Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act for enabling Courts to abstain from pronouncing Sentence of Death in certain Capital Felonies. |
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Citation | 4 Geo. 4. c. 48 |
Territorial extent | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 4 July 1823 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |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The Act was repealed in England and Wales by the Courts Act 1971,[2] in the Republic of Ireland by the Statute Law Revision Act 1983[3] and repealed in 1980 in Northern Ireland.[citation needed]
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: Repeals, Part IV
- ^ Statute Law Revision Act 1983, Schedule: Repeals, Part IV