Criminal law consolidation Acts 1861
Encyclopedia
The criminal law consolidation Acts 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. cc. 94 - 100) were Acts
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify the criminal law. There were six consolidation Acts and a further Act which effected consequential repeals.

They are essentially revised versions of an earlier set of consolidation Acts, commonly known as Peel's Acts
Peel's Acts
Peel's Acts were Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify the criminal law...

, incorporating subsequent statutes.

They were drafted by Charles(?) Greaves.

List of the Acts

The Accessories and Abettors Act 1861
Accessories and Abettors Act 1861
The Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It consolidated provisions in English criminal law related to accomplices from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...

 c. 94
The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 c. 95
The Larceny Act 1861
Larceny Act 1861
The Larceny Act 1861 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It consolidated provisions related to larceny and similar offences from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...

 c. 96
The Malicious Damage Act 1861
Malicious Damage Act 1861
The Malicious Damage Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It consolidated provisions related to malicious damage from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...

 c. 97
The Forgery Act 1861
Forgery Act 1861
The Forgery Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It consolidated provisions related to forgery 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...

 c. 98
The Coinage Offences Act 1861 c. 99
The Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
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...

 c. 100


Of these statutes, the Criminal Statutes Repeal Act, the Larceny Act and the Coinage Offences Act have been repealed in England and Wales. The majority of the provisions of Accessories and Abettors Act, the Malicious Damage Act and the Forgery Act have been repealed and the last two have been practically superseded by codification Acts. However, the bulk of the Offences Against the Person Act remains in force.

Interpretation

Internal evidence of meaning by comparison of enactments

In his commentary on these Acts, their draftsman said:
This passage was cited and approved by Lord Steyn in R v. Burstow, R v. Ireland [1998] 1 Cr App Rep 177, [1997] 3 WLR 534, [1998] AC 147, [1997] UKHL 34, [1997] 4 All ER 225, (24 July, 1997) (this case related to the significance of the appearance of "cause" and "inflict" respectively in sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
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...

).

Common features

Short titles

None of these Acts was originally provided with a short title
Short title
The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation may by law be cited in the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions , as well as the United States. It contrasts with the long title which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the...

. The short titles were conferred by the Short Titles Act 1896.

Passage through Parliament

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