In Canada, the maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy is 14 years in jail. In British India, the charge was used to imprison independence activists, and the extension of their imprisonment by the 1919 Rowlatt Act led to Mahatma Gandhi's call for nonviolent resistance. The charge has been used against labour activists in both Canada and Australia, such as the leaders of the 1919 Winnipeg general strike and the Sydney Twelve. Ĭharges of seditious conspiracy were notably brought in the United Kingdom against Irish radicals and Chartists in the 19th century before being abolished in 2010. A trend of jury nullifications in the 18th century ultimately limited the scope of seditious crimes. Enforcement of both types of offence under the Tudors and Stuarts grew increasingly harsh courts judged the accused's intentions suspiciously, allowing juries to decide only whether the alleged events had occurred.
Seditious conspiracy, like other forms of sedition, developed during the late medieval period to apply to activities that threatened the social order but fell short of constructive treason. Criticising a policy or state institution for the purpose of obtaining lawful reform is not seditious. In common law jurisdictions, seditious conspiracy is an agreement by two or more persons to do any act with the intention to excite hatred or contempt against the persons or institutions of state, to excite the alteration by unlawful means of a state or church matter established by law, to raise discontent among the people, or to promote ill will and enmity between classes.
Main article: Sedition § History in common law jurisdictions
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