Hue and cry

In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime.

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Template:Infobox UK legislation Template:Infobox UK legislation By the Statute of Winchester of 1285 (13 Edw. 1. St. 2. c. 4), it was provided that anyone, either a constable or a private citizen, who witnessed a crime shall make hue and cry, and that the hue and cry must be kept up against the fleeing criminal from town to town and from county to county, until the felon is apprehended and delivered to the sheriff. All able-bodied men between the ages of fifteen and sixty, upon hearing the shouts, were obliged to assist in the pursuit of the criminal, which makes it comparable to the posse comitatus.<ref name="misprision">Template:Cite journal</ref> It was moreover provided that "the whole hundred ... shall be answerable" for the theft or robbery committed, in effect a form of collective punishment. Those who raised a hue and cry falsely were themselves guilty of a crime.<ref name="googlebooks">Template:Cite book</ref>

The hue and cry was utilised in medieval European towns and villages as a means of community policing.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The oath of office for constables in the United States state of Tennessee specifically mentions that it is the duty of the constable to sound the hue and cry.Template:Efn

Etymology

It is possible that the term is an Anglicisation via Anglo-French of the Latin Template:Lang, meaning "a horn and shouting".<ref name="worldwidewords.org">Template:Cite web</ref> Other sources indicate that it has always been a somewhat redundant phrase meaning an outcry and cry, though such "redundancy" is a feature of the legal doublet. "Hue" appears to come from the Old French Template:Lang, which means "to shout", and "cry" from Old French Template:Lang ("to cry").<ref>Template:OED</ref><ref name="phrases.org">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="freedictionary.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="amheritage">Template:Cite book</ref>

Cultural references

• From the late 18th century until 1839, Hue and Cry was a principal or variant title for the weekly newspaper, containing details of crimes and wanted people, that afterwards became better known as the Police Gazette.
• Hue and Cry is a 1947 British film, which culminates in a call made to local children over the radio to join in the hunt to apprehend the villains.

See also

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Further reading

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