Contempt of the sovereign (also called contempt of statute) was an ancient doctrine in

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

dating from medieval times, and now obsolete. It was the crime imputed by

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

whereby a person disobeyed an act of Parliament which did not say what the penalty was nor how it was to be enforced – the crime itself was recognised. The doctrine was based on the original custom that an act of Parliament was an expression of the sovereign's will, enacted with the "advice and consent" of Parliament. It has been mainly overturned in

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

since the

English interregnum The Interregnum was the period between the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649 and the arrival of his son Charles II of England, Charles II in London on 29 May 1660, which marked the start of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration. During the ...

. Thus in modern jurisprudence, contravening a statute is not a crime unless the statute expressly says so in clear terms. The last time it was used was in 1840.''

Halsbury's Laws of England ''Halsbury's Laws of England'' is an encyclopaedia of the law in England and Wales. It has an alphabetised title scheme for the areas of law, drawing on authorities including Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measures of the Welsh Ass ...

'', 5th edition, volume 25, paragraph 362 (It is not to be confused with ''

lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...

''.)

References

Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice ''Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice'' (usually called simply ''Archbold'') is a leading practitioners' text book for the practice of criminal law in the Crown Court of England and Wales. It is also referred to and used in sever ...

(2010) 1-6

References

Further reading