Worried by the courts that convened in America and in Massachusetts in
particular, and their bias toward the colonists over their British governors,
on May 20, 1774, the Parliament passed the Administration of Justice Act. It
provided that the governor of Massachusetts had the authority to remove any
trial proceeding to another colony or to Great Britain; that witnesses could be
compelled to travel to the trial; and that in any case, bail was required even
in capital cases if the defendant contended that the crime of which they were
accused was committed while acting in an official capacity, such as the
suppression of riots.
The act purports to induce public servants to perform their duties by
removing fear of prosecution, a principle that extends to the United States,
where any public servants are immune from prosecution for certain acts;
however, the provision that the trial would be removed to Great Britain made it
impossible to try persons who deserved to be tried; the compelling of witnesses
to travel to Great Britain further made trial impossible (even though the Act
did provide for the expenses of the witnesses to be paid). These provisions
lead the colonists to rename the act the Murder Act, reflecting their fears
that insurrections would be put down with deadly force.
The Administration of Justice Act is one of the Intolerable Acts that lead
to dissent in the American colonies and to the creation of the Declaration of Rights and Grievances in 1774. It is also
known as the Impartial Administration of Justice Act.
The other Intolerable Acts are the Boston Port
Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the
Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act.
The source for this text is the Avalon
Project. The text has been modified slightly to expand abbreviations,
modernize spelling, and enhance readability. Footnotes explain arcane language
or uncommon terms.
An act for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of persons
questioned for any acts done by them in the execution of the law, or for the
suppression of riots and tumults, in the province of the Massachusetts Bay, in
New England.
1.
WHEREAS in his Majesty’s province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, an
attempt hath lately been made to throw off the authority of the parliament of
Great Britain over the said province, and an actual and avowed resistance, by
open force, to the execution of certain acts of parliament, hath been suffered
to take place, uncontrolled and unpunished, in defiance of his Majesty’s
authority, and to the subversion of all lawful government whereas, in the
present disordered state of the said province, it is of the utmost. importance
to the general welfare thereof, and to the re-establishment of lawful authority
throughout the same, that neither the magistrates acting in support of the
laws, nor any of his Majesty’s subjects aiding and assisting them therein, or
in the suppression of riots and tumults, raised in opposition to the execution
of the laws and statutes of this realm, should be discouraged from the proper
discharge of their duty, by an apprehension, that in case of their being
questioned for any acts done therein, they may be liable to be brought to trial
for the same before persons who do not acknowledge the validity of the laws, in
the execution thereof, or the authority of the magistrate in the support of
whom, such acts had been done: in order therefore to remove every such
discouragement from the minds of his Majesty’s subjects, and to induce them,
upon all proper occasions, to exert themselves in support of the public peace
of the provinces, and of the authority of the King and parliament of Great
Britain over the same; be it enacted by the King’s most excellent majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and
commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the
same, That if any inquisition or indictment shall be found, or if any appeal
shall be sued or preferred against any person, for murder, or other capital
offense, in the province Of the Massachusetts Bay, and it shall appear, by
information given upon oath to the governor, or, in his absence, to the
lieutenant-governor of the said province, that the fact was committed by the
person against whom such inquisition or indictment shall be found, or against
whom such appeal shall be sued or preferred, as aforesaid, either in the
execution of his duty as a magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in the
support of the laws of revenue, or in acting in his duty as an officer of
revenue, or in acting under the direction and order of any magistrate, for the
suppression of riots, or for the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or
in aiding and assisting in any of the cases aforesaid: and if it shall also
appear, to the satisfaction of the said governor, or lieutenant-governor
respectively, that an indifferent trial cannot be had within the said province,
in that case, it shall and may be lawful for the governor, or
lieutenant-governor, to direct, with the advice and consent of the council,
that the inquisition, indictment, or appeal, shall be tried in some other of
his Majesty’s colonies, or in Great Britain; and for that purpose, to order the
person against whom such inquisition or indictment shall be found, or against
whom such appeal shall be sued or preferred, as aforesaid, to be sent, under
sufficient custody, to the place appointed for his trial, or to admit such
person to bail, taking a recognizance, (which the said governor, or, in his
absence, the lieutenant-governor, is hereby authorized to take), from such
person, with sufficient sureties, [1] to be approved
of by the said governor, or, in his absence, the lieutenant-governor, in such
sums of money as the said governor or, in his absence, the lieutenant-governor,
shall deem reasonable for the personal appearance of such person, if the trial
shall be appointed to be had in any other colony, before the governor, or
lieutenant-governor, or commander in chief of such colony; and if the trial
shall be appointed to be had in Great Britain, then before his Majesty’s court
of King’s Bench, [2] at a time to be mentioned in
such recognizances; and the governor, or lieutenant-governor, or commander in
chief of the colony where such trial shall be appointed to be had, or court of
King’s Bench, where the trial is appointed to be had in Great Britain, upon the
appearance of such person, according to such recognizance, or in custody, shall
either commit such person, or admit him to bail, until such trial; and which
the said governor, or lieutenant-governor, or commander in chief, and court of
King’s Bench, are hereby authorized and empowered to do.
2.
And, to prevent a failure of justice, from the want of evidence on the trial
of any such inquisition, indictment or appeal, be it further enacted, That the
governor, or, in his absence, the lieutenant-governor, shall, and he is hereby
authorized and required, to bind in recognizances to his Majesty all such
witnesses as the prosecutor or person against whom such inquisition or
indictment shall be found, or appeal sued or preferred, shall desire to attend
the trial of the said inquisition, indictment, or appeal, for their personal
appearance, at the time and place of such trial, to give evidence: and the
said governor, or in his absence, the lieutenant-governor, shall thereupon
appoint a reasonable sum to be allowed for the expenses of every such witness,
and shall thereupon give to each witness a certificate, in writing, under his
hand and seal, that such witness has entered into a recognizance to give
evidence, and specifying the sum allowed for his expenses and the collector and
collectors of the customs, or one of them, within the said province, upon the
delivery of such certificate, are, and is hereby authorized and required,
forthwith to pay to such witness the sum specified therein for his
expenses.
3.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all prosecutors
and witnesses, who shall be under recognizances to appear in any of his
Majesty’s colonies in America, or in Great Britain, in pursuance of this act,
shall be free from all arrests and restraints, in any action or suit to be
commenced against them during their going to such colony, or coming to Great
Britain, and their necessary stay and abiding there, on occasion of such
prosecution, and returning again to the said province of the Massachusetts
Bay.
4.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every his
Majesty’s, justices of the peace, and other justices and coroners, before whom
any person shall be brought, charged with murder, or other capital crime, where
it shall appear by proof, on oath, to such justices or coroners, that the fact
was committed by such person, either in the execution of his duty as a
magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in the support of the laws of
revenue, or in acting in his duty as an officer of revenue, or in acting under
the direction and order of any magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or for
the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or in aiding and assisting in any
of the cases aforesaid, are hereby authorized and required to admit every such
person to brought before him or them, as aforesaid, to bail; any law, custom,
or usage, to the contrary thereof in any-wise notwithstanding.
5.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where it shall be
made appear to the judges or justices of any court, within the said province of
Massachusetts Bay, by any person, against whom any inquisition or indictment
shall be found, or appeal sued or preferred for murder, or other capital crime,
that the fact was committed by such person, either in the execution of his duty
as a magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in the support of the laws of
revenue, or in acting in his duty as an officer of revenue, or in acting under
the direction and order of any magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or for
the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or in aiding and assisting in any
of the cases aforesaid, and that he intends to make application to the
governor, or lieutenant-governor of the said province, that such inquisition ,
indictment, or appeal, may be tried in some other of his Majesty’s colonies, or
in Great Britain, the said judges or justices are hereby authorized and
required to adjourn or postpone the trial of such inquisition, indictment, or
appeal, for a reasonable time, and admit the person to bail, in order that he
may make application to the governor, or lieutenant-governor, for the purpose
aforesaid.
6.
And be it further enacted, That the governor, or, in his absence, the
lieutenant governor, if he shall direct the trial to be had in any other of his
Majesty’s colonies, shall transmit the inquisition, indictment , or appeal,
together with recognizances of the witnesses, and other recognizances, under
the seal of the province, to the governor, or lieutenant-governor, or commander
in chief of such other colony, who shall immediately issue a commission of Oyer
and Terminer, [3] and deliver, or cause to be
delivered, the said inquisition, indictment, or appeal, with the said
recognizances to the chief justice, and such other persons as have usually been
commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, justices of assize, [4] or general jail delivery there; who shall have power to
proceed upon the said inquisition, indictment, or appeal, as if the same had
been returned, found, or preferred before them; and the trial shall thereupon
proceed in like manner, to all intents and purposes, as if the offense had been
committed in such place: and in case the governor, or, in his absence the
lieutenant-governor, shall direct the trial to be had in Great Britain, he
shall then transmit the inquisition, indictment or appeal; together with the
recognizances, of the witnesses, and other recognizances, under the seal of the
province to one of Majesty’s principal secretaries of state, who shall deliver,
or cause to be delivered, the same, to the master of the crown office to be
filed of record in the court of King’s Bench, and the inquisition, indictment,
or appeal, shall be tried and proceeded upon, in the next term, or at such
other time as the court shall appoint, at the bar of the court of King’s Bench,
in like manner to all intents and purposes, as if the offense had been
committed in the county of Middlesex, or in any other county of that part of
Great Britain called England, where the court of King’s Bench shall sit, or
else before such commissioners, and in such county, in that part of Great
Britain called England, as shall be assigned by the King’s majesty’s
commission, in like manner and form to all intents and purposes, as if such
offense had been committed in the same county where such inquisition,
indictment, or appeal, shall be so tried.
7.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case, on account of
any error or defect in any indictment, which, in virtue or under the authority
of this act, shall be transmitted to any other colony, or to Great Britain, the
same shall be quashed, or judgment thereon arrested, or such indictment
adjudged bad upon demurrer, it shall and may be lawful to prefer a new
indictment or indictments against the person or persons accused in the said
colony, to which such indictment, so quashed or adjudged bad shall have been
transmitted, or before the grand jury of any county in Great Britain, in case
such former indictment shall have been transmitted to Great Britain, in the
same manner as could be done in case the party accused should return to the
place where the offense was committed; and the grand jury and petit jury of
such other colony or county in Great Britain shall have power to find and
proceed upon such indictment or indictments, in the same manner as if the
offense, by such indictment or indictments charged, had been committed within
the limits of the colony or county for which such juries shall respectively be
impaneled to serve.
8.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this act, and
every clause, provision, regulation, and thing, herein contained, shall
commence and take effect upon June 1, 1774; and be, and continue in force, for
and during the term of three years.
Footnotes
1. A surety is analagous to a bail bond.
2. The King’s Bench (known as the Queen’s Bench when the
monarch is female) was the criminal branch of the English courts, as
distinguished from the common court.
3. A commission of oyer and terminer is akin to a grand
jury in the American legal process.
4. A court of assize is a criminal court.