High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's monarch or country. Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the best-known examples of high treason. High treason requires that the alleged traitor has obligations of loyalty in the state he or she betrayed, such as citizenship, although presence in the state at the time is sufficient. Foreign spies, assassins, and saboteurs, though not suffering the dishonor associated with conviction for high treason, may still be tried and punished judicially for acts of espionage, assassination, or sabotage, though in contemporary times, foreign spies and saboteurs are usually repatriated following capture. High treason is considered a serious offense, and carries the
death penalty in some countries.
Historically, in
common law countries high treason was differentiated from
petty treason, which was the act of killing a lawful superior (such as a servant killing his or her master or mistress). It was, in effect, considered a more serious degree of
murder. As jurisdictions around the world abolished petty treason, the concept of petty treason gradually faded, and today use of the word "
treason" generally refers to "high treason."
Canadian law
In
Canadian law, however, there are two separate offences of
treason and
high treason, but both of these, in fact, fall in the historical category of high treason.
[, section 46.] In Canada, the main difference in law between
treason and
high treason depends on whether the nation is at war or not. Most acts (attempting to overthrow the government, spying for a foreign power, revealing state secrets, etc.) are considered in peacetime to constitute the crime of “treason”.
[ Section 46; part 2, (a) through (e), inclusive.] The same acts, committed in wartime, however, constitute the crime of “high treason”.
[ Section 46; part 1, (b) and (c).] Only the act of attempting to assassinate the Queen is legally considered “high treason” during times of peace.
[ Section 46; part 1, (a). The section reads, “...kills or attempts to kill Her Majesty...” but that should be understood to mean also her heirs and successors. Section 46 does not, however, address the assassination of the Governor General in any way.] The practical distinction between the two offenses is, however, minimal.
[ Section 47.] The punishment for
high treason in Canadian law is mandatory life imprisonment. The punishment for
treason is imprisonment up to life,
[ Section 47; part 1, for cases of high treason; part 2, (a) for cases of treason.] except where the treasonable offence is the betrayal of scientific or military state secrets. The punishment in this situation is life imprisonment during wartime (
high treason),
[ Section 47; part 2, (b).] but imprisonment of a term not exceeding fourteen years in peacetime (
treason).
[ Section 47; part 2, (c).]See also
