The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the death penalty for murder in Great Britain (the death penalty for murder survived in Northern Ireland until 1973). The Act replaced the penalty of death with a mandatory sentence of imprisonment for life.
The Act was introduced to Parliament as a private member's bill by Sydney Silverman MP. The Act provides that charges of capital murder at the time it was passed were to be treated as charges of simple murder and all sentences of death were to be commuted to sentences of life imprisonment. The legislation contained a sunset clause, which stated that the Act would expire on 31 July 1970 "unless Parliament by affirmative resolutions of both Houses otherwise determines". This was done in 1969 and the Act was made permanent.
The Act left four capital offences: high treason, "piracy with violence" (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty was not finally abolished in the United Kingdom until 1998 by the Human Rights Act and the Crime and Disorder Act. However the last executions in the United Kingdom were in 1964, for murder.
Video Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965
See also
- Death penalty
- Murder in English law
- Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
Maps Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965
Notes
Further reading
- Brian P. Block; John Hostettler (1997). Hanging in the balance: a history of the abolition of capital punishment in Britain. Waterside Press. ISBN 1-872870-47-3.
External links
- Text of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk
(In force version may be out of date; see warning on site).
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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