Court may abstain from pronouncing sentence of death on persons convicted of any murder. under the particular circumstances of any case, the offender or offenders is or are a fit and proper subject or fit and proper subjects to be recommended for the royal mercy; enacts that "by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the passing of this act, whenever any person shall be convicted of any felony, except murder, and shall by law be excluded the benefit of clergy in respect thereof, and the Court before which such offender shall be convicted shall be of opinion that under the particular circumstances of the case, such offender is a fit felonies, except and proper subject to be recommended for the royal mercy, it shall and may be lawful for such Court, if it shall think fit so to do, to direct the proper officer then being present in Court to require and ask, whereupon such officer shall require and ask, if such offender hath or knoweth any thing to say, why judgment of death should not be recorded against such offender; and in case such offender shall not allege any matter or thing sufficient in law to arrest or bar such judgment, the Court shall and may and is hereby authorized to abstain from pronouncing judgment of death upon such offender; and instead of pronouncing such judgment to order the same to be entered of record, and thereupon such proper officer as aforesaid shall and may and is hereby authorized to enter judgment of death on record against such offender, in the usual and accustomed form, and in such and the same manner as is now used, and as if judgment of death had actually been pronouuced in open Court against such offender, by the Court before which such offender shall have been convicted." Record of judgment to have the same effect as if pronounced. Act not to extend to Scotland. Indictment not to abate by dilatory plea of misnomer, &c. A plea of "not guilty," shall By sec. 2, "a record of every such judgment, so entered as aforesaid, shall have the like effect to all intents and purposes, and be followed by all the same consequences, as if such judgment had actually been pronounced in open Ccurt, and the offender had been reprieved by the Court." By sec. 3 "Nothing herein contained shall extend to that part of the united kingdom called Scotland." 7 GEO. 4, c. 64, s. 19. "For preventing abuses from dilatory pleas," enacts, "That no indictment or information shall be abated by reason of any dilatory plea of misnomer or of want of addition, or of wrong addition of the party offering such plea, if the Court shall be satisfied by affidavit or otherwise of the truth of such plea; but in such case the Court shall forthwith cause the indictment or information to be amended according to the truth, and shall call upon such party to plead thereto, and shall proceed as if no such dilatory plea had been pleaded." 7 & 8 GEO. 4, c. 28. An Act for further improving the Administration of Justice in Criminal WHEREAS trials for criminal offences in that part of the United Kingdom called England are attended with some forms which frequently impede the due administration of justice, and it is therefore expedient to abolish such forms, and also to abolish the benefit of clergy, and to make better provision for the punishment of offenders in certain cases be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That if any person, not having privilege of peerage, being arraigned upon any indictment for treason, felony, or piracy, shall plead thereto a plea of "not guilty," he shall by such plea, without any further put the form, be deemed to have put himself upon the country for trial; and the prisoner on his Court shall, in the usual manner, order a jury for the trial of such person accordingly. 2. And be it enacted, That if any person, being arraigned upon or charged with any indictment or information for treason, felony, piracy, or misdemeanor, shall stand mute of malice, or will not answer directly to the indictment or information, in every such case it shall be lawful for the Court, if it shall so think fit, to order the proper officer to enter a plea of "not guilty," on behalf of such person; and the plea so entered shall have the same force and effect as if such person had actually pleaded the same. 3. And be it enacted, That if any person, indicted for any treason, felony or piracy, shall challenge peremptorily a greater number of the men returned to be of the jury than such person is entitled by law so to challenge in any of the said cases, every peremptory challenge beyond the number allowed by law in any of the said cases, shall be entirely void, and the trial of such person shall proceed as if no such challenge had been made. 4. And be it enacted, That no plea setting forth any attainder shall be pleaded in bar of any indictment, unless the attainder be for the same offence as that charged in the indictment. trial. If he refuses to Every chal lenge beyond the legal number void. Attainder of another crime not pleadable. Jury shall not inquire of 5. And be it enacted, That where any person shall be indicted for treason or felony, the jury empannelled to try such person shall not be charged to inquire concerning his lands, tenements, or goods, nor whether prisoner's he fled for such treason or felony. lands, &c. abolished. 6. And be it enacted, That benefit of clergy, with respect to persons Benefit of convicted of felony, shall be abolished; but that nothing herein contained clergy shall prevent the joinder in any indictment of any counts which might have been joined before the passing of this act. 7. And be it enacted, That no person convicted of felony shall suffer What felonies death, unless it be for some felony which was excluded from the benefit only shall be of clergy before or on the first day of the present session of Parliament, capital. or which hath been or shall be made punishable with death by some statute passed after that day. able under the thereto; otherwise un 8. And be it enacted, That every person convicted of any felony, not Felonies not punishable with death, shall be punished in the manner prescribed by capital punishthe statute or statutes specially relating to such felony; and that every acts, if any, person convicted of any felony, for which no punishment hath been or relating hereafter may be specially provided, shall be deemed to be punishable under this act, and shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to he once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit), in addition to such imprisonment. der this act. order hard 9. And, with regard to the place and mode of imprisonment for all The Court may offences punishable under this act, be it enacted, That where any person order or shall be convicted of any offence punishable under this act, for which solitary conimprisonment may be awarded, it shall be lawful for the Court to sen- finement. tence the offender to be imprisoned, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, and also to direct that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for the whole or any portion or portions of such imprisonment, or of such imprisonment with hard labour, as to the Court in its discretion shall seem meet. 10. And be it enacted, That wherever sentence shall be passed for felony on a person already imprisoned under sentence for another crime, it shall be lawful for the Court to award imprisonment for the subsequent offence, to commence at the expiration of the imprisonment to which such Where a person under sen another crime tence for person shall have been previously sentenced; and where such person shall be already under sentence either of imprisonment or of transportation, the Court, if empowered to pass sentence of transportation, may award such sentence for the subsequent offence, to commence at the expiration of the imprisonment or transportation to which such person shall have been previously sentenced, although the aggregate term of imprisonment or transportation respectively may exceed the term for which either of those punishments could be otherwise awarded. 11. And whereas it is expedient to provide for the more exemplary punishment of offenders who commit felony after a previous conviction for felony, whether such conviction shall have taken place before or after the commencement of this act; be it therefore enacted, That if any person shall be convicted of any felony, not punishable with death, committed after a previous conviction for felony, such person shall, on such subsequent conviction, be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicy or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit) in addition to such imprisonment; and in an indictment for any such felony committed after a previous conviction for felony, it shall be sufficient to state that the offender was at a certain time and place convicted of felony, without otherwise describing the previous felony; and a certificate containing the substance and effect only (omitting the formal part) of the indictment and conviction for the previous felony, purporting to be signed by the clerk of the Court, or other officer having the custody of the records of the Court where the offender was first convicted, or by the deputy of such clerk or officer (for which certificate a fee of six shillings and eight-pence, and no more, shall be demanded or taken), shall, upon proof of the identity of the person of the offender, be sufficient evidence of the first conviction, without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the same; and if any such clerk, officer, or deputy shall utter a false certificate of any indictment and conviction for a previous felony, or if any person, other than such clerk, officer, or deputy, shall sign any such certificate as such clerk, officer, or deputy, or shall utter any such certificate with a false or counterfeit signature thereto, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being lawfully convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit), in addition to such imprisonment. 12. And be it enacted, That all offences prosecuted in the High Court of Admiralty of England shall, upon every first and subsequent conviction, be subject to the same punishments, whether of death or otherwise, as if such offences had been committed upon the land. 13. And be it declared and enacted, That where the King's Majesty shall be pleased to extend his royal mercy to any offender convicted of any felony punishable with death or otherwise, and by warrant under his royal sign manual, countersigned by one of his principal secretaries of state, shall grant to such offender either a free or a conditional pardon, the discharge of such offender out of custody in the case of a free pardon, and the performance of the condition in the case of a conditional pardon, shall have the effect of a pardon under the great seal for such offender, as to the felony for which such pardon shall be so granted: Provided always, that no free pardon, nor any such discharge in consequence thereof, nor any conditional pardon, nor the performance of the condition thereof, in any of the cases aforesaid, shall prevent or mitigate the punishment to which the offender might otherwise be lawfully sentenced on a subsequent conviction for any felony committed after the granting of any such pardon. 14. And be it enacted, That wherever this or any other statute relating Rule for the to any offence, whether punishable upon indictment or summary con- interpretation viction, in describing or referring to the offence or the subject-matter of all criminal on or with respect to which it shall be committed, or the offender or the statutes. party affected or intended to be affected by the offence, hath used or shall use words importing the singular number or the masculine gender only, yet the statute shall be understood to include several matters as well as one matter, and several persons as well as one person, and females as well as males, and bodies corporate as well as individuals, unless it be otherwise specially provided, or there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction; and wherever any forfeiture or penalty is payable to a party aggrieved, it shall be payable to a body corporate in every case where such body shall be the party aggrieved. 15. And be it enacted, That this act shall commence and take effect on the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven. 16. Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing herein contained shall extend to Scotland or Ireland. c. 70, s. 9, judgments to be pronounced in trials for felonies upon record during the assizes. The 11 Geo. 4, and 1 Wm. 4, c. 70, "an act for the more effectual 11 Geo. 4, administration of justice in England and Wales," by sec. 9 enacts, "that and I Wm. 4, upon all trials for felonies or misdemeanors upon any record of the Court of King's Bench, judgment may be pronounced during the sittings or assizes by the judge before whom the verdict shall be taken, as well upon the person who shall have suffered judgment by default or confession, upon the same record, as upon those who shall be tried and convicted, whether such persons be present or not in Court, excepting only where the prosecution shall be by information filed by leave of the Court of King's Bench, or such cases of informations filed by his Majesty's attorney-general wherein the attorney-general shall pray that the judgment may be postponed; and the judgment so pronounced shall be indorsed upon the record of Nisi Prius, and afterwards entered upon the record in Court, and shall be of the same force and effect as a judgment of the Court, unless the Court shall, within six days after the commencement of the ensuing term, grant a rule to show cause why a new trial should not be had or the judgment amended; and it shall be lawful for the judge before whom the trial shall be had either to issue an immediate order or warrant for committing the defendant in execution, or to respite the execution of the judgment, upon such terms as he shall think fit, until the sixth day of the ensuing term; and in case imprisonment shall be part of the sentence, to order the period of imprisonment to commence on the day on which the party shall be actually taken to and confined in prison." The 4 & 5 Vict. c. 22, “An act to remove doubts as to the liability of Punishment of lords and peers of Parliament to punishment in certain cases of felony," peers. after reciting the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 28, and the 1 Edw. 6, c. 12, s. 13, repeals so much of the last act as is therein recited, and enacts, that every lord of Parliament or peer of this realm having place and voice in Parliament, against whom any indictment for felony may be found, shall plead to such indictment, and shall upon conviction be liable to the same punishment as any other of her Majesty's subjects are or may be liable upon conviction for such felony, any law or usage to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding." Justices in sessions restrained from trying certain offences. Proviso as to Justices acting in London and the environs. 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 36. 5 & 6 VICT. c. 38. An act to define the jurisdiction of Justices in general and quarter WHEREAS it is expedient that the powers of justices in general and 2. Offences against the Queen's title, perogative, person, or government, or against either house of Parliament : 3. Offences subject to the penalties of præmunire; 4. Blasphemy, and offences against religion : 5. Administering or taking unlawful oaths: 6. Perjury and subornation of perjury: 7. Making or suborning any other person to make a false oath, affirmation, or declaration, punishable as perjury or as a misdemeanor: 8. Forgery: 9. Unlawfully and maliciously setting fire to crops of corn, grain, or pulse, or to any part of a wood, coppice, or plantation of trees, or to any heath, gorse, furze, or fern: 10. Bigamy, and offences against the laws relating to marriage: 11. Abduction of women and girls : 12. Endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child : 13. Offences against any provision of the laws relating to bankrupts and insolvents: 14. Composing, printing, or publishing blasphemous, seditious, or defamatory libels: 15. Bribery: 16. Unlawful combinations and conspiracies, except conspiracies or combinations to commit any offence which such justices or recorder respectively have or has jurisdiction to try when committed by one person: 17. Stealing or fraudulently taking, or injuring or destroying records or documents belonging to any court of law or equity, or relating to any proceeding therein: 18. Stealing or fraudulently destroying or concealing wills or testamentary papers, or any document or written instrument being or containing evidence of the title to any real estate or any interest in lands, tenements, or hereditaments: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to give authority to the justices of the peace acting in and for the cities of London and Westminster, the liberty of the tower of London, the borough of Southwark, and the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey, to try any person or persons for any offence committed or alleged to be committed within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, which such justices are restrained from trying under the provisions of an act passed in the fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty, intituled An Act for establishing a new Court for the trial of offences committed in the metropolis and parts adjoining. |