Attainder - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition attainder

Definition :

Attainder [fr. attaindre, Fr. (attainder, O. F.-Roquef.); attingo, Lat., which signifies the apprehension of the object of a chase], the stain or corruption of the blood of a criminal capitally condemned; it is the immediate inseparable consequence, by the Common Law, of sentence of death being pronounced, or of outlawry for a capital offence. the criminal then becomes dead in law, technically called civiliter mortuus. It differs from conviction in that it is after judgment, whereas conviction is

upon the verdict of guilty but before judgment pronounced, and may be quashed upon some point of law reserved, or judgment may be arrested. See Co. Litt. 390 b, 391 a.

A descendant may now trace descent through an attainted ancestor by virtue of the (English) Inheritance Act, 1833 (3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 106), s. 10; and by the (English) Forfeiture Act, 1870 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 23), it is now provided that no conviction for treason or felony shall cause attainder or forfeiture. See BILL OF ATTAINDER.