ABSTRACT
Arguably, the most essential crimes against the state are those specifically directed at protecting the political establishment from individuals or organisations seeking to overthrow the current order, or the socio-economic system underpinning it. Historically, however, social revolutions have played an indispensable role in human progress. Revolutions were needed to end absolutism and feudalism. It took the English Civil War of the 1640s and the overthrow of the absolutist monarchy, which was ultimately sealed by the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688-9, to clear the path for the rise of British capitalism. That revolution was accompanied by legal and political theories that recognised the right to overthrow a dictatorial or abusive regime. Notably, John Locke, a seminal figure in Western political and legal philosophy, declared a right to rebellion against a tyrannical government, or one that had violated the people’s trust (Freeman 2001: 114-5).
