The consequences of outlawry are the forfeiture of goods and chattels universally. Where it taken place upon a prosecution for treason or murder, it amounts to a conviction and attainder of the offence charged, and therefore all the outlaw's real property, as well as his personalty, in forfeited. Where it takes place upon criminal prosecutions for other offences, or upon civil actions, the profits only of the defendant's lands are, during his life, forfeited to the crown. The outlaw, having neither the privilege nor protection of the law, is incapable of maintaining any action ; at common law he cannot be a juror, as he is not " liber et legalis ; " and he is expressly excluded from acting as such by atat. 6 Geo. IV., c. 50, sec. 3.
The consequences of outlawry being so highly penal, the law has at all times been careful that no person shall be outlawed without sufficient notice of the process of the court, and without satisfactory proof of his contumacy. He must be called or enacted in five successive county courts, or in five successive beatings, if in London ; if lie renders himself, the sheriff takes him. But if lie does not appear at the fifth county-court or busting, judgment of outlawry is forthwith pronounced by the coroners, who are the judges for this purpose in the connty.court, and by the recorder if the proceedings aro in London
(Co. Litt., 288 b; Dyer, 223 a, 317 a). Upon this return a writ of (Ivies utlegatum may be issued into any county to arrest the defendant, and other process follows against his property. As an additional security that a man shall not be outlawed without notice of the process to which he is required to appear, the sheriff must make three proclamations of him in notorious places in the county a month before the outlawry shall take place.
An outlawry may be reversed by writ of error, in which the party may avail himself of errors either of law or fact ; the slightest mistake in any part of the proceedings being sufficient to avoid the outlawry. It wan formerly necessary to procure a pardon from the crown, by which the outlaw was restored to his law, and became " inlagritua." It has long been the usual course for the courts to reverse outlawries upon motion, justice being thus expedited and expense saved.