The first signs of the modern distinction between criminal and

civil proceedings Civil law is a major branch of the law.Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales and the United States, the term refers to non-criminal law. The law rel ...

were during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The earliest criminal trials had very little, if any, settled law to apply. However, the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation (except where the King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of

Writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

). A local lord of the manor (or family) could hold their servants and tenants responsible in a manorial court and was among wealthy people who could more easily enlist the help of a county or city bailiff, posse comitatus if one existed and the

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. The sheriff was the often-armed representative of the king in a city, town or shire, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing his laws. The church could hold ecclesiastical courts to resolve offences in its

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

and on its narrow territorial jurisdiction.

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

for crimes sought in older forums and by

private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the state. Private prosecutions are allowed in ma ...

declined—instead the state courts, and increasingly the state paying lawyers to prosecute became the normal route to justice for matters that conceivably affect or endanger the community at large. In the 18th century European countries began operating police forces; in 1829 the first force formed in England which began its own prosecutions. Consequently criminal law had a more harmonised way of enforcement.

Crown Prosecution

Historically in England, with no police forces and no prosecution service, the only route to prosecution was through

s brought by victims at their own expense or lawyers acting on their behalf. From 1829, as the police forces were formed, they began to take on the burden of bringing prosecutions against suspected criminals. Sir John Maule was appointed to be the first Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales in 1880, operating under the Home Office; his jurisdiction was only for decisions as to whether to prosecute in a very small number of difficult or important cases; once prosecution had been authorised, the matter was turned over to the

Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office go ...

. Police forces continued to be responsible for the bulk of cases, sometimes referring difficult ones to the Director. In 1962 a Royal Commission recommended that police forces set up independent prosecution departments so as to avoid having the same officers investigate and prosecute cases, although technically the prosecuting police officers did so as private citizens. The Royal Commission's recommendation was not implemented by all police forces, however, and so in 1978, another Royal Commission was set up, this time headed by

Sir Cyril Philips Sir Cyril Henry Philips, FRAS (27 December 1912, Worcester – 29 December 2005, Swanage, Dorset), knighted in the 1974 New Years Honours List, was a noted British historian and academic director. Early life His father had worked as an engine ...

. It reported in 1981, recommending that a single unified Crown Prosecution Service with responsibility for all public prosecutions in England and Wales be set up. A

White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...

was released in 1983, becoming the

Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (c. 23) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Its main effects were to establish the Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conductin ...

, which established the CPS under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions, consisting of a merger of his old department with the existing police prosecution departments. It began in 1986.

Common law offences

Abolished offences

The following common law offences once existed, but in England and Wales are now statutory (codified), part of other statutory offences, or completely abolished. *

Petty treason Petty treason or petit treason was an offence under the common law of England in which a person killed or otherwise violated the authority of a social superior, other than the king. In England and Wales, petty treason ceased to be a distinct offen ...

* Arson *

Larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

Reformed by 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 decepti ...

* Robbery * Burglary * Concealment of treasure trove *

Cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...

, except in relation to the public revenueAbolished by the

* Forgery * SeditionAbolished by 73(a) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 *

Seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection ...

Misprision of felony Misprision of felony is a form of misprision, and an offence under the common law of England that is no longer active in many common law countries. Where it was or is active, it is classified as a misdemeanor. It consists of failing to report ...

Abolished 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 ...

(disputed - alleged never to have existed) *

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 to hamper the prose ...

* RiotAbolished by section 9(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 *

Rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

Unlawful assembly Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...

Affray In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in french: à l'effroi) of ordinary people. Depending on their act ...

* Defamatory libel (aka criminal libel, aka criminal defamatory libel) *

Obscene libel The publication of an obscene libel was an offence under the common law of England. Prior to the abolition bsection 1of the Criminal Law Act 1967 of the distinction between felony and misdemeanour, it was regarded as a misdemeanour. It has been abo ...

* BlasphemyAbolished by section 79(1) of the

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c 4) 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 Nor ...

* Blasphemous libel *

Incitement In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ...

* Maintenance (not including embracery)Abolished by the

, section 13(1)(a) * Champerty * BriberyCodified by the

Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 (c.23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to bribery. Introduced to Parliament in the Queen's Speech in 2009 after several decades of reports and draft bills, the Act recei ...

* Embracery * Challenging to fight * Eavesdropping * Being a common barrator – see Barratry * Being a

common scold Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

* Being a common nightwalker *

Forcible entry Forcible entry is "the unlawful taking of possession of real property by force or threats of force or unlawful entry into or onto another's property, especially when accompanied by force". The term is also sometimes used for entry by military, pol ...

Codified by the Criminal Law Act 1977 * Forcible detainer (occupying property belonging to another with "menaces, force and arms" and without lawful authority) * Attempt *

Conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

(except for

conspiracy to defraud Conspiracy to defraud is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales The standard definition of a conspiracy to defraud was provided by Lord Dilhorne in '' Scott v Metropolitan Police Commissioner'' ...

conspiracy to corrupt public morals In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...

and conspiracy to outrage public decency) See also

criminal libel Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used. It is an alternative name for the common law offence which is also known (in order ...

for general information about the common law libel offences listed above.

Offences held no longer to exist or never to have existed

* Effecting a public mischief * Conspiracy to effect a public mischief

Offences against the person

Fatal offences

Extant offences

* Murder * Manslaughter

Abolished offences

* Capital murder *

Felo de se ''Felo de se'' (from Medieval Latin ''fel'' 'lō dē sē'', "felon of him-/herself") was a concept applied against the personal estates (assets) of adults who ended their own lives. Early English common law, among others, by this concept con ...

Sexual offences

Extant offences

Rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

Abolished offences

* Buggery * Assault with intent to commit buggery *

Gross indecency between men Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...

Indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

on a man *

on a woman

Non-fatal non-sexual offences

Common assault Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

Offences against property

Extant offences

* Criminal damage in English law#History

Abolished offences

* Embezzlement *

Fraudulent conversion Criminal conversion is a crime, limited to parts of common law systems outside England and Wales, of exerting unauthorized use or control of someone else's property, at a minimum personal property, but in some jurisdictions also applying to types ...

Firearms and offensive weapons

Forgery, personation and cheating

Abolished offences

See forgery: * Offences unde
section 18
an
section 20
of the Pharmacy Act 1954 repealed b
The Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Order 2007
See

personation Personation (rather than ''im''personation) is a primarily- legal term, meaning 'to assume the identity of another person with intent to deceive'. It is often used for the kind of voter fraud where an individual votes in an election, whilst pret ...

: * Offences under section 13 of the

Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

* Offences under section 12 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890 (Both repealed by the

Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c 11) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which combined the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise into a single government department, HM Revenue and Customs. The Act also e ...

) See

cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...

Offences against the State or Crown or Government and political offences

Abolished offences

* Sedition *

* Incitement to mutiny, contrary to section 1 of the

Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 (37 Geo 3 c 70) was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit ...

* Offences under the

Unlawful Drilling Act 1819 The Unlawful Drilling Act 1819 (60 Geo 3 & 1 Geo 4 c 1), also known as the Training Prevention Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Six Acts passed after the Peterloo massacre. This Act was excluded by artic ...

* Various forms of statutory piracy

Harmful or dangerous drugs

Offences against religion and public worship

Abolished offences

* Blasphemy * Blasphemous libel

Offences against the administration of public justice

Abolished offences

* Embracery

Offences held no longer to exist or never to have existed

* In 1954, the judgment of the Queen's Bench in the case of ''R v Newland'' contraindicated the offence of effecting a public mischief, whereas in '' Shaw v DPP'' (1960), the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

ruled that indeed it had existed and continued to exist. * Conspiracy to effect a public mischief

Public order offences

Abolished offences

Breach of the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

* Defamatory libel

Offences against public morals and public policy

Abolished offences

*Offences under the

Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 1916 Prevention of Corruption Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to corruption and bribery. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Prevent ...

Repealed by section 17(3) of, and Schedule 2 to, the

*The common law offence of bribery

Protection of children and vulnerable adults

Protection of animals and the environment

Road traffic and motor vehicle offences

Participatory offences

Abolished offences

* Accessory to felony: Secondary principal/Principal in the second degree,

Accessory before the fact An accessory is a person who assists in, but does not actually participate in, the commission of a crime. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree: *The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, ...

Accessory after the fact An accessory is a person who assists in, but does not actually participate in, the commission of a crime. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree: *The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, ...

Classification of offences

Abolished classes

Felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

* Misdemeanour *

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 te ...

Defences

Abolished defences

Provocation Provocation, provoke or provoked may refer to: * Provocation (legal), a type of legal defense in court which claims the "victim" provoked the accused's actions * Agent provocateur, a (generally political) group that tries to goad a desired res ...

Procedure

Abolished proceedings

* Criminal information

References

* Hale, Matthew. Historia Placitorum Coronæ (History of the Pleas of the Crown) (1736). * Stephen, Sir James Fitzjames. History of the Criminal Law of England (1883). * Radzinowicz, Sir Leon. A History of English Criminal Law and Its Administration from 1750. 5 volumes. 1948 to 1990. *John Hostettler. A History of Criminal Justice in England and Wales. Waterside Press. 2009
Google Books
*John Hamilton Baker. An Introduction to English Legal History. Third Edition. Butterworths. 1990. Chapters 28 and 29. *John Hamilton Baker, "Pleas of the Crown" (1978) 94 Selden Society annual volumes 299 *J M Kaye et al. "The Making of English Criminal Law" (1977 to 1978) Criminal Law Review *John G Bellamy. Criminal Law and Society in Late Medieval and Tudor England. Alan Sutton. 1984
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*Edward Powell. Kingship, Law, and Society: Criminal Justice in the Reign of Henry V. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1989
Google Books
*John H Langbein. Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany France. Harvard University Press. 1974
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Lawbook Exchange. Clark, New Jersey. 2005
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*J S Cockburn (ed). Crime in England 1550–1800. Meuthen. 1977
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* J. M. Beattie. Crime and the Courts in England 1660–1800. OUP. 1986
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*David Bentley. English Criminal Justice in the 19th Century. Hambledon Press. 1998
Google Books
*John G Bellamy. The Criminal Trial in Later Medieval England. University of Toronto Press. 1998
Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of English Criminal Law English criminal law Criminal law

English criminal law English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, i ...