The Criminal Law Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo IV c. 28) was 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 ...

, applicable only to

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 ...

. It abolished many obsolete procedural devices in English criminal law, particularly the

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

. It was repealed by the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 ...

. The Act has sixteen parts. Parts I - V concerned the formalities of

plea In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

ding, Parts VI - VII abolished benefit of clergy, Parts VIII - X dealt with the punishment of

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 ...

, Part XI created offences related to fraudulent certificates of

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...

, Part XII covered criminal cases handled by the

Court of Admiralty Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

, Part XIII made provision for pardons, and Parts XIV - XVI were interpretation and jurisdiction provisions.

Part I: Mode of trial

This part of the act stated: Before this enactment, defendants who pleaded "not guilty" to a charge of felony were formally obliged to choose their mode of trial, in a standard exchange with the

clerk of the court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...

: "How wilt thou be tried?" "By God and my country." "God grant thee a good deliverance." By this process, the prisoner elected

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...

rather than

trial by ordeal Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...

: however, as trial by ordeal had been officially abolished by a statute of Henry III in 1219, the prisoner in fact had no choice to make. Part I of the 1827 act removed the requirement for this formality.

Part II: Consequences of refusal to plead

Historically, prisoners who refused to plead to an indictment were tortured, in a process known as '' peine fort et dure'', until they died or entered a plea. The "Act for the More Effectual Proceedings Against Persons Standing Mute" of 1772 (12 Geo III c.20) abolished this: instead, prisoners who refused to answer the indictment were deemed to have pleaded "Guilty", and were then sentenced for the crime. The 1827 act reversed the position; "if any Person being arraigned or charged with any Indictment or

Information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

... shall stand mute of Malice, or not answer directly to the Indictment or Information, in every Case it shall be lawful for the Court, if it shall so think fit, to order the proper Officer to enter a Plea of 'Not guilty' on behalf of such Person".

Parts III - V

Part III of the act limited the number of

peremptory challenges In American and Australian law, the right of peremptory challenge is a right in jury selection for the attorneys to reject a certain number of potential jurors without stating a reason. Other potential jurors may be challenged for cause, i.e. by ...

to jurors that a defendant could make; after the limit was reached, any subsequent challenges were to be disregarded. Part IV of the act restricted the plea of '' autrefois convict'' - "no Plea setting forth any

Attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

shall be pleaded in bar of any Indictment unless the Attainder be for the same Offence as that charged in the Indictment." Part V prevented the jury from making any enquiries into the assets of the prisoner on a charge of felony - if the prisoner were convicted, these assets would be confiscated.

Parts VI - VII: Benefit of clergy

Part VI stated - "And be it enacted, That benefit of clergy, with respect to persons convicted of felony, shall be abolished".

Benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

was a traditional practice which enabled many convicted felons to avoid the death penalty by reading (or memorizing) a passage from the Bible; originally, this was held to prove that the defendant was in Holy Orders, and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the

ecclesiastical courts An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...

(which did not have the power to impose capital sentences) rather than the civil courts, but, by the eighteenth century, this was disregarded - female defendants, for whom being in Holy Orders was impossible, were entitled to claim benefit of clergy by a statute of 1691 (3 Will & Mar c. 9). Previously to the 1827 act, Parliament had responded to the perceived injustice by reducing the number of offences for which clergy could be claimed: the 1827 act abolished it altogether. However, a statute of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

also enabled peers to claim a similar benefit, and it was uncertain that this form of proceeding was covered by the words of the 1827 Act. The abolition of the benefit for peers was abolished by an Act of 1841 (4 & 5 Vict c. 22). Part VII of the 1827 Act preserved the relief from the death penalty that was formerly available to felons entitled to claim benefit of clergy.

Parts VIII - XI: Punishment of felons

Part VIII specified the penalties for felonies for which no punishment was explicitly prescribed: imprisonment for up to two years, together with

flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

for male offenders only, or

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, pipeline, ...

for up to seven years. Part IX allowed the imposition of hard labour as part of custodial sentences. Part X permitted consecutive sentences to be imposed on felons. Part XI provided for increased penalties (imprisonment for up to seven years or transportation for life) for repeat offenders, and made it a felony for any court official to produce fraudulent evidence of previous convictions.

Part XII: Admiralty cases

Part XII prescribed that "all Offences prosecuted in the

High Court of Admiralty Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

of England shall, upon every first and subsequent Conviction, be subject to the same Punishments, whether of Death or otherwise, as if such Offences had been committed upon the Land."

Part XIII: Pardons

Part XIII dealt with pardons - "no free Pardon ... shall prevent or mitigate the Punishment to which the Offender might otherwise be lawfully sentenced on a subsequent Conviction".

Parts XIV - XVI

Part XIV of the act stated that references to males in the act included females, references to singular persons included multiple persons, and that the Act applied to

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

s as well as natural persons. Part XV specified the date on which the Act was to come into force (1 July 1827), and Part XVI excluded Scotland and Ireland from its provisions.

References

External links

Original text of the bill
from The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Volumes 67-68, page 165 (via Google Books) {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1827 English criminal law Criminal law of the United Kingdom