History of English criminal law
English law did not originally make a distinction between criminal and civil proceedings.
The first signs of the modern distinction between crimes and civil matters emerged during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.[1] The earliest criminal trials had very little, if any, settled law to apply. However, the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation (except where the King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of Writ).
The development of the "State" dispensing justice in a court only emerged parallel to or after the emergence of the concept of sovereignty. It was only in the 18th century that European countries began operating police forces. From this point, criminal law had the mechanisms for enforcement, which allowed for its development as a credible and self-sufficient entity.
Common law offences
Main article: Common law offence
Abolished offences
- Petty treason[2]
- Arson[3]
- Larceny[4]
- Robbery[4]
- Burglary[4]
- Concealment of treasure trove[4]
- Cheating, except in relation to the public revenue[4]
- Forgery[5]
- Sedition[6]
- Seditious libel[6]
- Misprision of felony[7] (disputed - alleged never to have existed)
- Compounding a felony[7]
- Riot[8]
- Rout[8]
- Unlawful assembly[8]
- Affray[8]
- Breach of the peace
- Defamatory libel[9] (aka criminal libel, aka criminal defamatory libel)
- Obscene libel[10]
- Blasphemy[11]
- Blasphemous libel[11]
- Incitement[12]
- Maintenance (not including embracery)[13]
- Champerty[13]
- Bribery[14]
- Embracery[14]
- Challenging to fight[13]
- Eavesdropping[13]
- Being a common barrator[13] - see Barratry
- Being a common scold[13]
- Being a common nightwalker[13]
- Forcible entry[15]
- Forcible detainer[15]
- Attempt[16]
- Conspiracy (except for conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to corrupt public morals and conspiracy to outrage public decency)[17]
See also criminal libel for general information about the common law libel offences listed above.
Offences held no longer to exist or never to have existed
Offences against the person
Main article: Offence against the person
Fatal offences
Extant offences
Abolished offences
Sexual offences
Main article: Sexual offences in the United Kingdom
Extant offences
Abolished offences
- Buggery
- Assault with intent to commit buggery
- Gross indecency between men
- Indecent assault on a man
- Indecent assault on a woman
Offences against property
Main article: Property crime
Extant offences
Abolished offences
Firearms and offensive weapons
Forgery, personation and cheating
Abolished offences
See forgery:
- Offences under section 18 and section 20 of the Pharmacy Act 1954 repealed by http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/289/schedule/1/paragraph/1/made
See personation:
- Offences under section 13 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979
- Offences under section 12 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890
(Both repealed by the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005)
See cheating:
Offences against the State or Crown or Government and political offences
Abolished offences
- Sedition
- Seditious libel
- Incitement to mutiny, contrary to section 1 of the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
- Causing disaffection, contrary to sections 43 and 87 of the Police Act 1997[19]
- Offences under the Unlawful Drilling Act 1819
- Various forms of statutory piracy
Offences against religion and public worship
Abolished offences
Offences against the administration of public justice
Abolished offences
Offences held no longer to exist or never to have existed
- Effecting a public mischief[20]
- Conspiracy to effect a public mischief[21]
Public order offences
Main article: Public order offence
Abolished offences
Offences against public morals and public policy
Abolished offences
- Obscene libel
- Offences under the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 1916[22]
- The common law offence of bribery
Protection of animals and the environment
See Cruelty to animals#United Kingdom and Environmental crime
Road traffic and motor vehicle offences
Main article: United Kingdom traffic laws
Participatory offences
Abolished offences
- Incitement
- Accessory to felony: Secondary principal/Principal in the second degree, Accessory before the fact, Accessory after the fact
Classification of offences
Abolished classes
Defences
Abolished defences
Procedure
Abolished proceedings
See also
References
- Hale, Matthew. Historia Placitorum Coronæ (History of the Pleas of the Crown) (1736).
- Stephen, Sir James Fitzjames. History of the Criminal Law of England (1883).
- Radzinowicz, Sir Leon. A History of English Criminal Law and Its Administration from 1750. 5 volumes. 1948 to 1990.
- ↑ see, Pennington, Kenneth (1993) The Prince and the Law, 1200–1600: Sovereignty and Rights in the Western Legal Tradition, University of California Press
- ↑ Abolished by the Offences against the Person Act 1828
- ↑ Abolished by section 11(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971
- 1 2 3 4 5 Abolished by section 32(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968
- ↑ Abolished by section 13 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981
- 1 2 Abolished by 73(a) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- 1 2 Abolished by the Criminal Law Act 1967
- 1 2 3 4 Abolished by section 9(1) of the Public Order Act 1986
- ↑ Abolished by 73(b) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- ↑ Abolished by 73(c) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- 1 2 Abolished by section 79(1) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
- ↑ Abolished by section 59 of the Serious Crime Act 2007
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Abolished by the Criminal Law Act 1967, section 13(1)(a)
- 1 2 Abolished by section 17(1)(a) of the Bribery Act 2010
- 1 2 Abolished by section 13(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977
- ↑ Abolished by section 6(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981
- ↑ Abolished by section 5 of the Criminal Law Act 1977
- ↑ The statutory provisions that created this offence were repealed by the Theft Act 1968: Griew, Edward. The Theft Acts 1968 and 1978. Fifth Edition. Sweet and Maxwell. 1986. Paragraph 2-01 at page 12.
- ↑ Repealed by paragraph 95 of Schedule 4 to, and Schedule 17 to, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
- ↑ R v Newland [1954] 1 QB 158, 37 Cr App R 154, CCA: Held, no longer to exist, if it ever had
- ↑ DPP v Withers [1975] AC 842, HL: Held not to be an offence known to law
- ↑ Repealed by section 17(3) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Bribery Act 2010
External links
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