In English

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 ...

, a disorderly house is a house in which the conduct of its inhabitants is such as to become a public

nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means something which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "com ...

, or outrages public decency, or tends to corrupt or deprave, or injures the public interest; or a house where persons congregate to the probable disturbance of the public peace or other commission of crime. To persistently or habitually keep a disorderly house is an offence against the common law, punishable by fine or imprisonment. The usual charge for keeping a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

where prostitution can be proven, for instance, is under section 33A of the

Sexual Offences Act 1956 The Sexual Offences Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 69) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated the English criminal law relating to sexual offences between 1957 and 2004. It was mostly repealed (from 1 ...

, "Keeping a Brothel for Prostitution", and the penalty is up to six months if proceeding summarily or seven years if by indictment. (The definition of a brothel in English law has been held to be "a place where people of opposite sexes are allowed to resort for illicit intercourse, whether…common prostitutes or not" and thus prostitution need not form part of the picture; a

soapland Prostitution, as defined under modern Japanese law, is the illegal practice of sexual intercourse with an 'unspecified' (unacquainted) person in exchange for monetary compensation, which was criminalised in 1956 by the introduction of article 3 o ...

is, in the eyes of the law of England, a brothel without prostitution.) Brothel-keeping can, however, also be charged as "Keeping a Disorderly House" (contrary to the common law rather than any written statute), and is then punishable by an unlimited fine, and unlimited imprisonment. The "operator" of a

crack house A drug house is a residence used in the illegal drug trade. Drug houses shelter drug users and provide a place for drug dealers to supply them. Drug houses can also be used as laboratories to synthesize (cook) drugs, or cache ingredients and p ...

opium den An opium den was an establishment in which opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America, and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were f ...

can also be charged with keeping a disorderly house, as can the owner/operator of an illegal gambling establishment, as well as the owner of a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

, "blind tiger", or "boozecan" (illegal bar or pub). Modern vice laws, regulating such things as drinking, gambling, dancing, and drugs, have resulted in calls for the offence of keeping a disorderly house to be abolished. As brothel-keeping is one of the most common causes for the charge of keeping a disorderly house, "disorderly house" has become something of a euphemism for brothel in the English legal community; brothel or "disorderly house"-related ''statutory'' offences can be found under sections 33 to 36 of the

, as well as in sections 51A to 56 of the

Sexual Offences Act 2003 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42) is an Act of the Parliament (for England and Wales). It partly replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 with more specific and explicit wording. It also created several new offences such as non-consensual voyeu ...

. These are, however, not to be confused with the common law offence of Keeping A Disorderly House.

History

There were formerly statutory provisions relating to disorderly houses under: *the

Disorderly Houses Act 1751 The Disorderly Houses Act 1751 ( 25 Geo. 2. c. 36) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It made provision in relation to disorderly houses. Most of it had been repealed by the mid-twentieth century, but one section, section 8, survive ...

. *sections 1 and 2 of the Sunday Observance Act 1780.Sunday Observance Act 1780
/ref> Both acts have been repealed in the UK (

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008 (c. 12) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which repealed more than 250 acts of Parliament in full, and more than 50 in part. History In January 2008 the Law Commission and the Scottish La ...

and

Licensing Act 2003 The Licensing Act 2003 (c. 17) is an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises in England and Wales used to sell or supply of alcohol, provide regulated entertainm ...

References

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History

See also

References

Further reading