Offences Against the Person Act 1861

Offences against the Person Act 1861^[1]
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate and amend the Statute Law of England and Ireland relating to Offences against the Person.
Citation	24 & 25 Vict. c. 100
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Ireland;
Dates
Royal assent	6 August 1861
Commencement	1 November 1861
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person (an expression, which, in particular, includes offences of violence) from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act,^[3] incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier consolidation act, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (and the equivalent Irish Act), incorporating subsequent statutes.^[4]

Although it has been substantially amended, it continues to be the foundation for prosecuting personal injury, short of murder, in the courts of England and Wales. The act was also adopted in British possessions. For example, New Zealand adopted the act in 1866.

In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, the sexual offences under the act have all been repealed. For legislation referring to sexual offences, see the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008. In Northern Ireland, the 1861 Act was the basis for a ban on abortion until 2019 when it was amended by the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019.

^ This short title was conferred by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. It is written as it appears in the text of that Act published in the Public General Acts 1896, HMSO, notwithstanding that the "a" in "against" is sometimes capitalised in other sources.
^ The Offences against the Person Act 1861, section 79
^ Greaves. The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts 1861 pp. 3–4
^ Davis, James Edward. The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, Chapters 94 to 100. Butterworths. 1861. Pages vi and vii. Internet Archive.

[1] This short title was conferred by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. It is written as it appears in the text of that Act published in the Public General Acts 1896, HMSO, notwithstanding that the "a" in "against" is sometimes capitalised in other sources.

[2] The Offences against the Person Act 1861, section 79

[3] Greaves. The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts 1861 pp. 3–4

[4] Davis, James Edward. The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, Chapters 94 to 100. Butterworths. 1861. Pages vi and vii. Internet Archive.

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