Peel's Acts

Peel's Acts (as they are commonly known) were acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify the criminal law. The term refers to the Home Secretary who sponsored them, Sir Robert Peel.

Some writers apply the term Peel's Acts to the series of acts passed between 1826 and 1832. Other writers apply the term Peel's Acts specifically to five of those acts, namely chapters 27 to 31 of the session 7 & 8 Geo. 4 (1827).

According to some writers, the Criminal Law Act 1826 (7 Geo. 4. c. 64) was the first of Peel's Acts.

The acts were the product of a failed attempt to codify the criminal law.

The acts 7 & 8 Geo. 4. cc. 27 to 31

These acts are:

• The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27)
• The Criminal Law Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28)
• The Larceny Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29)
• The Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30)
• The Remedies against the Hundred Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 31), also called the Riot Act 1827

The Criminal Law (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 54), and the acts 9 Geo. 4. cc. 53, 55 and 56, made similar provision for Ireland.

The acts replaced by the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861

James Edward Davis said that the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861 are new editions of Peel's Acts. The acts listed below were replaced by the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. There were two separate sets of broadly identical acts for England and Ireland respectively.

The first four acts on this list consolidated 316 acts, representing almost four-fifths of all offences.

England

• The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27) (48 statutes)
• The Larceny Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29) (92 statutes)
• The Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30) (effectively replacing the statutes abolished by c. 27 and c. 29)
• The Offences against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31) (56 statutes)
• The Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) (120 statutes)
• The Coinage Offences Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 34)

Ireland

• (Repeals) (9 Geo. 4. c. 53)
• 9 Geo. 4. c. 55, sometimes referred to as the Larceny Act 1828 or the Larceny (Ireland) Act 1828
• 9 Geo. 4. c. 56, sometimes referred to as the Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1828 or the Malicious Injuries to Property (Ireland) Act 1828

• 10 Geo. 4. c. 34, sometimes referred to as the Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 and as the Offences Against the Person Act (Ireland) 1829

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