Punishment of Offences Act
The Punishment of Offences Act (7 Will 4 & 1 Vict c 91) (1837) 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.
.svg.png.webp) | |
| Long title | An Act for abolishing the Punishment of Death in certain Cases. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 7 Will 4 & 1 Vict c 91 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 July 1837 |
| Commencement | 1 October 1837[2] |
| Repealed | 21 July 2008[3] |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008 |
Status: Repealed | |
Preamble
The 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
Immediately before its repeal 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The words "after the commencement of this Act" in the first place were repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890.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than fifteen years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years" in the second and third places were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892.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to offences under the Riot Act, the Murder Act 1751 and section 4 of the Unlawful Oaths Act 1812, this section was repealed by section 10(2) of, and Part III of Schedule 3 to the Criminal Law Act 1967.
It was repealed for Northern Ireland by section 15 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967.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
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1893.
Section 3 - Not to affect Powers of 5 & 6 W.4 c.38 and 4 G.4 c.64
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890.
Section 4 - Repeal of 2 Jac. l c.31
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.
Section 5 - Commencement of act
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.
References
- The citation of this Act by this statute was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896
- The Punishment of Offences Act, section 5
- The repealing Act came into force on the day that it received royal assent because no other date wasspecified: the Interpretation Act 1978, section 4
External links
- The Punishment of Offences Act, as amended, from the National Archives
- The Punishment of Offences Act, as originally enacted, from the National Archives (HTML)