Riot Act

Riot Act^[a]
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for Preventing Tumults and Riotous Assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual Punishing the Rioters
Citation	1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5
Territorial extent	Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent	20 July 1715
Commencement	1 August 1715
Repealed	21 July 1967
Other legislation
Amended by	Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827; Criminal Law (India) Act 1828; Statute Law Revision Act 1888;
Repealed by	Criminal Law Act 1967
Relates to	Punishment of Offences Act 1837
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714^[1] or the Riot Act 1715,^[2] was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and order them to disperse or face punitive action. The act's full title was "An Act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters", and it came into force on 1 August 1715.^[3] It was repealed in England and Wales by section 10(2) and Part III of Schedule 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967. Acts similar to the Riot Act passed into the laws of British colonies in Australia and North America, some of which remain in force today.

The phrase "read the riot act" has passed into common usage for a stern reprimand or warning of consequences.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Turner, J. W. Cecil (1964) [1962]. Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law (18th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. lvii.
^ St Clair Feilden, H.; Gray Etheridge, W. (1895). A Short Constitutional History of England (3rd ed.). B H Blackwell. Oxford. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. p. 335.
^ Stevenson, John (2014). Popular Disturbances in England 1700–1832. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN 9781317897149. Retrieved 30 July 2018.

[2] Turner, J. W. Cecil (1964) [1962]. Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law (18th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. lvii.

[3] St Clair Feilden, H.; Gray Etheridge, W. (1895). A Short Constitutional History of England (3rd ed.). B H Blackwell. Oxford. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. p. 335.

[Stevenson2014-4] Stevenson, John (2014). Popular Disturbances in England 1700–1832. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN 9781317897149. Retrieved 30 July 2018.

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