The Quakers Act 1695 was an act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

which allowed

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

to substitute an affirmation where the law previously required an

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

. The act did not apply to the oaths required when giving evidence in a

criminal case Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

or to serve on a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

or to hold any

office of profit An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. It is a term used i ...

from

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. It allowed

legal proceedings Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that " e term ''legal proceedings'' ...

to be taken against Quakers before a justice of the peace for refusing to pay

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s if the amount claimed did not exceed £10. The act would have expired in seven years but, in 1702, Parliament extended it for another eleven years by the . In 1715, it was made permanent and applied also to Scotland. The act was made perpetual and extended to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

by the ( 1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 6).

Repeal

The act, except sections 3 and 4, was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1867 A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 59). The remaining sections were repealed by the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 (c. 52) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act implemented recommendations contained in the first report on statute law revision made by the Law Commission. The enactments which were re ...

(c. 52).

Notes

References

External links

Chapter XXXIV. Rot. Parl. 7 & 8 Gul. III. p.9. n.3.
History of Parliament Trust Acts of the Parliament of England 1695 Repealed English legislation Quakerism in England Oaths {{England-statute-stub