Ul 



LAW, ( ItlMIN.U.. 



LAW, CRIMIKAL. 



1H 



,m, IB UM ease of tstanas the offender, upon attainder, 



' ' . ' . i rbOH 



i he had at UM time of committing UM oflcnce. during his hfe. 

 T tH 4ptM, K 1 * f"|7s>HHi H *t^^"T 1 "? forfeited to the lord 

 nectar- and even where attainted of murder, though his free- 

 Bis* in fce-alasple Ml altar his death, it U not as a consequence 

 law uf fmtaHsaa, but because they escheat for want of heirs 

 of raeossding to them, owing to his blood being corrupted by 

 indr ; and it on account of such estates escheating and not 

 rssstak Mast they go to the lord of the fee (that \*. Mil.jcct to 

 irn'* year, day and wt", and nt to the .-r-un. unless there 

 to be no Intermediate lord between UM offender and the crown, 

 I avsnt UM crown Ukw as ultimate lord of the fee. In the 

 tnason, however, the offender upon attainder, instead of 

 * to the crown the profits merely of *uch freehold lands as he 

 he fr~* of committing the offence, during his life, forfeits all 

 I estate* ol inheritance, as well those in fee-tail a* those in 

 .le. and not only such aa he had at the time of the commission 

 fanes, but those slso which be may acquire at any time after- 

 sod Inatnad of forfeiting to the crown the profits of his 

 il during hi* life, and to the lord of the manor his copyholds 

 mple only, he forfeits at once to the lord of the manor nil the 

 fc lialiaMiiM. to him at the time the offence was committed. 

 he <rffnM*f is s male, his wife's dower is also forfeited to the 

 rhich is not the case in felony. It is to be observed that the 

 i aniuowared (see 69 Oeo. III. c. 94) to restore the whole or any 

 any land* or hereditaments to which it becomes entitled by 

 or forfeiture to the family of the offender, a provision which 

 lUy mitig***** the **>" of the law of forfeiture. The 

 I LAW Commissioners however recommended the entire 

 i of the confiscation of property as a necessary incident to 

 JDS for treason or felony (' Seventh Report on Criminal Law'). 

 eiture follows a summary conviction for felony under the 

 i Offenders act (10 & 11 Viet. c. 82). The difference between 

 rment of death for treason and that for felony requires no 



the above peculiarities of punishment, these different classes 

 ca are distinguished by particular forms of procedure ; but it 

 more convenient to refer to these when describing our general 

 if criminal procedure. 



ding to the law of England, all persona above the age of seven 

 :eept such as by reason of unripeness, weakness, unsoundncs, 

 or delusion of mind, ore incapable -of discerning, at tl 

 they do on act, that the act is contrary cither to the law of God or the 

 law of the land, are criminally responsible for such act ; but tempo- 

 rary incapacity wilfully incurred by intoxication or other means is no 

 excuse. An infant of the age of seven and under fourteen years, how- 

 ever, i* to be presumed to be incapable of committing a crime until the 

 contrary be proved. Duress, also, inducing a well-grounded fear of 

 death or grievous bodily harm, will excuse a person acting under such 

 duress in all cases except treason and murder ; and a married woman 

 committing any oflence, except those lost mentioned, if her husband be 

 present at the time, shall be presumed to have acted under his 

 coercion, and be entitled to on acquittal, unless it appears that hc did 

 not so set A married wonun also shall not be liable to conviction for 

 receiving her husband or any other person in his presence and by his 



.' 



The whole of the law, written as well as unwritten, relating to the 

 definition and punishment of offences, thnt is, the whole Criminal Law 

 of England as regard* Indictable crimes and their punishments as it 

 then existed, was collected and reduced into one body by the Criminal 

 Law Comniisiioncr* (see their 7tl> Ucport), and wan thus fur the ln>t 

 time rendered accessible to the public at large. .Before this reduction 

 the Criminal Law had to be sought for in an immense mass of statutes, 

 reported decision*, records, ancient and modern, and text-books ; and, 

 on that account, could be known but to the few, and those principally 

 engsgrd in the practice or administration of the law. The digest so 

 prepared by the Commissioners, and called by them ' The Act of 

 Crane* and Punishment*/ was comprised in twenty f-mr chapter.*, 

 under the following b*d* :- 



1. Preliminary DlaraUon* and EnactmcnU. 



2. Treason and other offences against the State. 



3. Offence* again* Religion and the Established Church. 



4. offences again* the Executive Power generally. 



Trace* agaiiwt the Administration of Justice. 

 0. Oftenon against the Public Peace. 



' >fbao* relating to the Coin, and t- bullion, ami Cold and 

 Silver rkt*. 



9. OSsnca* relating to the Public Property, Revenue, and Fund*. 

 9. Oftet^ssjaiMtthelawofllarrisgr' 



10. Oflancaa rUtin to Public Records and Register*. 



1 1 . UftVooM againH Public Morals and Decency. 

 11 Oflence* again* Public health. 



13. Common Nuisance*. 



II. Ufttwss relating to Trade, Commerce, and Public Comimmi- 



,,;,.., 



1 7. Offences against the Hal .it.it 



18. Fraudulent Appropriations. 



19. Piracy and Offence* connected with the Slave Trade. 



20. Malicious Injuries to Property. 



_'l. Forgery and other offences connected therewith. 



22. Illegal Solicitations, Conspiracies, Attempts, and Repetitions of 

 Offences. 



28. Definii ins and Explanations. 



24. Chapter of Penalties. 



Upon the subject of punishments, the Commissioners recommended 

 the abolition of forfeiture as an incident to convictions for treason or 

 felony ; were inclined to reject whipping as a mode of punishment, 

 except in the case of discharging or aiming fire-arms, &e.,at the queen 

 (546 Viet. c. 51, s. 2), in which it has lately been imposed by the 

 legislature as constituting a signal mark of ignominy ; proposed Hint 

 three, oral the utmost four, years should be the longest term of im- 

 prisonment to be inflicted for any offence, whether treason, fel> 

 misdemeanor, in cases where imprisonment forms the whole or part 

 of the punishment ; and suggested a scale of penalties, consisting of 

 forty-five classes, to be substituted for the numerous punish 

 contained in the above statement. This scale might be much further 

 reduced if the recommendations of the Commissioners should be 

 adopted. At present it is extremely difficult in some instances to 

 determine what punishment an offence is liable to. 



A bill embodying the provisions of the ' Act of Crimes and Punish- 

 ments," subject to such omissions as were recommended by the IVi 

 sioners, was introduced, at the end of the session of 1844, in the House 

 of Lords by Lord Brougham, but was ultimately withdrawn at the 

 instance of the Lord Chancellor, who undertook to issue a commission 

 for the purpose of revising it, that duty being too laborious for any 

 government to grapple with, and if their report should be favourable 

 to its adoption, to found one or more government measures upon it, as 

 should be thought most expedient A commission was accordingly 

 appointed for this, amongst other purposes, 1846, but no practical 

 result followed. The members of the old commission made a report 

 containing a digest of the law of procedure as regards indictable 

 offences (a most difficult and laborious undertaking). 



Besides the ' Act of Crimes and Punishments,' and the Digest of the 

 Law of Procedure, several other most important reports em: 

 from the original Criminal Law Commission. It was upon their 

 recommendation that the Acts of the first year of her present Majesty's 

 reign, repealing the punishment of death in the case of between thirty 

 and forty crimes, were founded. It was a report of theirs which 

 mainly contributed to the alteration of thnt harsh and inconsistent 

 rule of our law which denied a prisoner his full defence by counsel 

 upon a charge of felony. They also made a very elaborate and valuable 

 report upon the Consolidation of the General Statute Law, and a 

 report upon the subject of Juvenile Offenders in all, the nui: 

 reports which issued from the commission between the peri 

 its first appointment, in 1823 and its termination in the year 1845 

 was eight. 



A sum exceeding 65,000?. has been spent on various commissions, 

 which have been issued during the hist thirty years for the COIIM.] illation 

 or codification of the criminal law ; but that object has n- 

 attained, nor have nny really practical measures been adopted f< 

 an annual revision of our statutes as would in a few years naturally 

 produce their consolidation, if not a codilieation of tin 1 law itself. It 

 'n thought, however, that the well-grounded impatience of the House 

 of Commons cannot much 1 the passing of general act 



latins and so far codifying the criminal law; on this y 

 it is dr-. tato from any attempt to enumerate the* 



in details whi'-h have been made from time to time. One 

 points only need be referred to. The summary jm < ntly 



conferred on magistrates in petty sessions is noticed under LAI 

 tlir liability of trustees to prosecution I'm 1. reach nt duty, tmdrr the 

 head TBI-.-TKI s. "rent improvements were effected in the procedure 

 of the court* which tak by the statute 14 & 15 



Viet. c. ion, wliic h abolished all technical objections for i. 

 nondeacriptions, and invested the judges with ample powers of ; 

 incnt. A court of criminal appeal in cases involving questions 

 has been established. Finally, transportation as a pmii.'lmicut. to 1m 

 ordered by the court has been abolished by the statute 2 & ' 

 0.8. /' (it is termed, created by statute Ifl 4 17 Virl. 



c. 99, has been substituted ; but criminals sentenced to long terms of 

 penal servitude continue to be transported as before. 



TVon 



AVlir. table crime hsj been or iu sa<]>roted t. 



commit Hnary mode of bringing the accused to justice is as 



follows:-- Unless he sun.n.l.i lih; in the first place, to be 



summoned by some magistrate, having jurisdiction, to :i] 

 him, IT, as is more generally t! arrant for his appn I.. 



Is to be procured from somesuch magisti uing of 



a warrant there must be an iiil'uriii.itii.u hii<l mi oath. Iiutea 

 warrant the justice may, in his discretion, ami MI n mere charge or 

 rittrn infoniintii'ii -uc a summons in 



After a summons duly iisui"! and rorvi d upmi tin- 

 '.lie is ton] ''ing to its directions, Of 10 default the 



