Criminal Code of England and Wales

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The jurisdiction of England and Wales does not have a Criminal Code though such an instrument has been often recommended and attempted. The creation of such a Code would require both consolidation and codification.

Contents

The Law Commission views a comprehensive criminal code as desirable in principle, but not currently feasible as a single undertaking. Its present approach is incremental simplification of discrete offence-areas and procedural law, creating code-ready statutes over time. [1]

History

... with a view to its systematic development and reform, including in particular the codification of [the] law ... and generally the simplification and modernisation of the law. [2]

— A Criminal Code team is set up including academic lawyer Professor Sir John Cyril Smith, the outstanding criminal lawyer of his time. [2]

Arguments for a Code

Attorney-General Sir John Holker said:

Surely, it is a desirable thing that anybody who may want to know the law on a particular subject should be able to turn to a chapter of the Code, and there find the law he is in search of explained in a few intelligible and well-constructed sentences; nor would he have to enter upon a long examination of Russell on Crimes , or Archbold , and other text-books, because he would have a succinct and clear statement before him. [2]

Sir John Smith was, in general an opponent of legal codes but said:

The criminal law is entirely different. It is incoherent and inconsistent. State almost any general principle and you find one or more leading cases which contradict it. It is littered with distinctions which have no basis in reason but are mere historical accidents. I am in favour of codification of the criminal law because I see no other way of reducing a chaotic system to order, of eliminating irrational distinctions and of making the law reasonably comprehensible, accessible and certain. These are all practical objects. Irrational distinctions mean injustice. A is treated differently from B when there is no rational ground for treating him differently; and this is not justice. [2]

Reports of the Royal Commissions

Royal Commission on the Criminal Law

Royal Commission on Revising and Consolidating the Criminal Law

Royal Commission on the Law Relating to Indictable Offences

Law Commission Reports and Papers

Codification of the Criminal Law: Law Com. Nos 143 and 177

Sources: [12] [13]

For a complete list of Law Commission reports and papers about criminal law generally, see Law Commission Criminal Law Reports and Papers.

Suggested reading

Books

Chapters in books

Journal articles

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Simplification of the criminal law". Law Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lord Bingham (1998)
  3. ↑ Farmer, Lindsay (2000). "Reconstructing the English Codification Debate: The Criminal Law Commissioners, 1833-45" . Law and History Review. 18 (2): 397–425. doi:10.2307/744300. ISSN   0738-2480. JSTOR   744300.
  4. ↑ "Criminal Code (Indictable Offences) Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk.
  5. ↑ Report of the Law Commission on Codification of the Criminal Law (LC No. 143) (PDF). 28 March 1985.
  6. ↑ Law Commission (1989)
  7. ↑ Home Secretary (2002) Justice for All Archived 2007-07-12 at the Wayback Machine , Cm.5563, p.17
  8. ↑ Great Britain. Royal Commission (1971). Reports from the Royal Commission on the Criminal Law with Appendices and Index, 1834-41. Internet Archive. Shannon : Irish University Press. ISBN   9780716511397.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  9. ↑ Great Britain. Royal Commission for Revising and Consolidating the Criminal Law (1971). Reports from the Royal Commission on the Criminal Law : with appendices and index, 1843-45. Internet Archive. Shannon : Irish University Press. ISBN   9780716511403.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  10. ↑ Great Britain. Royal Commission for Revising and Consolidating the Criminal Law (1971). Reports from the Royal Commission on Revising and Consolidating the Criminal Law; with appendices and index, 1845-49. Internet Archive. Shannon : Irish University Press. pp. 9–169. ISBN   978-0-7165-1141-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  11. ↑ Report of the Royal Commission on the Law Relating to Indictable Offences (C. 2345) (PDF). April 1879.
  12. ↑ "Codification of the Criminal Law". Law Commission.
  13. ↑ "Criminal Law: A Criminal Code". Law Commission.
  14. ↑ Law Commission (1985). Criminal Law: Codification of the Criminal Law. Law Com No 143. London: HMSO. ISBN   0102270856.
  15. ↑ Law Commission (1989). A Criminal Code for England and Wales (Vol. 1: Report and Draft Criminal Code Bill). Law Com No 177. London: HMSO. ISBN   0102299897.
  16. ↑ Law Commission (1989). A Criminal Code for England and Wales (Vol. 2: Commentary on Draft Criminal Code Bill). Law Com No 177. London: HMSO. ISBN   0102299897.
  17. ↑ "Hansard, HL, Vol 508 (22 May 1989), Col 2, 56 'Law Commission Report No 177'". hansard.parliament.uk.
  18. ↑ Bohlander, Michael; Birkett, Daley (2014). The Codification of Criminal Law. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN   9781409454663.
  19. ↑ Smith, K. J. M. (1998). Lawyers, legislators, and theorists: developments in English criminal jurisprudence 1800-1957. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press. ISBN   0198257236.
  20. ↑ Robinson, Paul H. (1997). Structure and Function in Criminal Law. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN   9780198258865.
  21. ↑ Cornish, W. R.; Clark, G. de N. (1989). Law and society in England: 1750-1950. London: Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN   0421311509.
  22. ↑ Lang, Maurice Eugen (1924). Codification In The British Empire And America. ISBN   9781584776208.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  23. ↑ Stephen, James Fitzjames (1877). A Digest of the Criminal Law (Crimes and Punishments). London: Macmillan and Co.
  24. ↑ Cottu, Charles (1800). On the administration of the criminal code in England, and spirit of the English government: by M. Cottu ; [translated exclusively for the Pamphleteer]. Lawbook Exchange. ISBN   978-1-58477-383-2.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  25. ↑ Bentham, Jeremy; Schofield, Philip; Harris, Jonathan; Bentham, Jeremy (1998). Legislator of the world: writings on codification, law, and education. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press. ISBN   0198207476.
  26. ↑ Glazebrook, P.R. (Ed.) (1978). Reshaping the Criminal Law: Essays in Honour of Glanville Williams. London: Stevens. ISBN   042045540X.
  27. ↑ Clive, Eric (2010). "Codification of the Criminal Law". Essays in Criminal Law in Honour of Sir Gerald Gordon: 54–69. doi:10.1515/9780748679294-009.
  28. ↑ Chalmers, James; Farmer, Lindsay; Leverick, Fiona (2022). Essays in Criminal Law in Honour of Sir Gerald Gordon. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   9780748640706.
  29. ↑ Wright, Barry; Chan, Wing Cheong; Yeo, Stanley (2011). Codification, Macaulay and the Indian Penal Code: the legacies and modern challenges of criminal law reform. Burlington, Vt: Ashgate. doi:10.4324/9781315572499-18. ISBN   9781409424420.
  30. ↑ Herring, Jonathan (2022). Criminal law: text, cases, and materials (10 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780192855923.
  31. ↑ Chalmers, J. (2014). "'Frenzied Law Making': Overcriminalization by Numbers". Current Legal Problems. 67 (1): 483–502. doi:10.1093/clp/cuu001.
  32. ↑ Lavery, Jenny (December 2010). "Codification of the Criminal Law: An Attainable Ideal?". The Journal of Criminal Law. 74 (6): 557–578. doi:10.1350/jcla.2010.74.6.669.
  33. ↑ Ferguson, Pamela R. (March 2009). "Constructing a Criminal Code". Criminal Law Forum. 20 (1): 139–161. doi:10.1007/s10609-008-9091-8.
  34. ↑ Dennis, Ian (2009). "RIP: The Criminal Code (1968-2008) (Editorial)". Criminal Law Review. Jan: 1.
  35. ↑ Ferguson, Pamela (2004). "Codifying criminal law (2): the Scots and English draft codes compared". Criminal Law Review. Feb: 105-119.
  36. ↑ Samuels, Alec (June 2003). "Why Do We Not Have a Criminal Code?". The Journal of Criminal Law. 67 (3): 214–219. doi:10.1177/002201830306700305.
  37. ↑ Dennis, Ian (2003). "The Law Commission and codification of the criminal law: Part 35 (Editorial)". Criminal Law Review (Jul): 431–432.
  38. ↑ Dennis, Ian (2001). "Reviving the criminal code (Editorial)". Criminal Law Review (Apr): 261-264.
  39. ↑ Farmer, Lindsay (2000). "Reconstructing the English Codification Debate: The Criminal Law Commissioners, 1833–45". Law and History Review. 18 (2): 397–426. doi:10.2307/744300.
  40. ↑ Robinson, Paul H. (2000). "Structuring Criminal Codes to Perform Their Function". Buffalo Criminal Law Review. 4 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1525/nclr.2000.4.1.1.
  41. ↑ Arden, Mary (1999). "Criminal law at the crossroads: the impact of human rights from the Law Commission's perspective and the need for a code". Criminal Law Review (Jun): 439–459.
  42. ↑ Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Justice (1998). "A criminal code: must we wait for ever?". Criminal Law Review (Oct): 694-696.
  43. ↑ Smith, J. C. (1995). "The Law Commission's Criminal Law Bill: A Good Start for the Criminal Code". Statute Law Review. 16 (2): 105–108. doi:10.1093/slr/16.2.105.
  44. ↑ Brooke, Justice (1995). "The Role of the Law Commission in Simplifying Statute Law". Statute Law Review. 16 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1093/slr/16.1.1.
  45. ↑ Samuels, Alec (1992). "Drafting the Criminal Code". Statute Law Review. 13 (3): 229–239. doi:10.1093/slr/13.3.229.
  46. ↑ Gardner, Simon (1992). "Reiterating the Criminal Code". The Modern Law Review. 55 (6): 839–847.
  47. ↑ Wells, Celia (1992). "Moral boundaries and the criminal codes". New Law Journal. 142 (6564): 1133–1134.
  48. ↑ Ashworth, Andrew (1992). "Legislating the criminal code". Criminal Law Review (Jun): 393–395.
  49. ↑ Smith, A.T.H (1992). "Legislating the criminal code: the Law Commission's proposals". Criminal Law Review (Jun): 396–406.
  50. ↑ Ashworth, Andrew (1990). "Codifying English criminal law (Editorial)". Criminal Law Review (Mar): 141–142.
  51. ↑ Midland Circuit (1990). "Lord Chief Justice Cockburn's letters on the Criminal Code Bill of 1879". Criminal Law Review (May): 315–317.
  52. ↑ Búrca, Gráinne De; Gardner, Simon (1990). "The Codification of Criminal Law". Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 10 (4): 559–571. doi:10.1093/ojls/10.4.559.
  53. ↑ Cowley, David (1 February 1990). "Codification of the Criminal Law". The Journal of Criminal Law. 54 (1): 98–99. doi:10.1177/002201839005400105.
  54. ↑ Ashworth, Andrew (1989). "A criminal code for England and Wales (Editorial)". Criminal Law Review (Jun): 393–394.
  55. ↑ Editorial (1989). "Criminal law codification". New Law Journal. 139 (6404): 529.
  56. ↑ Buxton, Richard (1989). "The Law Commissions' Criminal Code". New Law Journal. 139 (6407): 639.
  57. ↑ Smith, J C (30 October 2012). "Codification of the Criminal Law". The Denning Law Journal. 2 (1): 137–150. doi: 10.5750/dlj.v2i1.164 .
  58. ↑ Smith, A.T.H. (1986). "Codification of the criminal law - Part 1: The case for a code". Criminal Law Review (May): 285–295.
  59. ↑ Bennion, Francis (1986). "Codification of the criminal law - Part 2: The technique of codification". Criminal Law Review (May): 295–302.
  60. ↑ Ashworth, Andrew (1986). "Codification of the criminal law - Part 3: The draft code, complicity and the inchoate offences". Criminal Law Review (May): 303–314.
  61. ↑ Wells, Celia (1986). "Codification of the criminal law - Part 4: Restatement or reform". Criminal Law Review (May): 314–323.
  62. ↑ Wasik, Martin (1986). "Codification: Mental Disorder and Intoxication under the Draft Criminal Code". The Journal of Criminal Law. 50 (4): 393–404. doi:10.1177/002201838605000407.
  63. ↑ Clarkson, C. M. V.; Keating, H. M. (1986). "Codification: Offences against the Person under the Draft Criminal Code". The Journal of Criminal Law. 50 (4): 405–431. doi:10.1177/002201838605000408.
  64. ↑ Ashworth, Andrew (1984). "Influences on the Creation of Criminal Law and Criminal Policy in England". Anglo-American Law Review. 13 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1177/147377958401300201.
  65. ↑ Friedland, M. L. (1981). "R. S. Wright's Model Criminal Code: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of the Criminal Law". Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 1 (3): 307–346. doi:10.1093/ojls/1.3.307.
  66. ↑ Shapiro, Barbara (1975). "Law Reform in Seventeenth Century England". The American Journal of Legal History. 19 (4): 280. doi:10.2307/845054.
  67. ↑ Smith, K. J. M. (1975). "The Law Commission Working Paper No. 55 on Codification of the Criminal Law, Defences of General Application: Official Investigation and Entrapment". Criminal Law Review: 12.
  68. ↑ Andrews, J.A. "1969". Criminal Law Review: 59.
  69. ↑ Scarman, Leslie George (1967). "Codification and Judge-Made Law: A Problem of Coexistence". Indiana Law Journal. 42 (3): 3.
  70. ↑ Stone, Ferdinand Fairfax (1955). "A Primer on Codification". Tulane Law Review. 29: 303.
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