1351, except the Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 Stat. 5. c. 2) itself. ^[1] It also abolished all felonies created since the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII.

Repeal

Section 2 of the act was repealed on 28 July 1863 by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125).

The whole act was repealed by section 10(2) of, and part I of schedule 3 to, the Criminal Law Act 1967.

Other treason legislation

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An act against counterfeiting of strange coins, being current within this realm, or of the Queen's highness sign manual, signet, or privy seal, to be adjudged high treason.
Citation	1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 6
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	5 December 1553
Commencement	24 October 1553 [d]
Repealed	1 May 1832
Other legislation
Amended by	Forgery Act 1830
Repealed by	Coinage Offences Act 1832
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Another act passed in the same year, Mary's second general Treason Act (1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 6), made it high treason to counterfeit foreign coins, or forge the Queen's privy seal, signet ring or royal sign-manual. This act was replaced by the Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66), ^[e] which continued this form of treason until it was repealed in 1861. (That offence continued to exist as a felony (after 1967, simply an offence) until 1981.)

See also

• High treason in the United Kingdom
• Treason Act

Notes

1. The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of, and schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
2. These words are printed against this act in the second column of schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948, which is headed "Title".
3. Section 1.
4. Start of session.
5. The 1830 act did not apply in Scotland: section 29.

References

• The Treason Act 1553, Danby Pickering, The Statutes at Large, 1763, vol. 6, pp. 1 – 3 (from Google Book Search)
• John Bellamy. The Tudor Law of Treason: An Introduction. (Studies in Social History). Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1979. Routledge Revivals. 2013. pp 54 & 55.
• Allen Boyer and Mark Nicholls. The Rise and Fall of Treason in English History. Routledge. 2024.
• "Act for limiting Treason and Felonies". Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England. 1806. vol 1. col 608.

1. Blackstone, W. (1765–69) Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book 4, chapter 6: "Of High Treason"