The Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c.94) is a mainly repealed Act of the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. Th ...

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 Grea ...

. It consolidated

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

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 ...

related to

accomplice Under the English common law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even if they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller ...

s, including many classes of encouragers (inciters). Mainly its offences were, according to the draftsman of the Act, replacement enactments with little or no variation in phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the

Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861 The Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. cc. 94 – 100) were Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify ...

. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It collected the relevant parts of

Peel's Acts Peel's Acts (as they are commonly known) were Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify the criminal law. The term re ...

(and the equivalent Irish Acts) and others.

James Edward Davis James Edward Davis (1817 - 1887) was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1842, was stipendiary magistrate at Stoke upon Trent from 1864 to 1870, was police magistrate at Sheffield from 1870 to 1874, and was a friend of Leigh Hunt. Works D ...

. The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, Chapters 94 to 100: Edited with Notes, Critical and Explanatory. Butterworths. 1861
Page vii

Provisions still in force

The Act provides that an accessory to an indictable offence shall be treated in the same way as if he had committed the offence: Section 8 of the Act, as amended, reads: Section 10 states that the Act does not apply to Scotland. The active section thus applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The rest of the Act was repealed 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 ...

to make easier the abolition of the distinction between

felonies 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 ...

and misdemeanours; (see below).

Case law

In ''AG's Reference (No 1 of 1975)'' (1975) QB 773, Lord Chief Justice Widgery stated that the words in section 8 should be given their ordinary meaning. * The natural meaning of "to aid" is to "give help, support or assistance to" and it will generally although not necessarily take place at the scene of the crime. It is not necessary to prove that there was any agreement between the principal and the alleged accessory, nor is there a need to prove a causative link between the aid and the commission of the offence by the principal. * The natural meaning of "to abet" is "to incite, instigate or encourage" and this can only be committed by an accessory who is present when the crime is committed. This does imply either an express or implied agreement between the parties although there is no need to prove any causative link between what the abettor did and the commission of the offence. * "To counsel" is "to encourage" and most usually covers advice, information, encouragement or the supply of equipment before the commission of a crime. It implies agreement with the principal. In ''R v Clarkson'' (1971) 3 AER 344, the defendant merely watched while fellow soldiers raped a woman in their barracks in Germany. Counselling or advising must have an effect on the mind of the principal to constitute the necessary encouragement in fact, so Clarkson was found not guilty. No causative link between the counselling and the commission of the full offence is required so long as the offence committed was within the scope of the counselling. In ''R v Calhaem'' (1985) 2 AER 266, the defendant paid a private detective to murder a woman and was charged with counselling or procuring the murder. It was held that the offence committed must be within the scope of the counselling, i.e., the principal does not deliberately depart from the plan. The detective merely intended to frighten the woman but hit her with a hammer. If, however, the accessory is sufficiently vague as to committing of crime the accessory will not face liability. * "To procure" means "to produce by endeavour, by setting out to see that it happens and taking the appropriate steps to produce that happening". The principal can be entirely "innocent" of the procurer's acts so long as there is proof of a causal link between the procuring and the commission of the offence by the principal offender, e.g., as in ''AG’s Reference (No 1)'' (1975) 2 AER 684, spiking a drink procures a drunk-driving offence.

Summary offences

The Act does not apply to summary offences, but section 44(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 is to the like effect:

Repeals

Sections 1 to 7 and 9 of this Act were repealed for

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

by section 10(2) of, and Part III of Schedule 3 to, the

. They were repealed for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

by section 15(2) of, and Part II of 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 Pa ...

. Section 11 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892.

References

External links