BENEFIT OF CLERGY, in English criminal law, the privilegium clericale, exemp tion of the clergy from penalties imposed by law for certain crimes. It was for many. cen turies an important element in the admitustra tion of criminal law and still is a curious and instructive part of the history of England. The origin of this privilege was a claim made by the ecclesiastics at an early period for the en tire exemption of their order from the juris diction of the common-law courts. The only exception was the cleric being held in custody by the king himself ; but, even in that case, he could only remain in such regal custody with the pleasure and consent of the bishop, who had entire control over his person and over the inquiry into his offense. If a priest or °clerk)) happened to be imprisoned by the secular arm, on a criminal charge or capital felony, he was, on the bishop's demand, to be instantly delivered up without any further in vestigation, to be detained by the ordinary till he had either purged himself from the offense. or, having failed to do so, had been degraded. This state of things continued till the Statute of Westminster the First, in 1275, which pro vided that the prisoner must first be indicted before he could be claimed; and then, in the reign of Henry VI, it was settled that the pris oner must first be convicted and might either then claim his clergy by plea declining the jurisdiction or, as was more usual, after con viction, by way of arresting judgment. The test of admission to this privilege was the cleri cal dress and tonsure. The statute Pro Clero (1350), however, extended it to all manner of clerks, and by later practice it was extended to all who could read, whether of the clergy or .laity. Women, however, except professed
nuns, were until the Reformation excluded. But laymen could claim it only once, and upon so doing were burned upon the hand and dis charged, to be again tried by the bishop and, if acquitted by the latter, restored to their liberty, credit and property. By a series of statutes most of the serious crimes and all capital crimes had been excluded from benefit of clergy before the end of the 17th century, but it was extended to all persons convicted of clergyable offenses, whether they could read or not ; and instead of burning on the hand, a discretionary power was given to the judge to inflict a pecuniary fine or imprisonment. The privilege was entirely abolished in England in 1827 (7 and 8 George IV, cap. F2). It had never any legal existence in Scotland. In scattered instances the right was recognized in the col onies of Carolina and Virginia. An act of Congiess passed 30 April 1790 provided that benefit of clergy shall not be allowed for any offenses punishable by death. It is now uni versally obsolete in English and American law. Consult Chitty,