United Kingdom legislation
The Forfeitures Act 1361 (34 Edw. 3. c. 12) was an act of the Parliament of England. It prohibited "forfeiture for treason of [by] dead persons not attainted or judged in their lives."
Prior to the act being passed, land and goods had been confiscated from the surviving relatives of dead people as a penalty for treason committed by the deceased even though they had not been convicted during their lifetime. The Act prevented the posthumous seizure of property for treason except where the prior owner had been convicted while they were alive.
References
- Statutes at Large, vol. II, Danby Pickering, Cambridge University Press (1762), pp. 141–142.
See also
