Criminal Law Act 1967
Encyclopedia
The Criminal Law Act 1967 (c.58) is an Act
of the Parliament
of the United Kingdom
. However, with some minor exceptions, it generally applies to only England and Wales
. It made some major changes to English criminal law. Most of it is still in force.
Several of the Act's provisions were adopted, word for word, for Northern Ireland
by the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c.18) (N.I.) and the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 (c.28) (N.I.). They were adopted for the Republic of Ireland
by the Criminal Law Act 1997.
The Act has three parts. Part I abolished the distinction between felony and misdemeanour and makes consequential provisions. Part II abolished a number of obsolete crimes. Part III contains supplementary provisions.
in their seventh report.
Section 1 abolished the distinction between felonies
and misdemeanours. Originally, all crimes in English law were categorised in a hierarchy of treason
, felony
, and misdemeanour, each with their own rules of procedure and evidence. (Treason had been brought in line with felony in 1945.) The 1967 Act abolished felonies and stated that all former felonies would be tried according to the rules of procedure and evidence that applied in trials and pre-trial hearings for misdemeanours, whether the felony had been committed before or after the Act was passed. This also had the effect of abolishing the offences of misprision of felony
and compounding a felony
(but these offences were replaced with new ones in sections 4 and 5). Although all offences were now misdemeanours, the maximum penalties were not affected.
Section 2 created a new category of arrestable offence
s, since powers of arrest
had depended on whether an offence was a felony or a misdemeanour. Arrestable offences were defined as crimes for which the maximum sentence for an adult was five years or more. The section set out the circumstances in which a citizen or a constable
could arrest somebody without a court warrant (police powers were more extensive than a civilian's).
Section 2 was repealed and replaced with section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
, which was broadly similar to section 2 but also applied to some less serious offences. Section 24 was supplemented by a section 25 which created new powers (for constables only) to arrest those suspected of "non-arrestable offences" in certain circumstances. Sections 24 and 25 were controversially amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
, which abolished the difference between arrestable and non-arrestable offences and substituted one set of police arrest powers for all offences, irrespective of the maximum sentence. Citizens' arrest was confined to indictable offence
s. This change took effect from 1 January 2006.
Section 3 replaces the common law
rules on self-defence, such as the duty to retreat
. It simply requires that any force used must be "reasonable in the circumstances." It is still in force today and states:
(Further provision about when force is "reasonable" was made by section 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
.)
Section 4 created a new offence of assisting anyone who had committed an arrestable offence, "with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution." This replaced the rules on accessories after the fact in felony cases. The penalty for this offence is linked to the penalty for whatever offence the original offender has committed (between three and ten years' imprisonment). Section 5(1) created a new offence which replaced misprision and compounding of felony. It stated that a person who has information which might lead to the prosecution of an arrestable offence and who agrees to accept consideration
(other than compensation for the offence) in exchange for not disclosing that information to the authorities is liable to two years' imprisonment.
Section 5(2) creates the offence commonly known as "wasting police time," committed by giving false information to the police "tending to show that an offence has been committed, or to give rise to apprehension for the safety of any persons or property, or tending to show that he has information material to any police inquiry." The maximum sentence is six months. A person may not be prosecuted for this offence without the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions or a Crown prosecutor.
Section 5(5) provides that the compounding of an offence other than treason
is not an offence otherwise than under section 5 of the Act. This means that:
Consequential repeals on s.5(5) (s.10(2) and Sch 3, Pt III)
Section 6 deals with the procedures for arraignment
and verdict
. In particular, it deals with alternative verdicts (or alternative pleas). When a defendant is found not guilty of the offence he is charged with but is found guilty of a less serious offence (or he wishes to plead not guilty to the more serious offence but guilty to a lesser one), the section allows a verdict or plea of guilty to the lesser offence to be entered even though the offence may not be explicitly charged on the indictment. It also states if a defendant refuses to enter a plea
then it defaults to not guilty.
Section 7(5) (now repealed) abolished forfeiture
of lands, goods and chattels, and abolished outlawry
.
.
Section 13 abolished the common law offences of champerty
and barratry
, challenging to fight, eavesdropping or being "a common scold
or a common night walker." It also repealed the offence of praemunire
, which had survived on the statute books since 1392. It preserves the common law offence of embracery
.
Identical provision was made for Northern Ireland by section 16 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. However, with some minor exceptions, it generally applies to only England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
. It made some major changes to English criminal law. Most of it is still in force.
Several of the Act's provisions were adopted, word for word, for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
by the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c.18) (N.I.) and the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 (c.28) (N.I.). They were adopted for the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
by the Criminal Law Act 1997.
The Act has three parts. Part I abolished the distinction between felony and misdemeanour and makes consequential provisions. Part II abolished a number of obsolete crimes. Part III contains supplementary provisions.
Part I - Felony and Misdemeanour
This Part implements the recommendations made by the Criminal Law Revision CommitteeCriminal Law Revision Committee
The Criminal Law Revision Committee of England & Wales is a standing committee of learned legal experts that may be called upon by the Home Secretary to advise on legal issues and to report back recommendations for reform...
in their seventh report.
Section 1 abolished the distinction between felonies
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
and misdemeanours. Originally, all crimes in English law were categorised in a hierarchy of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, and misdemeanour, each with their own rules of procedure and evidence. (Treason had been brought in line with felony in 1945.) The 1967 Act abolished felonies and stated that all former felonies would be tried according to the rules of procedure and evidence that applied in trials and pre-trial hearings for misdemeanours, whether the felony had been committed before or after the Act was passed. This also had the effect of abolishing the offences of misprision of felony
Misprision of felony
Misprision of felony was an offence under the common law of England and was classified as a misdemeanour. It consisted of failing to report knowledge of a felony to the appropriate authorities.Exceptions were made for close family members of the felon....
and compounding a felony
Compounding a felony
Compounding a felony was an offence under the common law of England and was classified as a misdemeanour. It consisted of a prosecutor or victim of an offence accepting anything of value under an agreement not to prosecute, or hamper the prosecution of, a felony...
(but these offences were replaced with new ones in sections 4 and 5). Although all offences were now misdemeanours, the maximum penalties were not affected.
Section 2 created a new category of arrestable offence
Arrestable offence
Arrestable offence is a legal term now obsolete in English law and the legal system of Northern Ireland, but still used in the legal system of the Republic of Ireland. The Criminal Law Act 1967 introduced the category to replace the ancient term felony...
s, since powers of arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
had depended on whether an offence was a felony or a misdemeanour. Arrestable offences were defined as crimes for which the maximum sentence for an adult was five years or more. The section set out the circumstances in which a citizen or a constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
could arrest somebody without a court warrant (police powers were more extensive than a civilian's).
Section 2 was repealed and replaced with section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary...
, which was broadly similar to section 2 but also applied to some less serious offences. Section 24 was supplemented by a section 25 which created new powers (for constables only) to arrest those suspected of "non-arrestable offences" in certain circumstances. Sections 24 and 25 were controversially amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
The Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency, it also significantly extended and simplified the powers of arrest of a constable and introduced restrictions on protests in the...
, which abolished the difference between arrestable and non-arrestable offences and substituted one set of police arrest powers for all offences, irrespective of the maximum sentence. Citizens' arrest was confined to indictable offence
Indictable offence
In many common law jurisdictions , an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury...
s. This change took effect from 1 January 2006.
Section 3 replaces the common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
rules on self-defence, such as the duty to retreat
Duty to retreat
In the criminal law, the duty to retreat is a specific component which sometimes appears in the defense of self-defense, and which must be addressed if the defendant is to prove that his or her conduct was justified. In those jurisdictions where the requirement exists, the burden of proof is on the...
. It simply requires that any force used must be "reasonable in the circumstances." It is still in force today and states:
(Further provision about when force is "reasonable" was made by section 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes significant changes in many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland...
.)
Section 4 created a new offence of assisting anyone who had committed an arrestable offence, "with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution." This replaced the rules on accessories after the fact in felony cases. The penalty for this offence is linked to the penalty for whatever offence the original offender has committed (between three and ten years' imprisonment). Section 5(1) created a new offence which replaced misprision and compounding of felony. It stated that a person who has information which might lead to the prosecution of an arrestable offence and who agrees to accept consideration
Consideration under English law
Consideration in English law is one of the three main building blocks of a contract. Consideration can be anything of value , which each party to a legally binding contract must agree to exchange if the contract is to be valid. If only one party offers consideration, the agreement is not legally a...
(other than compensation for the offence) in exchange for not disclosing that information to the authorities is liable to two years' imprisonment.
- When the concept of an "arrestable offence" was abolished, sections 4 and 5(1) were amended so that they now apply to any "relevant offence," which is defined in identical terms to the original 1967 definition of arrestable offence. This significantly reduced the scope of these offences from the wider 1984 definition, which had been steadily extended over the years.
- A person may not be prosecuted for these offences without the permission of the Director of Public ProsecutionsCrown Prosecution ServiceThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
or a Crown prosecutor.
Section 5(2) creates the offence commonly known as "wasting police time," committed by giving false information to the police "tending to show that an offence has been committed, or to give rise to apprehension for the safety of any persons or property, or tending to show that he has information material to any police inquiry." The maximum sentence is six months. A person may not be prosecuted for this offence without the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions or a Crown prosecutor.
Section 5(5) provides that the compounding of an offence other than treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
is not an offence otherwise than under section 5 of the Act. This means that:
- The common law offence of compounding treasonCompounding treasonCompounding treason is an offence under the common law of England. It is committed by anyone who agrees for consideration to abstain from prosecuting the offender who has committed treason.It is still an offence in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland...
is preserved. - The common law offence of compounding a felonyCompounding a felonyCompounding a felony was an offence under the common law of England and was classified as a misdemeanour. It consisted of a prosecutor or victim of an offence accepting anything of value under an agreement not to prosecute, or hamper the prosecution of, a felony...
, and (if it existed) the common law offence of compounding a misdemeanour, were abolished on 1 January 1968. (In Working Paper No.72, at paragraph 43, the Law CommissionLaw Commission (England and Wales)In England and Wales the Law Commission is an independent body set up by Parliament by the Law Commissions Act 1965 in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reforms. The organisation is headed by a Chairman and four Law Commissioners...
suggest that the latter offence might "perhaps" have existed, but offer no explanation).
Consequential repeals on s.5(5) (s.10(2) and Sch 3, Pt III)
- Section 33 of the Metropolitan Police Courts Act 1839.
- Section 48 of the Pawnbrokers Act 1872.
Section 6 deals with the procedures for arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
and verdict
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
. In particular, it deals with alternative verdicts (or alternative pleas). When a defendant is found not guilty of the offence he is charged with but is found guilty of a less serious offence (or he wishes to plead not guilty to the more serious offence but guilty to a lesser one), the section allows a verdict or plea of guilty to the lesser offence to be entered even though the offence may not be explicitly charged on the indictment. It also states if a defendant refuses to enter a plea
Plea
In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
then it defaults to not guilty.
Section 7(5) (now repealed) abolished forfeiture
Forfeiture (law)
Forfeiture is deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of some obligation or condition. It can be accidental, and therefore is distinguished from waiver; see waiver and forfeiture....
of lands, goods and chattels, and abolished outlawry
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
.
Part II - Obsolete Crimes
This Part implements recommendations of the Law CommissionLaw Commission (England and Wales)
In England and Wales the Law Commission is an independent body set up by Parliament by the Law Commissions Act 1965 in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reforms. The organisation is headed by a Chairman and four Law Commissioners...
.
Section 13 abolished the common law offences of champerty
Champerty
Champerty and maintenance are doctrines in common law jurisdictions, that aim to preclude frivolous litigation. "Maintenance" is the intermeddling of a disinterested party to encourage a lawsuit...
and barratry
Barratry
Barratry is the name of four legal concepts, three in criminal and civil law, and one in admiralty law.* Barratry, in criminal and civil law, is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass...
, challenging to fight, eavesdropping or being "a common scold
Common scold
In the common law of crime in England and Wales, a common scold was a species of public nuisance—a troublesome and angry woman who broke the public peace by habitually arguing and quarreling with her neighbours...
or a common night walker." It also repealed the offence of praemunire
Praemunire
In English history, Praemunire or Praemunire facias was a law that prohibited the assertion or maintenance of papal jurisdiction, imperial or foreign, or some other alien jurisdiction or claim of supremacy in England, against the supremacy of the Monarch...
, which had survived on the statute books since 1392. It preserves the common law offence of embracery
Embracery
Embracery is the attempt to influence a juror corruptly to give his verdict in favour of one side or the other in a trial, by promise, persuasions, entreaties, money, entertainments and the like....
.
Identical provision was made for Northern Ireland by section 16 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.
External links
. (Note: up to date only to 2005.)- The Criminal Law Act 1967, as amended and in force today, from the Office of Public Sector InformationOffice of Public Sector InformationThe Office of Public Sector Information is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and of other public information services of the United Kingdom...
. (Note: up to date only to 2005.) - The Criminal Law Act 1967, as originally enacted, from the Office of Public Sector Information. (.pdfPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
file). (Note: up to date only to 2005.) - The Criminal Law Act 1997, as originally enacted, from the Irish Statute Book (a similar Act in the Republic of Ireland).