Treason Act 1547

The Treason Act 1547 (1 Ed. 6 c.12) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It is mainly notable for being the first instance of the rule that two witnesses are needed to prove a charge of treason, a rule which still exists today in the United States Constitution.

During the reign of Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547), the statute books had proliferated with legislation creating numerous new forms of high treason. In the first year of the reign of his successor, Edward VI, Parliament passed this Act, which abolished all kinds of treason except:

However the Act expressly did not apply to people who had already been indicted for treason or misprision of treason.

The Act also abolished all new felonies created in Henry's reign.

Section 22 of the Act prescribed that in order to indict, arraign or convict a person for high treason, petty treason or misprision of treason, they must be "accused by two sufficient and lawful witnesses." However, the witnesses did not have to have witnessed the same overt act of the offence.

This rule was abolished in 1554, except for treason under the Treason Act 1554. However it was later adopted in the Sedition Act 1661 and the Treason Act 1695, the latter of which was inherited by the United States due to its origins as part of the British Empire. In 1787 a version of the two witnesses rule was included in Article III of the U.S. Constitution (section 3), which added that both witnesses had to have witnessed the same overt act. Article III reads: "No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."

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