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11
Stat. Law.
"Treasons; but only for the benefit of the subject declares
"and enumerates those kinds several kinds of offences
"which before were treason at the Common Law".
Let us see with what degree of justice it can be said
that this Statute doth not make any new species of
"Treason". but it doth make the killing of and One species of Treason it makes is that⊞ ⊞ killing any one of the first rank of the Judges therein enumerated
Justice of the Court of Common Please: because therefore sitting in the execution of his Office.
the killing of of a Justice of the Court of Common This then according to our Author, was not a new
Pleas was not a new one made Treason: it was not first made such by that act: it
was therefore before that act made "
by the Common Law. A little consideration will serve to satisfy
the Common Law. us whether this possibly could be. The Common Law is "the Custom
"of the Realm Kingdom" "evidenced" says our Author† † p.71.
created says I as I should say, in this case by the determinations of the Courts
of Justice.⊞ ⊞ The Custom making this Treason must have been the custom of punishing a man guilty of this offence as for Treason. A Custom must have at least one act to constitute it: that demand surely is but moderate. The catalogue case of the foundation erection of the Court of Common Pleas is known. We have The Catalogue of the Judges of that Custom from its erection that time to the present is in our hands, we have it in Dugdale's Origines Judiciales & in other later publications. Now to take example of this Now then, numerous as the examples cases
species of this species of Treason are that might be part of this species
this might take many others; are of Treason. I will content myself with this single one
desire of and will our Author to look over this catalogue of
Justices at the Common Pleas who from the ca and tell us not what Judge of the Common Pleas any
man was had actually been punished for killing as for Treason: that were
too much: but what which one of those any man could have been
thus punished thus for killing: it being Treason
we are understood to remember to kill such a Judge only
when sitting in the execution of his office.⊞ ⊞ Upon an event like that History could never have been silent. The truth Let us speak
the plain truth without sophistry or disguise.
is The Common Law in this behalf had made omitted to
The Statute was not, it is plain, merely a declaratory one:
The Common Law in this behalf had defects it was thought proper
to supply, and excesses to correct, as well as uncertainties to fix.
make several sorts of acts. The one which it was
thought ought to be a but but it was the well warranted grand It was the fixing of its uncertainties, and the correction of its excesses, that was the grand
cause of the correct by the people object with the people extra people, whose importunities extorted
to obtain this Statute had made a great many mixed to this statute from the Crown. But it had this of not sufficiently
sort of not at sufficient providing for the security of the Officers of Justice
to correct which both Prince and People might not improbably
had given concurred in thinking a defect.
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Identifier: | JB/028/102/003 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 28.
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comment on the commentaries |
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102 |
stat. law king's statutes |
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text sheet |
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f9 / b10 / f11 / b12 |
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jeremy bentham |
[[watermarks::[gr with crown motif] propatria [britannia motif]]] |
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