Background
In the United Kingdom, Acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the late 18th-century, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book. [5]
In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book. [6] From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. [6] In 1816, both Houses of Parliament, passed resolutions that an eminent lawyer with 20 clerks be commissioned to make a digest of the statutes, which was declared "very expedient to be done." However, this was never done. [7]
In 1822, Sir Robert Peel entered the cabinet as home secretary and in 1826 introduced a number of reforms to the English criminal law, which became known as Peel's Acts. This included efforts to modernise, consolidate and repeal provisions from a large number of earlier statutes, including: [8]
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical, it is often called desecration. In a more general sense, any transgression against what is seen as the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege, and so is coming near a sacred site without permission.
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person 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, incorporating subsequent statutes.
The Offences Against the Person Act 1828, also known as Lord Lansdowne's Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated for England and Wales provisions in the law related to offences against the person from a number of earlier piecemeal statutes into a single act. Among the laws it replaced was clause XXVI of Magna Carta, the first time any part of Magna Carta was repealed, and the Buggery Act 1533. The act also abolished the crime of petty treason.
The Offences Against the Person Act 1837 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amended the law to lessen the severity of punishment of offences against the person, lessening the severity of the punishment of offences.
The Coinage Offences Act 1832 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated England and Wales all legislation concerning the counterfeiting and clipping of coins into one act. Such conduct was often considered to be high treason: this act downgraded the offence to felony and abolished the death penalty for all coinage offences.
The Criminal Law Act 1826 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated a large number of acts relating to criminal procedure.
The Forgery Act 1837 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that abolished the punishment of the death penalty for all offences of forgery, substituting it for transportation or imprisonment.
The Forgery Act 1830 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated for England and Wales all legislation imposing the death penalty for forgery into one act. Two years later, the Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 abolished the death penalty for most of these offences. The Forgery Act 1837 abolished the death penalty for the remaining offences.
The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861(24 & 25 Vict. c. 95) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales and Ireland statutes relating to the English criminal law from 1634 to 1860. The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes.
The Summary Jurisdiction Act 1884, also known as the Summary Jurisdiction (Repeal) Act 1884, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that clarified the Summary Jurisdiction Acts as amended by the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1879 and repealed for England and Wales statutes from 1691 to 1882.
The Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the United Kingdom the death penalty for all offences of forgery, except for forging wills and certain powers of attorney.
The Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829, also known as the Offences Against the Person Act (Ireland) 1829, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated for Ireland provisions in the law related to offences against the person from a number of earlier piecemeal statutes into a single act.
The Juries Act 1825, also known as the County Juries Act 1825, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated and amended statutes for England and Wales related to juries. The act abolished outdated penalties, moved responsibility for creating jury lists from petty constables to churchwardens and parish overseers, expanded jury qualification to include bankers and merchants and devise a new method of jury selection. The act repealed for England and Wales statutes from 1259 to 1824.
The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 or the Criminal Statutes (England) Repeal Act 1827 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales enactments relating to the English criminal law from 1225 to 1826.
The Summary Jurisdiction Act1848, also known as the Duties of Justices Act 1848 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated the provisions of a large number of statutes relating to summary jurisdiction. The act is one of the Jervis's Acts, also known as Summary Jurisdiction Acts, which reformed the local administration of justice in England.
The Criminal Statutes (Ireland) Repeal Act 1828 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for Ireland statutes relating to the criminal law from 1225 to 1826.
The Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed criminal justice in India.
The Select Committee on the Criminal Law in England was a select committee of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom appointed to consider consolidating and amending the criminal law of England and Wales.
The Juries (Ireland) Act 1833 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated and amended statutes for Ireland related to juries. The act abolished outdated penalties, moved responsibility for creating jury lists from petty constables to churchwardens and parish overseers, expanded jury qualification to include bankers and merchants and devise a new method of jury selection. The act repealed for Ireland statutes from 1259 to 1825.
The Juries Act (Ireland) 1871, also known as the Juries (Ireland) Act 1871, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated and amended statutes for Ireland related to juries. The act notably replaced the existing system of jury qualification based on property requirements with a new system based on poor law ratings.
