Black Act 1723

Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for the more effectual punishing wicked and evil disposed Persons going armed in Disguise and doing Injuries and Violence to the Persons and Properties of His Majesty's Subjects, and for the more speedy bringing the Offenders to Justice
Citation	9 Geo. 1. c. 22
Dates
Commencement	27 May 1723
Other legislation
Repealed by	Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827, s 1[1]
Status: Repealed

The Act 9 Geo. 1. c. 22, commonly known as the Black Act,^[2] or the Waltham Black Act,^[3] and sometimes called the Black Act 1722,^[4] the Black Act 1723,^[5] the Waltham Black Act 1722,^[6] the Criminal Law Act 1722,^[7] or the Criminal Law Act 1723,^[8][9] was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It was passed in 1723 in response to a series of raids against landowners by two groups of poachers, known as the Blacks from their habit of blacking their faces when they undertook the raids. The Act was expanded over the years and greatly strengthened the criminal code by specifying over 200 capital crimes, many with intensified punishment. Arson, for example, had its definition expanded to include the new crime of burning (or threatening to burn) haystacks.

The legal rights of suspects and defendants under this Act were strictly limited. For example, suspects who did not surrender within 40 days could be summarily judged guilty and sentenced to execution, so that if they were apprehended at a later date they could be executed without delay. Villages were punished if they failed to find, prosecute and convict alleged criminals.^[10]

The Act originated in the aftermath of the South Sea Bubble collapse and the ensuing economic downturn. The Blacks quickly demonstrated both "a calculated programme of action, and a conscious social resentment",^[11] and their activities led to the introduction of the Black Act to Parliament on 26 April 1723. The Act came into force on 27 May and introduced the death penalty for over 350 criminal offences,^[12] including being found disguised in a forest and carrying a weapon; "no other single statute passed during the eighteenth century equalled [the Black Act] in severity, and none appointed the punishment of death in so many cases".^[13] A criminal law reform campaign in the early 19th century caused it to be largely repealed on 8 July 1823, when a reform bill introduced by Robert Peel came into force.

The Building Act 1774, which imposed restrictions on exterior decoration, was also known as the Black Act.^[14][15]