The Punishment of Offences Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 91) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It abolished the death penalty for a number of statutory offences and replaced it with transportation for life.
 | |
| Long title | An Act for abolishing the Punishment of Death in certain Cases. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 91 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 July 1837 |
| Commencement | 1 October 1837[2] |
| Repealed | 21 July 2008[3] (United Kingdom) |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes | 1 Jas. 1 Plague Act 1603 c. 31 |
| Amended by | |
| Repealed by | Repealed as to the United Kingdom by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of the Punishment of Offences Act 1837 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
This Act originally extended to the United Kingdom (which then included the whole of Ireland).
This Act was retained for the Republic of Ireland by section 2(2)(a) of, and Part 4 of Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.
This Act was repealed as to New Zealand by section 412(1) of, and the Fourth Schedule to, the Crimes Act 1961.
Preamble
editThe preamble specified the following offences:
- offences under sections 1 and 4 and 5 of the Riot Act
- offences under section 9 of the Murder Act 1751
- offences under section 10 of the Prisoners (Rescue) Act (Ireland) 1791
- offences under section 1 of the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
- offences under section 1 of the Incitement to Disaffection Act (Ireland) 1797
- offences under section 1 and 4 of the Unlawful Oaths Act 1812
- offences under section 9 of the Slave Trade Act 1824
Section 1
editImmediately before its repeal in England and Wales this section read:
If any person shall . . . be convicted of any of the offences herein-before mentioned, such person shall not suffer death or have sentence of death awarded against him or her for the same, but shall be liable . . . to be transported beyond the seas for the term of the natural life of such person . . .
The words "after the commencement of this Act" in the first place were repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890. The words "at the discretion of the court" and "or for any Term not less than fifteen years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years" in the second and third places were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892.
So far as it related to offences under the Riot Act, the Murder Act 1751 and section 4 of the Unlawful Oaths Act 1812, this section was repealed by section 10(2) of, and Part III of Schedule 3 to the Criminal Law Act 1967.
It was repealed for Northern Ireland by section 15 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967.
The penalty was reduced to penal servitude for life by section 2 of the Penal Servitude Act 1857, and to imprisonment for life by section 1(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948, of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1949, and of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1953. Section 1(1) of the 1949 Act was replaced by section 221(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975.
Section 2 - Offences punishable by imprisonment
editThis section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1893.
Section 3 - Not to affect Powers of 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 38 and 4 Geo. 4. c. 64
editThis section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890.
Section 4 - Repeal of 1 Jas. 1. c. 31
editThis section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.
Section 5 - Commencement of Act
editThis section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.
References
edit- Halsbury's Statutes,
- David M Walker. A Legal History of Scotland. Butterworths LexisNexis. 2001. Volume 6 (The Nineteenth Century). Pages 380, 407 and 459.
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ The Punishment of Offences Act 1837, section 5
- ^ The repealing Act came into force on the day that it received royal assent because no other date was specified: the Interpretation Act 1978, section 4
External links
edit- The Punishment of Offences Act, as amended, from the National Archives
- The Punishment of Offences Act, as originally enacted, from the National Archives (HTML)