Odger's English Common Law

SEDITIOUS ACTS. 155
None of the above offences are triable at Quarter Sessions.
It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove expressly
that the defendant intended and desired any of the results
stated above : it is sufficient that his acts or words tended to
produce such a result. The defendant will be presumed to
have intended those consequences which would flow naturally
from his conduct. It is always a question for the jury
whether his acts or words would or would not in fact tend to
produce any of these results ; if they would, public safety
demands their repression.
" Every man (who is of sufficient understanding to be responsible for his
actions) is supposed to be cognisant of the law, as it is the rule by which
every subject of the kingdom is to be governed, and therefore it is his
business to know it. If, therefore, a man publishes that which the law
says is treasonable, seditious or rebellious, the alleging in the indictment
or information that the party did it with a libellous or seditious intent is a
mere matter of legal inference from the fact of publication, and not the
object of proof either on one side or the other." But " where the fact of
publication is ambiguous (as where it may be a doubt whether the party
pulled the paper out of his pocket by accident or on purpose, or whether
he gave one paper instead of another, or any such supposable case) there
the maxim holds that actus nonfacit reum, nisi mens sit rea." 1
If the defendant's acts or words attack the honour and
integrity of our judges, or in any way tend to obstruct the
administration of justice, they are not only seditious : they
are also a contempt of court, and may be punished summarily
as such. 2
Insolent misconduct in defiance of either House of
Parliament or scandalous attacks on a member of either
House may also be punished as a contempt of the House. 3
One striking instance of a seditious act is that of inciting
soldiers or sailors to desert or to mutiny. Any one who
maliciously endeavours to seduce from his allegiance to His
Majesty or incites to any act of mutiny any person serving
in His Majesty's forces by sea or land is guilty of felonly
and liable to penal servitude for life or to imprisonment for
1 Per Ashurst, J., in R. v. Shipley (1784), 4 Dougl. at p. 177 ; and see Mcleod
. St. Aubyn, [1899] A. 0. 549.
* See post, p. 201.
8 See Odgers on Libel and Slander (5th ed.), p. 521