Seditious Meetings Act 1795

Seditious Meetings Act 1795
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn act for the more effectually preventing seditious meetings and assemblies.
Citation36 Geo. 3. c. 8
Territorial extent Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent18 December 1795
Commencement18 December 1795
Repealed12 July 1869
Other legislation
Repealed byNewspapers, Printers, and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869
Relates toTreason Act 1795
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Seditious Meetings Act 1795 (36 Geo. 3. c. 8) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in December 1795; it had as its purpose was to restrict the size of public meetings to fifty persons.

It was the second of the well known "Two Acts" (also known as the "Gagging Acts" or the "Grenville and Pitt Bills"), the other being the Treason Act 1795 (36 Geo. 3. c. 7). It also required a magistrate's license for lecturing and debating halls where admission was charged and policies discussed.