Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861

In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.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. 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. From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. 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: • Benefit of clergy • Larceny and other offences of stealing • Burglary, robbery and threats for the purpose of robbery or of extortion • Embezzlement, false pretences, and the receipt of stolen property • Malicious injuries to property • Remedies against the hundred In 1827, several acts were passed for this purpose, territorially limited to England and Wales and Scotland, including: • Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27), which repealed for England and Wales over 140 enactments relating to the criminal law. • Criminal Law Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. • Larceny Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to larceny. • Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property. In 1828, parallel bills for Ireland to Peel's Acts were introduced, becoming: • Criminal Statutes (Ireland) Repeal Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. 54), which repealed for Ireland over 140 enactments relating to the criminal law. • Criminal Law (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. 54), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. • Larceny (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 55) which consolidated provisions in the law relating to larceny. • Malicious Injuries to Property (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 56), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property. In 1828, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to offences against the person and repealed for England and Wales almost 60 enactments relating to the criminal law. In 1829, the Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. 34) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to offences against the person and repealed for Ireland almost 60 enactments relating to the Criminal law. In 1828, the Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 74) was passed, which repealed for India offences repealed by the Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27) the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31). In 1830, the Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to forgery and repealed for England and Wales over 25 enactments relating to the criminal law. At the start of the parliamentary session in 1853, Lord Cranworth announced his intention to the improvement of the statute law and in March 1853, appointed the Board for the Revision of the Statute Law to repeal expired statutes and continue consolidation, with a wider remit that included civil law. This approach was taken by the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 64), considered to be the first Statute Law Revision Act. • Offences Against the Person • Malicious Injuries to Property • Larceny • Forgery • Coining • Accessories and Abettors == Passage ==

Leave to bring in the Criminal Statutes Repeal Bill alongside the other Law Criminal Consolidation Bills was granted on 14 February 1861 and the bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 14 February 1861, introduced by the solicitor general, Sir John Coleridge . In his speech introducing the bill, Sir John Coleridge emphasised that the purpose of the bill was to consolidate abolishing the enactments for which the other six, if passed, would become the substitutes and not to consolidate common law. In response, Patrick McMahon suggested consolidation of the criminal law of England, Ireland and Scotland. and was committed to a Select Committee. without amendment. The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 18 June 1861. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 30 July 1861, introduced by the Lord Chancellor, Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury. The bill was supported by Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth. The bill was committed to a Committee of the Whole House, which met and reported on 31 July 1861, without amendment. The bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 2 August 1861. The bill was granted royal assent on 6 August 1861. == Subsequent developments ==

In 1861, the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts were passed: • Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 94) • Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 95) • Larceny Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 96) • Malicious Damage Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 97) • Forgery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 98) • Coinage Offences Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 99) • Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100) According to George Oke, the Act "should have been the last Act of the series to receive the Royal Assent, and have been numbered accordingly". In 1861, the Statute Law Revision Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 101) was passed, which repealed over 800 enactments relating to the civil law. The territorial terms of the act led to several acts being for the avoidance of doubt for Scotland repealed by later Statute Law Revision Acts, including: • Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 35) The act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1950 as it was spent. The act was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by sections 2(1) and 3(1) of, and Part 4 of Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. == Repealed enactments ==

Section 1 of the act repealed 106 enactments of the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, Parliament of Ireland and the Parliament of the United Kingdom, listed in the schedule to the act, effective 1 November 1861. The territorial extent of the repeals was limited to the United Kingdom, excluding Scotland (i.e., England and Wales and Ireland). Section 2 of the act provided that acts extended to any part of Her Majesty's Dominions outside of the United Kingdom would not be repealed for those territories. Section 3 of the act provided that for offences and other matters committed or done before or on the last day of October 1861, the repealed acts would still apply as if the act had not been passed. Section 4 of the act provided that the repeals would not affect any existing authority to alter or amend the register of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths or burials. == See also ==