The Criminal Law Revision Committee of England & Wales was a standing committee of learned legal experts that was called upon by the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

to advise on legal issues and to report back recommendations for reform. While never formally abolished, it has been dormant since 1986 and superseded by the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

Overview

The first committee was set up by

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

in February 1959 ‘to examine such aspects of the criminal law...as the Home Secretary may from time to time refer to the Committee, to consider whether the law requires revision and to make recommendations’. While members worked on a voluntary basis, it subsequently published eighteen reports on numerous contentious legal issues. Although not all of the Committee's reports have been adopted by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, many have had a great influence on UK

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

List of reports

*First Report: Indecency with Children (Cmnd 835) (1959) *Second Report: Suicide (Cmnd 1187) (1960) *Third Report: Criminal Procedure (Insanity) (Cmnd 2149) (1963) *Fourth Report: Order of Closing Speeches (Cmnd 2148) (1963) *Fifth Report: Criminal Procedure (Jurors) (Cmnd 2349) (1964) *Seventh Report: Felonies and Misdemeanours (Cmnd 2659) (1965) *Eighth Report: Theft and Related Offences (Cmnd 2977) (1966) *Ninth Report: Evidence (written statements, formal admissions, and notices of alibi) (Cmnd 3145) (1966) *Tenth Report: Secrecy of Jury Room (Cmnd 3750) (1968) *Eleventh Report: Evidence (General) (Cmnd 4991) (1972) *Twelfth Report: Penalty for Murder (Cmnd 5184) (1973) *Thirteenth Report: Section 16 of the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deceptio ...

(Cmnd 6733) (1977) *Fourteenth Report: Offences against the Person (Cmnd 7844) (1980) *Fifteenth Report: Sexual Offences (Cmnd 9213) (1984) *Sixteenth Report: Prostitution in the Street (Cmnd 9329) (1984) *Seventeenth Report: Prostitution: Off Street Activities (Cmnd 9688) (1985) *Eighteenth Report: Conspiracy to Defraud (Cmnd 9873) (1986) The seventh report was implemented by the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

and the

Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 The Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c 18) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Criminal Law Act 1967 for Northern Ireland. Section 2 This section was repealed barticle 90(2)of, and Pa ...

. The eighth report was implemented by the

and the

Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 The Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (c 16) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes criminal law provisions for Northern Ireland similar to those made in England and Wales by the Theft Act 1968. Section 1 - Theft This section ...

References

{{Reflist

Overview

List of reports

References

See also