Removing article from place open to the public
Encyclopedia
Removing article from place open to the public is a statutory offence in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

 and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

England and Wales

This offence is created by section 11(1) of the Theft Act 1968
Theft Act 1968
The Theft Act 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales.On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deception.-History:...

. Sections 11(1) to (3) of that Act read:
The following cases are relevant:
  • R v Durkin [1973] 1 QB 786, 57 Cr App R 637, [1973] 2 All ER 872, [1973] Crim LR 372, CA
    Court of Appeal of England and Wales
    The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

  • R v Barr [1978] Crim LR 244


Section 11(3)

Edward Griew said that section 11(3) corresponds to sections 2(1)(a) and (b) (as to which, see dishonesty
Dishonesty
Dishonesty is a word which, in common usage, may be defined as the act or to act without honesty. It is used to describe a lack of probity, cheating, lying or being deliberately deceptive or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousness...

).

Visiting forces

This offence is an offence against property for the purposes of section 3 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952
Visiting Forces Act 1952
The Visiting Forces Act 1952 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. provides immunity against prosecution for certain offences in the courts of United Kingdom by members of visiting forces and, by virtue of the 1964 Act, international headquarters...

.

Mode of trial and sentence

This offence is triable either way
Either Way
"Either Way" is a song by The Twang, which was released as their second single under the B-Unique Records on May 28, 2007, and it is also the second single to be taken from the band's debut album Love It When I Feel Like This...

. A person guilty of this offence is liable, on conviction on indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum
Prescribed sum
The prescribed sum is the maximum fine that may be imposed on summary conviction of certain offences in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is now equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale, which it predates...

, or to both.

"The Goya clause"

The clause of the Theft Bill that became section 11 was populary known as the "Goya clause". The name referred to the unauthorised removal of Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington
Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Goya)
The Portrait of the Duke of Wellington is a painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya of the British general Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington during the latter's service in the Peninsular War...

 from the National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...

.

Criticism

Edward Griew said that the complexity of this offence is disproportionate to it's importance.

Northern Ireland

This offence is created by section 11(1) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
The Theft Act 1969 is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Theft Act 1968 for Northern Ireland.-Section 11 - Removal of articles from places open to the public:...

. Section 11 of that Act is derived from section 11 of the Theft Act 1968.

Visiting forces

This offence is an offence against property for the purposes of section 3 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952
Visiting Forces Act 1952
The Visiting Forces Act 1952 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. provides immunity against prosecution for certain offences in the courts of United Kingdom by members of visiting forces and, by virtue of the 1964 Act, international headquarters...

.

Mode of trial

This offence is an indictable offence
Indictable offence
In many common law jurisdictions , an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury...

 which may be tried summarily upon consent of the accused. See hybrid offence
Hybrid offence
A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, or wobbler are the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as indictment...

.

Sentence

A person guilty of this offence is liable, on conviction on indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or to a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum
Prescribed sum
The prescribed sum is the maximum fine that may be imposed on summary conviction of certain offences in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is now equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale, which it predates...

, or to both.
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