Offences Against the Person Act 1837

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Long title An Act to amend the Laws relating to Offences against the Person.
Citation 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 85
Territorial extent Nothing contained in this Act extended to Scotland [1]
Dates
Royal assent 17 July 1837
Commencement 1 October 1837 [2]
Repealed1 November 1861
Other legislation
Repealed by Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 95), s 1 & Sch
Status: Repealed

The Act 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 85, sometimes called the Offences against the Person Act 1837, [3] was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It amended the law relating to offences against the person. It was one of the Acts for the Mitigation of the Criminal Law (chapters 84 to 91) passed during the session 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. The Legal Observer said that this Act materially lessened the severity of the punishment of offences against the person. [4]

Contents

This Act was adopted in New South Wales by section 1 of the Act 2 Victoria No 10. [5]

This Act was repealed as to New Zealand by section 2 of, and Schedule A to, the Indictable Offences Acts Repeal Act 1867 (31 Vict No 8), [6] and by section 3 of, and the First Part of the Schedule to, the Repeals Act 1878 (42 Vict. No 28). [7]

It repealed a number of offences under the Act 9 Geo. 4. c. 31, sometimes called the Offences against the Person Act 1828, and under the corresponding Irish Act (10 Geo. 4. c. 34), and re-enacted those offences in different terms.

The Act has been wholly replaced by the Offences against the Person Act 1861.

The 7th Earl of Cardigan was tried in the House of Lords on an indictment for offences under this Act in 1841. [8]

Section 4

This section replaced section 12 of the Act 9 Geo. 4. c. 31 (1828) and abolished the death penalty for shooting, stabbing, cutting or wounding with intent.

Section 6

This section replaced section 13 of the Act 9 Geo. 4. c. 31 (1828) and abolished the death penalty for post-quickening abortions. Unlike the previous Act, this provision made no distinction between pre- and post- quickening abortions.

Section 11

This section was repealed by section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 100). [9]

See also

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References

  1. 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 85, section 12
  2. 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 85, section 13
  3. Chris Cook and Brendan Keith. British Historical Facts, 1830-1900. Macmillan Press Ltd. 1975. Reprinted 1984. Page 152.
  4. "The Acts of the Last Session" (1837) 14 The Legal Observer 425 (7 October 1837)
  5. Travers Adamson (ed). Acts and Ordinances in Force in Victoria. Printed by John Ferres, Government Printer. Melbourne. 1855. Page 446. The Queensland Statutes, 1874, vol 1, p 394.
  6. The Indictable Offences Acts Repeal Act 1867, section 2 and Schedule A
  7. The Repeals Act 1878, section 3 and Schedule, First Part.
  8. The Trial of James Thomas Earl of Cardigan before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, in Full Parliament, for Felony, on Tuesday the 16th Day of February 1841. Published by Order of the House of Peers. London. 1841. p 14.
  9. The Criminal Procedure Act 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 100), section 10. See further the commentary in Paterson (ed), The Practical Statutes of the Session 1851, p 262.