Buggery Act 1533

Buggery Act 1533^[1]
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of England
Long title	An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie.
Citation	25 Hen. 8. c. 6
Dates
Royal assent	30 March 1534
Other legislation
Repealed by	Offences Against the Person Act 1828;
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Buggery Act 1533, formally An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8. c. 6), was an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed during the reign of Henry VIII.

It was the country's first civil sodomy law, such offences having previously been dealt with by the ecclesiastical courts.

The term buggery, not defined in the text of the legislation, was later interpreted by the courts to include only anal penetration and bestiality, regardless of the sex of the participants, but not oral penetration.^[2] The act remained in force until it was repealed and replaced by the Offences against the Person Act 1828. Buggery remained a capital offence until 1861, though the last executions were in 1835.

^ This is only a conventional short title for this Act.
^ R v Jacobs (1817) Russ & Ry 331 confirmed that buggery related only to intercourse per anum by a man with a man or woman, or intercourse per anum or per vaginam by either a man or a woman with an animal. Other forms of "unnatural intercourse" may amount to indecent assault or gross indecency, but do not constitute buggery (see generally: Smith & Hogan, Criminal Law (10th ed.) ISBN 0-406-94801-1)

[1] This is only a conventional short title for this Act.

[2] R v Jacobs (1817) Russ & Ry 331 confirmed that buggery related only to intercourse per anum by a man with a man or woman, or intercourse per anum or per vaginam by either a man or a woman with an animal. Other forms of "unnatural intercourse" may amount to indecent assault or gross indecency, but do not constitute buggery (see generally: Smith & Hogan, Criminal Law (10th ed.) ISBN 0-406-94801-1)

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