Offences against the person

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c 100) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person (an expression, which, in particular, includes offences of violence) from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier Consolidation Act, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (and the equivalent Irish Act), incorporating subsequent statutes. Although it has been substantially amended, it continues to be the foundation for prosecuting personal injury, short of murder, in the courts of England and Wales. The Act was also adopted in British possessions. For example, New Zealand adopted the Act in 1866. In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, the sexual offences under the Act have all been repealed. For legislation referring to sexual offences, see the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008. In Northern Ireland, the 1861 Act was the basis for a ban on abortion until 2019 when it was amended by the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. Commentary The Act as originally drafted listed specific methods whereby harm might be caused. For example, section 18 originally included an offence of shooting which could be committed with any of the specified intents. Sections 11 to 15 specified various means by which a person might attempt to commit murder. In some cases, these reflected political issues then of great significance. For example, the Fenians were promoting their political case by leaving barrels of explosives in public places.  Hence, sections 28 to 30 and 64 specifically address the problem, whether injury results or not. Similarly, children were throwing stones at passing railway trains, and these provisions remain in force. As originally enacted, the Act had 79 sections. In England and Wales, 37 sections remain in force, namely sections 4, 5, 9, 10, 16 to 18, 20 to 38, 44, 45, 47, 57 to 60, 64, 65, 68 and 78. Of those, only sections 25, 34 to 36 and 78 have not been either partially repealed or otherwise amended. Different subsets of its provisions remain in force in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. Dangerous offenders See the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for further provisions about sentencing for manslaughter and for offences under sections 4 and 16 to 47 of this Act. Homicide Sections 1 to 3 – Murder Sections 1 to 3 dealt with the death penalty for murder and have been repealed. In the Republic of Ireland, the references to murder in these sections were changed to references to capital murder by section 15 of the Criminal Justice Act 1964. They were repealed by section 9(1) of, and the second schedule to, the Criminal Justice Act 1990. But the repeal of section 1 did not affect the operation of sections 64 to 68.(s.9(2)) Section 1 – Penalty for murder This section replaced the corresponding provision in section 3 of the Offences against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo 4 c 31) and section 4 of the corresponding Irish Act (10 Geo 4 c 34). Section 3 – Disposal of body This section provided that the body of every person executed for murder was to be buried within the precincts of the last prison in which he had been confined, and that his sentence was to direct that this should happen. It replaced the corresponding provision in section 16 of the Anatomy Act 1832 (as amended by section 1 of the next mentioned Act) and replaced section 2 of the Hanging in Chains Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will 4 c 26). Section 4 The penalty for offences under this section was increased by article 5(1) of the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, but not in relation to offences "committed before the commencement" of that order (art.5(3)). Soliciting to murder This section creates the offence of soliciting to murder. Conspiracy to murder This section creates the offence of conspiracy to murder in the Republic of Ireland. The repeal of as much of this section as related to the offence of conspiracy to murder for England and Wales was consequential on the codification of conspiracy by Part I of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The effect of this section, in relation to conspiracy to commit murder abroad, was preserved by section 1(4) of that Act. The repeal of as much of this section as related to the offence of conspiracy to murder for Northern Ireland was consequential on the codification of conspiracy by Part IV of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/1120 (N.I. 13)). Section 5 – Manslaughter This section now provides that a person convicted of manslaughter in English law is liable to imprisonment for life or for any shorter term. In England and Wales it now reads: Whosoever shall be convicted of manslaughter shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be kept in penal servitude for life ... Repeals The words "or to pay" to the end were repealed by Part I of Tenth Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act 1948. The other words were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892. "Penal servitude for life"