Treachery Act 1940

Encyclopedia : T : TR : TRE : Treachery Act 1940

---

Acts of Parliament of predecessor states to the United Kingdom

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1600 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1706 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom

1707–1719 | 1720–1739 | 1740–1759 | 1760–1779 1780–1799 | 1800–1819 | 1820–1839 | 1840–1859 1860–1879 | 1880–1899 | 1900–1919 | 1920–1939 1940–1959 | 1960–1979 | 1980–1999 | 2000–Present

Acts of the Scottish Parliament

Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament

Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Orders in Council for Northern Ireland

United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

Church of England Measures

The Treachery Act of 1940 (3 & 4 Geo. VI c. 40) was a British law created during World War II to prosecute and execute enemy spies. The law was passed in the month after Hitler invaded France and Winston Churchill became prime minister (May 23 1940 [link]). The first British subject to be executed (hanged) under the law was George Johnson Armstrong in July 1941^{[#endnote_NYT1]}. The last person to be executed under the Treachery Act was also British, Theodore Schurch, who was executed in January 1946. The third British citizen executed under this act was Duncan Scott-Ford. Josef Jakobs, a German agent, was executed by firing squad under this Act

The first section of the Treachery Act of 1940 is:

If, with intent to help the enemy, any person does, or attempts or conspires with any other person to do any act which is designed or likely to give assistance to the naval, military or air operations of the enemy, to impede such operations of His Majesty's forces, or to endanger life, he shall be guilty of felony and shall on conviction suffer death.

In commending the Bill to the Commons, the Home Secretary said that conduct in the Bill would amount to treason (by being adherent to the Queen's enemies in her realm or elsewhere by giving to them aid and comfort in her realm or elsewhere). Some argue that the Treachery Act 1940 could quite easily have replaced the current, ancient statutes that relate to and define treason. However prosecutions continued during the War under the Treason Act 1351.

The Treachery Act 1940 was repealed for England and Wales by the Criminal Law Act 1967.

References

• ↑  "Traitor Hanged in Britain": July 10 1941 New York Times (page 5)

External links

• [Description of people executed under the Treachery Act]

See also

High treason in the United Kingdom

 

---

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

?