Odger's English Common Law

Chapter X.
CONSPIRACY.
A conspiracy is an agreement by two or more persons
to carry out an unlawful common purpose or to carry out a
lawful common purpose by unlawful means. It is a
misdemeanour at common law, punishable with fine and
imprisonment to any extent; and also with hard labour in
the case of " any conspiracy to cheat or defraud, or to extort
money or goods, or falsely to accuse of any crime, or to
obstruct, prevent, pervert or defeat the course of public
justice." * The offence is not triable at Quarter Sessions,
unless the conspiracy is to commit a crime which would be
triable at Quarter Sessions if committed by one person. 2
It is a statutory misdemeanour, 3 punishable with ten
years' penal servitude, to conspire to murder, or to endeavour
to persuade or propose to any one to murder, any person,
whether he be a subject of His Majesty or not, and whether
he be within the King's dominions or not. Apparently no
other conspiracy here to commit a crime abroad is triable in
this country; still less is a conspiracy abroad to commit a
crime here.
The crime consists in the bare consent and agreement of
the parties. 4
It is 'not necessary that any of them should do
any act in pursuance of their agreement. This is no breach
of the rule laid down by Lord Mansfield, C. J., in E. v.
Scofield, 5 that a bare intent, however criminal, is not punish-
able by our law ; for the agreement itself is an act, and will
i 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 29.
2 Quarter Sessions Act, 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. 38), s. 1.
3 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 4. An article in a newspaper, exulting over the
assassination of the Emperor of Russia and commending it as an example, was
held to be an encouragement or endeavour to persuade to murder within this
section, although it was not addressed to any one in particular : R. v. Mott
(1881), 7 Q. B. D. 244.
* See the judgments of Tindal, C. J., in O'Connell v. R. (1844), 11 CI. & F. at
p. 233, and' of Lord Chelmsford in Mulcahy v. R. (1868), L. R. 3 H. L. at p. 328.
5 (1784), Cald. S. C at p. 403.