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English Legal System Coursework 2009

The Treason Act of 13511 has provided the two-principle definition down to the present day
that states firstly,

“...When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King, or of our Lady his
Queen or of their eldest Son and Heir; or if a Man do violate the King’s Companion, or the
King’s eldest Daughter unmarried, or the Wife the King’s eldest Son and Heir...”

Secondly “... or if a Man do levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm, or be adherent
to the King’s Enemies in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm…..”

The most flagitious form was the death of the sovereign and a particular member of the
royal family, it was not essential for the King to be killed as there were other possibilities
which were widely construed such as an act of disloyalty against a nation or national
sovereign by a citizen of that nation. Although Treason is the most serious offence within
the English Law, its development has been less than systematic. The second definition is the
one, which we will concentrate on this speech to analyse whether or not Jonathan is guilty
or not guilty for Treason for which he is currently on trial by looking many different types of
aspects.

One would need to ask firstly if a person commits an Act to stop the state from doing
something that is against international law, is that recognised as Treason? One can see
Jonathan has committed an Act of Treason as he handed an important document
concerning the UK government to the Chinese embassy who then performed the act of
depopulation. Jonathan did stop the UK government from committing an act which is
against international law, however, this lead to the Chinese government committing a crime
against international law.

An international law is body of law that governs the legal relations between or among
states or nations. A state had to be sovereign: It needed a territory, a population, a
government, and the ability to engage in diplomatic or foreign relations. 2

The institutions that could potentially enforce international law are the action taken by the
Security Council of the United Nation. This is the division where the United Nations can

1
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517663
2
http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/maine/intlaw.htm

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order sanctions to be taken against a country for breach of international peace or aggressive
actions under chapter seven.3 The Security Council are also able to order sanctions against a
country or the deployment of armed forces or authorise the use of force by other
countries.4 Although this exists, bear in mind that the Security Council rarely takes action
because of the way it is structured. The second institution that could potentially enforce
international law is the individual criminal responsibility enforced by punishing individuals in
international criminal courts. In addition, this includes the possibility of enforcement by the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for countries that have signed up for it.

Looking at legal authorities, the last man who was hanged for Treason in the UK was William
Joyce in 1946;5 he was convicted on three counts of Treason, He defected to Germany, but
at the end of the war was captured by British forces near the German-Danish border.
Norman Baillie-Stewart was convicted in 1933 under the Official Secrets Act of selling
information to the Germans. However, was later charged with Treason for taking German
citizenship during World War 2, but the prosecution was forced to drop this charge due to a
technicality.6 From looking at these past cases, it is clearly shown that all the Acts, which
each of the defendants committed were an Act of Treason. This applies to Jonathan as well
who has committed something similar by persuading the security guard on the gate of the
Chinese Embassy to give the letter, which was written between the Armaments Limited and
The Ministry of Defence, which refers to a new weapon that the Armaments Limited has
produced which is referred as the “Silent Death Ray”.

Moving on, this leads to explaining individual responsibility for international crimes. This
certainly applies to Jonathan. The Nuremberg trials had a great influence on the
development of international criminal law. The Nuremberg trials were a series of trials held
between 1945 and 1949 in which the Allies prosecuted German military leaders, political
officials, industrialists, and financiers for crimes they had committed during World War 2. 7
The court Jonathan could go to which is the international criminal court. It was set up to try
individuals for crimes committed in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. This court only applies to those

3
http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapter7.shtml
4
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_background.html
5
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4131696.stm
6
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4131696.stm
7
http://www.answers.com/topic/nuremberg-trials

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countries that have ratified it, applying to Jonathan, the UK has ratified it as far as it
concerns crimes committed in the UK and by a UK national. 8

The second factor one needs to consider is if it is treasonable to stop your country doing
something that is contrary to human rights. Under Article 2 of the ECHR, it protects the right
of people to their life.9 This article contains exceptions for the cases of lawful executions,
and deaths as a result of "the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary" in
defending one's self or others, arresting a suspect or fugitive, and suppressing riots or
insurrections. Article 2 can be derogated from under Article 15 for “lawful acts of war”. The
ECHR considered this Article to apply not only in the UK but abroad as well as illustrated in
Issa v Turkey10 where the relatives of the people who had been killed were in breach of
Article 2. Although saying this, the ECHR held the case was inadmissible for extra-terrorality.
The only place abroad that the court has held to be with a state’s “espace juridique” was in
the area in a British controlled prison in Basra at the time when Basra was a British
controlled area of occupied Iraq. 11 Jonathan thought by handing over the letter to the
Chinese embassy, this will make sure that it would be acknowledged that the specific island
would be depopulated which is most defiantly under Article 2.

Following from the last paragraph, an important question that needs to be asked is when
does a person’s moral obligation outweigh his patriotic obligations? This relates to the
recent concept of Nationalism. This is a perception of loyalty to a nation, which is based on
several factors, firstly, that the states have boundaries with one government for each state,
which comes from the idea of The Treaties of Westphalia; this established the basic idea of a
state.12 The concept that it is morally right to be patriotic came from the theorist Herder
with his theory of Romantic Nationalism. This explains how people function best in their
native language that affects the way individuals think and the way we understand each
other and how one expresses themselves when speaking the same language. 13 Again, this
applies to Jonathan, as he believes he “belongs” to his country and feels he was doing the

8
http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/
9
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/ukpga_19980042_en_1
10
Issa v Turkey (ECHR) (2005) 41 E.H.R.R. 27
11
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/hrsj/affiliated-centres/ehrac/media-and-journals/european-
court-of-human-rights/the-british-military-in-iraq---applicability-of-the-espace-juridique-doctrine.cfm
12
Kedourie, E: Nationalism: Edition 4: Taylor and Francis 1985: Pg 8
13
http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Romantic:nationalism.htm

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right thing by trying to avoid deaths of 700 people. In contrast to Gellner’s theory as he
describes the agrarian society as one where power is determined at the top with a complex
division of labour and an importance on informality and intimacy. This suggests Jonathan
feels he might “owe the state something”. In exchange for the benefits of belonging to a
state, he would need to surrender some freedom.

One of the issues in this battle is between the ideas of the UK believing in Capitalism and the
Chinese believing in Communism. Capitalism is simply what occurs when we are all left to
our own economic devices; as a system, capitalism is characterised by the lack of formal
systems. As Adam Smith explained, "All systems either of preference or of restraint,
therefore, being thus completely taken away, the obvious and simple system of natural
liberty establishes itself of its own accord." 14 Unlike Communism, whom Karl Marx was
behind the theory, the idea is that individual’s are “communal” and necessitate living in
groups. Communism is a separate socio-political philosophy that is willing to use violent
means to attain its goal of a free society. Communism is its direct opposite of a social system
based on individual rights (and individual wealth). 15 Looking at the scenario, Capitalism was
also tried out by the American’s, this enables for both countries to be able to work with
each other to create wealth as the UK is intending to lease the island to America as a
military base to which they have agreed to.

Based on the preceding facts above, Jonathan clearly did not have the mens rea to commit
any acts of treason. Nor did he intend to kill any member of the royal family or levy war
against the King in his realm or adhere to the King's enemies in his realm, to give them aid
and comfort in his realm or elsewhere. However he did commit the actus reus, which he
should have realised when he is handing the letter to the Chinese embassy would he be in
any kind of trouble. Jonathan thought he was saving the lives of people on the island but
instead he created difficulty from the Chinese government invading Jenicki and establishing
there own military base. This looks like to the UK government Jonathan was helping China
and going against his own country. If Jonathan is officially found guilty, he will be sentenced
for life imprisonment as the death penalty for Treason has been abolished since in 1965, but

14
Adam Smith, German Garnier: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations: Plain Label
Books, 1835: pg 466
15
http://www.communism.org/

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it was not until 1998 that the Government abolished it for treason and piracy when it passed
the Crime and Disorder Act.

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Bibliography:

Case Law:

Issa v Turkey (ECHR) (2005) 41 E.H.R.R. 27

Books:

Smith, A, German Garnier: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations:
Plain Label Books, 1835: pg 466

Kedourie, E: Nationalism: Edition 4: Taylor and Francis 1985: Pg 8

Websites:

Nuremberg Trials (accessed on 1st March 2009)

http://www.answers.com/topic/nuremberg-trials

Definition of Communism (accessed on 3rd March 2009)

http://www.communism.org/

Definition of international law (accessed 3rd March 2009)

http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/maine/intlaw.htm

Romantic Nationalism (accessed 1st March)

http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Romantic:nationalism.htm

About the international criminal court (accessed 3rd March 2009)

http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/

Article 2 Human Rights Act 1998 (accessed 21st March 2009)

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/ukpga_19980042_en_1

The British Military in Iraq - applicability of the espace juridique doctrine (accessed 21 st
March 2009)
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/hrsj/affiliated-centres/ehrac/media-and-
journals/european-court-of-human-rights/the-british-military-in-iraq---applicability-of-the-
espace-juridique-doctrine.cfm

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Treason in the UK: recent cases (accessed 23rd March)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4131696.stm

Treason Act 1351 (accessed 23rd March)

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517663

Chapter 7: Action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of
aggression (accessed 23rd March)
http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapter7.shtml

UN Security Council: Background (accessed 23rd March)

http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_background.html