Treason Act 1702

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The Treason Act 1702 (1 Anne stat. 2 c. 21) is an Act of the Parliament of England, passed to enforce the line of succession to the English throne, previously established by the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701.

The Act makes it treason to "endeavour to deprive or hinder any person who shall be the next in succession to the crown ... from succeeding after the decease of her Majesty (whom God long preserve) to the imperial crown of this realm and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging".

Originally a capital offence, the penalty was reduced in 1998 to life imprisonment.

Although the Act was passed by the English Parliament, it was later extended to Scotland as well in 1708, following the Union of the two kingdoms in the previous year. The Parliament of Ireland passed a law to the same effect in 1703, the Treason Act (Ireland) 1703 (c.5). This is still in force in Northern Ireland.

[edit] In fiction

In the movie King Ralph, Ralph used the Treason Act of 1702 as his justification in ordering the arrest of Lord Graves on the grounds that Graves had interfered with Ralph's succession to the throne. The film was released while the offense called for capital punishment, thus it might be presumed that John Hurt's character Graves was subsequently executed.
In the movie Johnny English, the "jumped-up frenchman": Pascal Sauvage, is executed when he tries to seize the throne. However, the film was released after the offence was downgraded to life imprisonment, making it inaccurate.