Misprision of treason is an offence found in many

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 ...

jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from

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, ...

. It is committed by someone who knows a

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a proper authority.

Australia

Under Australian law a person is guilty of misprision of treason if he: The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

Canada

Under section 50(1)(b) of the Canadian ''Criminal Code'', a person is guilty of an offence (although it is not described as misprision) if: The maximum penalty is 14 years.

Hong Kong

Under section 12(1) of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a Chinese citizen is guilty of misprision of treason if he:

knows that another person has committed, is committing or is about to commit an offence under section 10(1), the person must disclose the commission of offence and the material facts in connection with the commission of offence within the person’s knowledge to a police officer as soon as reasonably practicable after the person knows of the commission of offence, unless the commission of offence has been in the public domain.

The maximum penalty is 14 years. However, section 12(3) states that the section does not affect any claims, rights or entitlements on the ground of legal professional privilege.

Republic of Ireland

Under section 3 of the Treason Act 1939 a person is guilty of misprision of treason if "knowing that any act the commission of which would be treason is intended or proposed to be, or is being, or has been committed, edoes not forthwith disclose the same, together with all particulars thereof known to him, to a Justice of the District Court, or an officer of the Gárda Síochána, or some other person lawfully engaged on duties relating to the preservation of peace and order."

New Zealand

Section 76(b) of the Crimes Act 1961 provides that any person who "knowing that a person is about to commit treason, fails without reasonable excuse to inform a constable as soon as possible or to use other reasonable efforts to prevent its commission" is guilty of an offence. A person guilty of this offence is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.

Russia

Russia has no specific offence of misprision. However Article 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia encourages people to come forward with information by providing them with a statutory defence to treason and other offences:

United Kingdom

Misprision of treason is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and the common law of Northern Ireland. By statute, the offence of misprision of treason under the common law of England has been made an offence which is cognisable under the

law of Scotland Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

. This offence was formerly known as misprision of high treason in order to distinguish it from misprision of petty treason, before that offence was abolished along with its parent offence in 1828. The crime is committed where a person knows that treason is being planned or committed and does not report it as soon as he can to a justice of the peace or other authority. The offender does not need to consent to the treason; mere knowledge is enough. Concealment of treason was itself a treason at common law until the Treason Act 1554 deemed it merely misprision of treason, which was a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

Difference from treason

In ''R v. Tonge'' (1662) 6 State Tr 225, it was said that: (For more information about the "Tonge Plot", see ''Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II, 1660–1685'' (Marshall, 1994)). Similarly, in ''R v. Walcott'' (1683) 9 State Tr 519 at 553, Pemberton, LCJ. said:

Penalty

It is punishable by imprisonment for life.

Procedure

The procedure on trials for misprision of treason is the same as that on trials for murder. It is classified as an indictable-only offence.

Limitation

A person may not be indicted for misprision of treason committed within the United Kingdom unless the indictment is signed within three years of the commission of that offence.

Scottish Parliament

Misprision of treason is a reserved matter on which the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

cannot legislate.

United States

In the United States misprision of treason is a federal offense, committed where someone who has knowledge of the commission of any treason against the United States, conceals such knowledge and does not inform the President, a

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A U.S. federal judge is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Arti ...

, a State

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, or a State

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

('). It is punishable by a fine and up to seven years in

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

. It is also a crime punishable under the criminal laws of many states.

California

Misprision of treason in California consists of: Treason in the aforementioned quote only refers to treason against California, not treason against the United States or any other entity. The crime is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivisio
(h) of Section 1170
in a county jail for 16 months, or two or three years.

Notes

References

* Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th Edition, 2006 reissue, Volume 11(1), Paragraphs 365 and 366 * J G Bellamy, The Law of Treason in England in the Later Middle Ages, CUP, Appendix I (2004 ed.

*

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...

, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book 4, Chapter 9, paragraphs 120–121 (1867 ed.

(from Google Book Search, Google Books). *

Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into a ...

, Institutes of the Laws of England, Part 3, Chapter 3 (p.36) (1797 ed.

(from Google Book Search, Google Books). * Edward Hyde East, Treatise of Pleas of the Crown, Volume 1, Chapter 3 (pp. 139–140) (1806 ed.

(from Google Book Search, Google Books). * Matthew Hale (jurist), Matthew Hale,

Historia Placitorum Coronæ ''Historia Placitorum Coronæ'' or ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown'' is an influential treatise on the criminal law of England, written by Matthew Hale (jurist), Sir Matthew Hale and published posthumously with notes by Sollom Emlyn by ...

(History of Pleas of the Crown), Volume 1, Chapter 28, paragraphs 371 to 377 (1800 ed.

(from Google Book Search, Google Books). * William Hawkins (serjeant-at-law), William Hawkins, Treatise of Pleas of the Crown, Book 1, Part 1, Chapter 5 (pp. 60–61) (1824 ed.

(from Google Book Search, Google Books). {{English criminal law Common law Crimes Criminal law Deception English law Inchoate offenses Treason United States federal law Common law offences in England and Wales