to be entered.

dictment or information for treason, felony, plea of " Not Guilty" piracy, or misdemeanor, shall stand mute of malice, or will not answer directly to the indictment or information, in every such case it shall be lawful for the court, if it shall so think fit, to order the proper officer to enter a plea of "Not Guilty" on behalf of such person; and the plea so entered shall have the same force and effect as if such person had actually pleaded the same.

ber shall be void.*

III. And be it enacted, That if any person Every challenge beindicted for any treason, felony, or piracy, yond the legal numshall challenge peremptorily a greater number of the men returned to be of the jury than such person is entitled by law so to challenge in any of the said cases, every peremptory challenge beyond the number allowed by law in any of the said cases shall be entirely void, and the trial of such person shall proceed as if no such challenge had been made.

IV. And be it enacted, That no plea setting Attainder of another forth any attainder shall be pleaded in bar of crime not pleadable. any indictment, unless the attainder be for the

same offence as that charged in the indict

ment.

&c. nor whether he

V. And be it enacted, That where any per- Jury shall not enquire son shall be indicted for treason or felony, the of prisoner's lands, jury empannelled to try such person shall not fled. be charged to enquire concerning his lands, tenements, or goods, nor whether he fled for such treason or felony.

VI. And be it enacted, That benefit of cler- Benefit of clergy abogy, with respect to persons convicted of felony, lished.

* In cases of high and petit treason, the prisoner has thirty-five peremptory challenges; in murder and all other felonies, twenty; and in misprision of treason, the point seems to be unsettled.-The right of peremptorily challenging is never allowed to a defendant accused of a mere misdemeanor. 1 Chit. Cr. L. 535.

What felonies only shall be capital.

Felonies not capital punishable under the Acts, if any, relating thereto; otherwise under this Act.

The court may order

confinement as part

prisonment.

shall be abolished; but that nothing herein contained shall prevent the joinder in any indictment of any counts which might have been joined before the passing of this Act.

VII. And be it enacted, That no person convicted of felony shall suffer death, unless it be for some felony which was excluded from the benefit of clergy before or on the first* day of the present session of parliament, or which hath been or shall be made punishable with death by some statute passed after that day.

VIII. And be it enacted, That every person convicted of any felony, not punishable with death, shall be punished in the manner prescribed by the statute or statutes specially relating to such felony; and that every person convicted of any felony, for which no punishment hath been or hereafter may be specially provided, shall be deemed to be punishable under this Act, and shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit), in addition to such imprisonment.

IX. And, with regard to the place and hard labour or solitary mode of imprisonment for all offences punishof the sentence of im- able under this Act, be it enacted, That where any person shall be convicted of any offence punishable under this Act, for which imprisonment may be awarded, it shall be lawful for the court to sentence the offender to be imprisoned, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour in the common gaol or house of cor

The Session commenced on the 8th day of Februarv, 1827.

.

rection, and also to direct that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for the whole or any portion or portions of such imprisonment, or of such imprisonment with hard labour, as to the court in its discretion shall

seem meet.

crime is convicted of

tence, to commence

X. And be it enacted, That wherever sen- If a person under sentence shall be passed for felony on a person tence for another already imprisoned under sentence for another felony, the court may crime, it shall be lawful for the court to award pass a second senimprisonment for the subsequent offence, to after the expiration of commence at the expiration of the imprison- the first. ment to which such person shall have been previously sentenced; and where such person shall be already under sentence either of imprisonment or of transportation, the court, if empowered to pass sentence of transportation, may award such sentence for the subsequent offence, to commence at the expiration of the imprisonment or transportation to which such person shall have been previously sentenced, although the aggregate term of imprisonment or transportation respectively may exceed the term for which either of those punishments could be otherwise awarded.

XI. And whereas it is expedient to provide Punishment for a subfor the more exemplary punishment of offend- sequent felony. ers who commit felony after a previous conviction for felony, whether such conviction shall have taken place before or after the commencement of this Act; be it therefore enacted, That if any person shall be convicted of any felony, not punishable with death, committed after a previous conviction for felony, such person shall, on such subsequent conviction, be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or

for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit), in addition to such Form of indictment imprisonment; and in an indictment for any for the subsequent fee such felony committed after a previous consufficient proof of the viction for felony, it shall be sufficient to state

lony. What shall be

first conviction.

Uttering a false certificate of conviction.

Punishment.

that the offender was at a certain time and place convicted of felony, without otherwise describing the previous felony; and a certificate containing the substance and effect only (omitting the formal part) of the indictment and conviction for the previous felony, purporting to be signed by the clerk of the court, or other officer having the custody of the records of the court where the offender was first convicted, or by the deputy of such clerk or officer (for which certificate a fee of six shillings and eight-pence, and no more, shall be demanded or taken), shall, upon proof of the identity of the person of the offender, be sufficient evidence of the first conviction, without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the same; and if any such clerk, officer, or deputy shall utter a false certificate of any indictment and conviction for a previous felony, or if any person, other than such clerk, officer, or deputy, shall sign any such certificate as such clerk, officer, or deputy, or shall utter any such certificate with a false or counterfeit signature thereto, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being lawfully convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any

term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or pri vately whipped (if the court shall so think fit), in addition to such imprisonment.

XII. And be it enacted, That all offences Admiralty offences. prosecuted in the high court of Admiralty of England shall, upon every first and subsequent conviction, be subject to the same punishments, whether of death or otherwise, as if such offences had been committed upon the land.

a convict.

XIII. And be it declared and enacted, That Effect of a free or where the King's Majesty shall be pleased to conditional pardon to extend his royal mercy to any offender convicted of any felony punishable with death or otherwise, and by warrant under his royal sign manual, countersigned by one of his principal Secretaries of State, shall grant to such offender either a free or a conditional pardon, the discharge of such offender out of custody in the case of a free pardon, and the performance of the condition in the case of a conditional pardon, shall have the effect of a pardon under the great seal for such offender, as to the felony for which such pardon shall be so granted: Provided always, That no free par- Proviso. don, nor any such discharge in consequence thereof, nor any conditional pardon, nor the performance of the condition thereof, in any of the cases aforesaid, shall prevent or mitigate the punishment to which the offender might otherwise be lawfully sentenced on a subsequent conviction for any felony committed after the granting of any such pardon.

statutes.

XIV. And be it enacted, That wherever this Rule for the interpreor any other statute relating to any offence, tation of all criminal whether punishable upon indictment or summary conviction, in describing or referring