Unlawful Oaths Act Explained

Unlawful Oaths Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland relating to unlawful oaths.

The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known as an Unlawful Oaths Bill during its passage through Parliament.

Unlawful Oaths Acts may be a generic name either for legislation bearing that short title or for all legislation which relates to the unlawful oaths.

List

The Unlawful Oaths Acts 1797 and 1812^[1]

• The Unlawful Oaths Act 1797 (37 Geo. 3. c. 123)
• The Unlawful Oaths Act 1812 (52 Geo. 3. c. 104)

The Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Acts^[2]

• The Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1810 (50 Geo. 3. c. 102). Sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths Act 1810.^{[3] [4]}
• The Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1823 (4 Geo. 4. c. 87). Sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths Act 1823.^{[5] [4] [3]}
• The Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 78, sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1844,^[4] the Unlawful Oaths Continuance Act,^[6] or the Unlawful Oaths Act.^[7]
• The Act 8 & 9 Vict. c. 55, sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1845,^[4] the Unlawful Oaths Amendment and Continuance Act,^[6] or the Unlawful Oaths Act.^[7]
• The Act 14 & 15 Vict. c. 48, sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1851,^{[5] [4]} or the Unlawful Oaths Continuance Act,^[6] or the Unlawful Oaths Act.^[7]
• The Act 19 & 20 Vict. c. 78, sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1856,^{[5] [4]} or the Unlawful Oaths Amendment Continuance Act.^[6]
• The Act 25 & 26 Vict. c. 32, sometimes called the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act 1862,^{[5] [4]} the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Act Continuance Act,^[8] the Unlawful Oaths Continuance Act,^{[9] [6]} or the Unlawful Oaths Act.^[7]

Unlawful Oaths Acts were also passed in 1839, 1848 and 1875.^{[6] [7]}

Unlawful Oaths Act 1797

Short Title:	Unlawful Oaths Act 1797
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of Great Britain
Long Title:	An act for more effectually preventing the administering or taking of unlawful oaths.
Year:	1797
Citation:	37 Geo. 3. c. 123
Royal Assent:	19 July 1797
Repealing Legislation:	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1981
Status:	repealed

The Unlawful Oaths Act 1797^[10] (37 Geo. 3. c. 123) was an act passed by the British Parliament. The act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed at clandestine political associations and ad hoc agreements such as those which had bound several of the mutineers.^[11] The Act was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1981.^[12]

The act was used against the Tolpuddle Martyrs.^[13]

See also

• List of short titles

References and notes

• Andrew Reed. The Peace Preservation (Ireland) Acts 1856-1875; the Protection of Life and Property in certain parts of Ireland Act, 1871; and the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Acts 1810-1848. Alexander Thom. Dublin. 1875. Reviewed at "Reviews" (1875) 9 Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal 590 (4 December 1875).

Notes and References

1. Harris and Wilshere. Principles and Practice of the Criminal Law. 18th Ed. 1950. p 109. A A Gordon Clark and Alan Garfitt. Roscoe's Criminal Evidence. 16th Ed. Stevens & Sons. 1952. p 812. Devlin. Criminal Courts and Procedure. Butterworths & Co (Publishers) Ltd. 1960. p 71. Archbold Pleading, Evidence & Practice in Criminal Cases. 38th Ed. 1973. paras 374 & 3144. "More Formal Repeals" (1980) 124 Solicitors Journal 888 (19/26 December 1980).
2. Craies and Kershaw (eds). A Treatise on Crimes and Misdemeanors. 7th Ed. 1910. vol 1. p 332.
3. Hughes and MacRaild. Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Its Diaspora. Liverpool University Press. 2018. p 152.
4. Current Law Statutes 1996, vol 4, p 173
5. Coen (ed). The Offences Against the State Act 1939 at 80. 2021. p 11.
6. https://books.google.com/books?id=r7VbAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA19 "Coercion Acts in Ireland since 1800"
7. Speech Delivered by Michael Davitt in Defence of the Land League. 1890. p 391.
8. Paterson (ed). The Practical Statutes of the Session 1862. London. 1862. p vi.
9. Conyngham. Ireland Past and Present. 1884. p 170.
10. The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
11. R. A. Melikan, John Scott, Lord Eldon, 1751–1838. The Duty of Loyalty (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 125.
12. Book: HC Deb vol 4. 6 May 1981. 18 March 2018. Statute Law (Repeals) Bill [Lords].
13. Book: Rodney Mace . British Trade Union Posters: An Illustrated History . 1999 . . 0750921587 . 15.