There are currently five non-fatal offences against the person which are contained within two statutes, namely the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 1988 and the Offences Against the Person’s Act (OAPA) 1861, as well as being developed within common law.
Firstly the law is not codified under one piece of legislation. As the law of non-fatal offences against the person cannot be found within one statute – this makes the law unnecessarily complex. This complexity can be hard for the jury to understand as the OAPA 1861 doesn’t clearly establish what must be proven for each offence which is undemocratic, unconstitutional and goes against the separation of powers but also doesn’t make any clear reference to the Mens Rea (MR) of a crime. The wording and
Firstly the law is not codified under one piece of legislation. As the law of non-fatal offences against the person cannot be found within one statute – this makes the law unnecessarily complex. This complexity can be hard for the jury to understand as the OAPA 1861 doesn’t clearly establish what must be proven for each offence which is undemocratic, unconstitutional and goes against the separation of powers but also doesn’t make any clear reference to the Mens Rea (MR) of a crime. The wording and