The Attempted Rape Act 1948 (11&12 Geo. 6 c. 19) was an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom that increased the maximum sentence for attempted
rape from 2 years' imprisonment to 7 years'
penal servitude. (Penal servitude was abolished later that year by the
Criminal Justice Act 1948, and replaced with imprisonment.) The Attempted Rape Act was repealed and replaced by the
Sexual Offences Act 1956, which maintained the maximum sentence of 7 years' imprisonment until the 1956 Act was amended by the
Sexual Offences Act 1985, which increased the maximum sentence to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
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[Section 3]
Full text
1. Punishment for attempted rape.—Where a person is convicted in England or Wales of an attempt to commit rape, the court shall have power to pass a sentence of penal servitude for a term of not more than seven years, in lieu of dealing with him in any other manner in which the court has power to deal with him.
2. Short title.—This Act may be cited as the Attempted Rape Act, 1948.
References
*''
Halsbury's Statutes of England'', 2nd edition, volume 5. London: Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd (1948), pp. 1132-1133
{{UK legislation
English criminal law
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1948