The King v Platt
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1815 |
| Date | 01 January 1815 |
| Court | Court of the King's Bench |
English Reports Citation: 168 E.R. 181
THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH
Referred to, R v Casement, [1917] 1 K. B. 98
case LXXXVI. the king v platt (A prisoner committed to Newgate for high treason in North America, who is only triable before the King's Bench, or under a special commission, cannot be admitted to bail under the Habeas Corpus Act, by Justices of Gaol Delivery, or (1) See the case of Mrs. Rudd, ante, p. 115, case 70. 18B THE KING V. PLATT l ia*CH IK. discharged by their proclamation for want of prosecution Prisoner in custody under defective commitments may be discharged under a gaol delivery. Prisoners triable under special commissions may be discharged by gaol delivery Red QtL) [Referred to, R v Casement, [1917] 1 K. B. 98 ] Old Bailey February Session 1777. The prisoner had been committed to the Gaol of Newgate on the 23d January 1777, by virtue of the following warrant, ' '' To the Keeper of his Majesty's Gaol of Newgate, or his Deputy. [158T] " These are in his Majesty's name to authorise and require you to receive into your &natody the body of Ebenezet Smith Platt, herewith sent you, charged before me, mpon the oath of Richard Scnven and Samuel Burnet, with High Treason at Savanaat in the Colony of Georgia in North America and you are to keep him safe, until he shall be delivered by due course of law . and for so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant " W addington " By the Habeas Corpus Act, 31 Car. II c. 2, s. 7, it is enacted. " That if any person or persons committed for high treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of commitment, upon his prayer or petition in open Court, the first week of the Term, or first day of the Sessions of Oyer and Termmer, or Oeneral Gaol Delivery, to be brought to his trial, shall not be indicted some time in the next Term, Sessions of Oyer and Ternaner, or General Gaol Delivery, after saeh commitment, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, and Justices of Oyer and Termmer, and General Gaol Delivery, and they are hereby required, upon motion to them made in open Court, the last day of the Term, Sessioni, or Gaol Delivery, either by the prisoner or any one on his behalf, to set at liberty the prisoner upon bail, unless it appear to the Judges and Justices, upon oath made^ that the witnesses for the King could not be produced the same Term, Sessions, or General Gaol Delivery and if any person or persons committed as aforesaid, upon his prayer or petition in open Court, the first weei: of the Term, or first day of the Sessions of Oyer and Termmer and General Gaol Delivery, to be brought to his trial shall not be indicted and tried the second Term, Sessions of Oyer and Termmer, and General Gaol Delivery, after his commitment, or upon his trial shall be acquitted, he shall be discharged from his imprisonment," Provided, " That if any person or persons at any time resident in this realm, shall have committed any capital offence in Scotland or Ireland, or any of the Islaads or [159} Foreign Plantations of the King, his heirs or successors^ where hex)i she ought to be tried for such offence, such person or persons may be sent there, to receive such tnal, in such manner as the same might have been used before the passing ei this Act." But by the statute of 3i Hen VIII. c 2, it is enacted, " That all treasons committed out of this realm of England shall be enquired of, heard, and determined before the Court of King's Bench, or else before such commissioners, and in such shire of the realm, as shall be assigned by the King's commission," &c (see 33 Hen. VOL c. 23). To enable the prisoner to procure his discharge under the Habeas Corpus Act, he presented his petition to the Court of Over and Termmer, and General Gaol Delivery (Mr. Justice Gould, Mr Justice Willes, Mr. Baron Perryn, Mr Serjeant Glynn, Recorder), at the Old Bailey, on the first day of the February Session next aft-er his commitment ; ami do indictment having been preferred against him, nor any affidavit made that the witnesses for the Crown could not be produced during thtt Session, he prayed (1) on the last day of the Session, that he might be admitted to Tiail and discharged A Question arose, on the form f his commitment, Whether the Court of Gaol Delivery by their general power under the commission, or by their special power under the Habeas Corpus Act, had sufficient authority for this purpose ? The question was argued by Mr Howarth and Mr. Allen for the prisoner, and by Mr. Attorney-General (Edward ThurJow, Esq ) and Mr Wallace for the Crown. (i) See B&rnardi's case m the Appendix to the 10 St. Trials, 64. 1LEMKMB. TK3 KUTG V. PLATT 183 Fox th Prisoner. Justices ol Gaol Delivery have by the common law jurisdiction in high treason, try vtrtue of the generality of their commission ; the words ol which mclrnde aU prisoners alike without exceptional ) This is confirmed by the statute ef 1 Edw. VI. e. 7, which enacts, " That in all cases where any person shall have beem found guilty of any manner of treason* and. reprieved before judgment, subsequent Justices of Gaol Delirery shall have power to give judgment of death against such person, as the Justices brfore whom suck person was found guilty might have [160J done, if their commission of Gaol Dehvery had continued in force." And it follows, say&Lord Coke, 4 Inst. 169, that by the judgment of the whole Parliament, they may new deliver the gaol of prisoner! committed for this high offence By the Habeas C&fjnt$ Act also, they are empowa-ed to admit to bail a prisoner committed fot high treason who has petitioned for his discharge, and who has not been indicted some time in the next Session after his commitment Mr. Platt therefore, being found inrthe gaol, and having complied vnth the forms of the Act, is entitled either to be discharged, upon the proclamation under the commission of Gaol Delivery (2 last. fi ; 4 Bl. Corn. 270), or to be bailed by virtue of the statute ; for otherwise a potsob mig^it be imprisoned for life, without the possibility of redress , and the Court ia its exercise ol its powers by common law, or in the construction of the statute, wdl incline to do that which is most favourable to the liberty of the subject. But it may be said, that this authority to admit a prisoner to bail under the Habeas Corpus Act, or to discharge him at the call over does not extend to cases of...
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