The Criminal Law Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28) 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 ...

, applicable only 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 ...

. 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 It was repealed by the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 (c. 58) 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. ...

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

plea In law, a plea is a defendant's response to a criminal charge. A defendant may plead guilty or not guilty. Depending on jurisdiction, additional pleas may be available, including '' nolo contendere'' (no contest), no case to answer (in the ...

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 ...

, 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 offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

, 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 offenses. United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest records, held in West R ...

, Part XIII made provision for

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

s, and Parts XIV - XVI were interpretation and jurisdiction provisions. Similar provision was made for Ireland by the ( 9 Geo. 4. c. 54).

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 and administering oaths t ...

: "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 increasingly used ...

rather than

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

: 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 ' (Law French for "hard and forceful punishment") was a method of torture formerly used in the common law legal system, in which a defendant who refused to plead ("stood mute") would be subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon t ...

'', until they died or entered a plea. The "Act for the More Effectual Proceedings Against Persons Standing Mute", the

Felony and Piracy Act 1772 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 ...

( 12 Geo. 3. 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 Criminal Law Act 1827 reversed the position; "if any Person being arraigned or charged with any Indictment or

Information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

... 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 The right of peremptory challenge is a legal right in jury selection for the attorneys to reject a certain number of potential jurors or judges without stating a reason. The idea behind peremptory challenges is that if both parties have contributed ...

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 In common law systems, the peremptory pleas (pleas in bar) are defensive pleas that set out special reasons for which a trial cannot proceed; they serve to bar the case entirely. Pleas in bar may be used in civil or criminal cases; they address ...

'' – "no Plea setting forth any

Attainder In English criminal law, attainder 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 hereditary titles, but ...

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 In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

, and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the

ecclesiastical courts In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...

(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 the Benefit of Clergy, etc. Act 1691 ( 3 Will. & Mar. c. 9). Previously to the Criminal Law Act 1827, Parliament had responded to the perceived injustice by reducing the number of offences for which clergy could be claimed: the Criminal Law Act 1827 abolished it altogether. However, a statute of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

also enabled

peers Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh internationa ...

to claim a similar benefit, and it was uncertain that this form of proceeding was covered by the words of the Criminal Law Act 1827. The abolition of the benefit for peers was abolished by the Felony Act 1841 ( 4 & 5 Vict. c. 22). Part VII of the Criminal Law Act 1827 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 Imprisonment or incarceration 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 considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

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 ...

for male offenders only, or

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

for up to seven years. Part IX allowed the imposition of

hard labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

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 offenses. United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest records, held in West R ...

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

s – "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 legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

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

*"The Criminal Law Act, 1827". The Complete Statutes of England. (Halsbury's Statutes of England). 1929
vol 4
p 454. *Welsby and Beavan. Chitty's Collection of Statutes. 2nd Ed. 1851. vol 2. title "Criminal Law". p
18
to 20. *J F Archbold. "7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 28". Peel's Acts, and all the other Criminal Statutes. 3rd Ed. 1835. vol 1. p
259
to 268. {{UK legislation Robert Peel English criminal law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1827 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Consolidation Acts