The Coinage Offences Act 1832 ( 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 34) was an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

that consolidated for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

all legislation concerning the

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

ing and clipping of coins into one act. Such conduct was often considered to be

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

: this act downgraded the offence to

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 r ...

and abolished the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for all coinage offences.

Background

In the

, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Blackstone's ''

Commentaries on the Laws of England The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (commonly, but informally known as ''Blackstone's Commentaries'') are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarend ...

'', published in the late

18th-century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to cha ...

, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book. In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book. From 1810 to 1825, ''

The Statutes of the Realm ''The Statutes of the Realm'' is an authoritative collection of acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen A ...

'' was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. In 1816, both Houses of Parliament, passed resolutions that an eminent lawyer with 20 clerks be commissioned to make a digest of the statutes, which was declared "very expedient to be done." However, this was never done. In 1822,

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

entered the cabinet as

home secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

and in 1826 introduced a number of reforms to the

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 ...

, which became known as Peel's Acts. This included efforts to modernise, consolidate and repeal provisions from a large number of earlier

statutes A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

, including: *

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 ...

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 ...

and other Offences of Stealing *

Burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

Robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

and Threats for the Purpose of

or of

Extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

Embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

, False Pretences, and the

Receipt of Stolen Property Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods. In many jurisdictions, if an individual has accepted possession of goods (or property) and knew they were stolen, then the individua ...

* Malicious Injuries to Property * Remedies against the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

In 1827, several acts were passed for this purpose, territorially limited to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, 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. Th ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, including: * Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27), which repealed for

over 140 enactments relating to the

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. * Criminal Law Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. * Larceny Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to

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 ...

. * Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property. In 1828, parallel bills for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to Peel's Acts were introduced, becoming: * Criminal Statutes (Ireland) Repeal Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. 54), which repealed for

over 140 enactments relating to the

. * Criminal Law (Ireland) Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. 54), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. * Larceny (Ireland) Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. c. 55) which consolidated provisions in the law relating to

. * Malicious Injuries to Property (Ireland) Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. c. 56), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property. In 1828, the

Offences Against the Person Act 1828 The Offences Against the Person Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. c. 31), also known as Lord Lansdowne's Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated for England and Wales provisions in the law related to offences against the ...

( 9 Geo. 4. c. 31) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to

offences against the person In criminal law, the term offence against the person or crime against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person. They are usually analysed by division into the fol ...

and repealed for

almost 60 enactments relating to the

. In 1829, the Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 34) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to

and repealed for

almost 60 enactments relating to the

Criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. In 1828, the

Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 The Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4. c. 74) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed criminal justice in India. The act repealed for India acts repealed for England and Wales in the Criminal Statutes Repeal ...

( 9 Geo. 4. c. 74) was passed, which repealed for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

offences repealed by the Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27) the

( 9 Geo. 4. c. 31). In 1830, the Forgery Act 1830 ( 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

and repealed for

over 25 enactments relating to the criminal law.

Passage

The Coin Laws Consolidation Bill had its

first reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 30 March 1832, presented by

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, (25 August 1784 – 1 January 1849) was an English people, English Whig (British political faction), Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served a ...

. The bill had its

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

in the

on 5 April 1832 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 6 April 1832, without amendments. The bill had its

third reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

in the

on 9 April 1832. The bill had its

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

on 10 April 1832. The bill had its

in the

on 16 April 1832 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 9 May 1832, without amendments. The bill had its

in the

on 10 May 1832. The bill was granted

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 23 May 1832.

Legacy

The

Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 The Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 ( 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 123) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the United Kingdom the death penalty for all offences of forgery, except for forging wills and certain ...

( 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 123) abolished the death penalty for offences of

except for forging wills and certain powers of attorney. This exception was abolished by the Forgery Act 1837 ( 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 84). The act was repealed by the

Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 ( 24 & 25 Vict. c. 95) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales and Ireland enactments relating to the English criminal law from 1634 to 1860. The act was int ...

( 24 & 25 Vict. c. 95).

Repealed enactments

Section 1 of the act repealed 49 enactments, listed in that section, to take effect on 1 May 1832. Section 1 also provided that for offenses and other matters committed or done before or on the last day of April 1832, that were previously punishable by death, the new punishment would be transportation "beyond the Seas" (likely to colonies) for life or a term not less than 7 years, or Imprisonment with or without hard labor not exceeding 4 years.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Robert Peel English criminal law 1832 in England United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1832 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Capital punishment in the United Kingdom Treason in the United Kingdom Currency law in the United Kingdom Consolidation Acts

Background

Passage

Legacy

Repealed enactments

See also

Notes

References