Parlement

réf. 65041 — 1698. Folio. pp. ii 563-565 i blank. Extracted from the annual volume in very good condition. The Act was directed against apostates at the beginning of the deist movement in England particularly after the 1696 publication of John Toland's book Christianity not Mysterious. It was rarely applied: the legislation allowed only four days after the offence for a formal complaint to be lodged and the trial itself was required to be held within three months. As a result existing common law process continued to be the first line against heterodoxy in England and Wales. The Law Commission said that they were not aware of any prosecutions that had taken place under this Act. On 24 May 1966 the Law Commission said that the offence created by this statute was obsolete and recommended that the whole Act be repealed. Their recommendation was implemented by section 132 of and Part I of Schedule 4 to the Criminal Law Act 1967. 1698. Folio. unknown