The Punishment of Offences Act 1837 (7 Will 4 & 1 Vict c 91) was an Act of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Gre ...

. It abolished the death penalty for a number of statutory offences and replaced it with

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...

for life. This Act originally extended to the United Kingdom (which then included the whole of Ireland). This Act was retained for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

by section 2(2)(a) of, and Part 4 of Schedule 1 to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 2007 The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. ...

. This Act was repealed as to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

by section 412(1) of, and the Fourth Schedule to, the

Crimes Act 1961 The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by t ...

Preamble

The preamble specified the following offences: *offences under sections 1 and 4 and 5 of the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and ...

*offences under section 9 of the Murder Act 1751 *offences under section 10 of the

Prisoners (Rescue) Act (Ireland) 1791 A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

*offences under 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 section 1 of the

Incitement to Disaffection Act (Ireland) 1797 The Incitement to Disaffection Act (Ireland) 1797 (37 Geo 3 c 40 (I)) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland. It made equivalent provision to the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 for Ireland. This Act was repealed for Northern I ...

*offences under section 1 and 4 of the

Unlawful Oaths Act 1812 Illegal, or unlawful, typically describes something that is explicitly prohibited by law, or is otherwise forbidden by a state or other governing body. Illegal may also refer to: Law * Violation of law * Crime, the practice of breaking the ...

*offences under section 9 of the Slave Trade Act 1824

Section 1

Immediately before its repeal in England and Wales this section read: The words "after the commencement of this Act" in the first place were repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890. The words "at the discretion of the court" and "or for any Term not less than fifteen years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years" in the second and third places were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892. So far as it related to offences under the

, the Murder Act 1751 and section 4 of the

, this section was repealed by section 10(2) of, and Part III of Schedule 3 to 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 ...

. It was repealed for Northern Ireland by section 15 of, and Schedule 2 to, 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 P ...

. The penalty was reduced to penal servitude for life by section 2 of the

Penal Servitude Act 1857 Penal is a town in south Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. It lies south of San Fernando, Princes Town, and Debe, and north of Moruga, Morne Diablo and Siparia. It was originally a rice- and cocoa-producing area but is now a rapidly expanding an ...

, and to

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

for life by section 1(1) of the

Criminal Justice Act 1948 The Criminal Justice Act 1948 () is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Overview It is "one of the most important measures relating to the reform of the criminal law and its administration". It abolished: * penal servitude, har ...

, of the

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1949 Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

, and of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1953. Section 1(1) of the 1949 Act was replaced by section 221(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975.

Section 2 - Offences punishable by imprisonment

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1893.

Section 3 - Not to affect Powers of 5 & 6 W 4 c 38 and 4 G 4 c 64

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1890.

Section 4 - Repeal of 2 Jac 1 c 31

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.

Section 5 - Commencement of Act

This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1874.

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Mea ...

, *David M Walker. A Legal History of Scotland. Butterworths LexisNexis. 2001
Volume 6 (The Nineteenth Century)
Pages 380, 407 and 459.

External links

The Punishment of Offences Act
as amended, from the National Archives
The Punishment of Offences Act
as originally enacted, from the National Archives (HTML) {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1837 Capital punishment in the United Kingdom