Judgment of Death Act 1823
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| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for enabling Courts to abstain from pronouncing Sentence of Death in certain Capital Felonies. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 4 Geo. 4 c. 48 |
| Territorial extent | |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 4 July 1823 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1888 |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Judgment of Death Act 1823 (4 Geo. 4 c. 48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (although it did not apply to Scotland). Passed at a time when there were over 200 offences in English law which carried a mandatory sentence of death, it gave judges the discretion to pass a lesser sentence for the first time. It did not apply to treason or murder. The Act required judges to enter a sentence of death on the court record, but then allowed them to commute the sentence to imprisonment.
The Act was repealed in England and Wales by the Courts Act 1971,[2] in the Republic of Ireland by the Statute Law Revision Act 1983[3] and repealed in 1980 in Northern Ireland.[citation needed] By that time the death penalty in the United Kingdom had essentially ended: it had been abolished for murder in Great Britain in 1965, the last ones issued in Northern Ireland were soon commuted to life imprisonment, and no death penalties were subsequently handed down in Great Britain for the crimes that retained it.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ "Courts Act 1971: Schedule 11", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1971 c. 23 (sch. 11)
- ^ Statute Law Revision Act 1983, Schedule: Repeals, Part IV
