The Street Offences Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz 2 c 57) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

concerning

street prostitution Street prostitution is a form of sex work in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, e ...

. It was passed following the publication of the

Wolfenden report The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...

which discussed the rise in street prostitution at the time. Until 2009, section 1(1) of the Street Offences Act 1959 used the old term "

common prostitute "Common prostitute" is a term used in English law related to prostitution. The term was first used in the Vagrancy Act 1824. The term continued to be used in the Street Offences Act 1959 which maintained the illegality of street prostitution. Se ...

" unti
Section 16
of the

Policing and Crime Act 2009 The Policing and Crime Act 2009 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision about police reform, prostitution, sex offenders, sex establishments and certain other premises. It amends the law on aviation sec ...

amended it to replace the term "common prostitute" with "person".

Section 2 - Procedure

Section 2 of the Street Offences Act 1959 provided that a woman cautioned by a constable in respect of her conduct in a street or public place could apply by way of complaint to an authorised court. The rule was that the woman's complaint was to be heard and determined in camera, unless the woman desired that the proceedings should be conducted in public.

Section 3 - Punishment of offences in connection with night cafes

The provisions in sections 3(2) to (5) had effect in relation to the punishment of offences to which section 26 of the Licensing Act 1949 applied. This section was repealed by Part II of Schedule 9 to the

Licensing Act 1961 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Section 4 - Punishment for living on earnings of prostitution

Section 4 established the maximum term of imprisonment for living on earnings of prostitution.

Section 5 - Short title, repeal, extent and commencement

Section 5(2) was repealed by Part XI of the Schedule to the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974. Section 5(4) provides that the Act came into force at the expiration of the period of one month that began on the date on which it was passed. The word "month" means

calendar month A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

. The day (that is to say, 16 July 1959) on which the Act was passed (that is to say, received royal assent) is included in the period of one month.Hare v Gocher

962 Year 962 ( CMLXII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December – Arab–Byzantine wars – Sack of Aleppo: A Byzantine e ...

2 QB 641,

2 All ER 673; Trow v Ind Coope (West Midlands) Ltd 9672 QB 899 at 909, 9672 All ER 900, CA. This means that the Act came into force on 16 August 1959.

References

{{reflist United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1959 Prostitution law in the United Kingdom

Section 2 - Procedure

Section 3 - Punishment of offences in connection with night cafes

Section 4 - Punishment for living on earnings of prostitution

Section 5 - Short title, repeal, extent and commencement

See also

References