Offences against the Person Act 1861

For the offence of wounding, it can be under Section 20 OAPA 1861 or Section 18 OAPA 1861. In Section 20, according to the legislation of UK government, it states “Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any person, either with or without any weapon or instrument, shall be guilty of an offence or shall be liable… to imprisonment for not more than 5 years.“ Whilst for Section 18, according to the UK government, it provides “Whosever shall unlawfully and maliciously by any means whatsoever wound or cause any GBH to any person, with intent to do some grievous bodily harm to any person, or with intent resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person, shall be liable… to imprisonment for life.” Among the two definitions, the word of “maliciously wounding” amounted to break in…

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…

inflicting some bruising. This act will fall under battery; battery is the infliction of violence. As it is unclear as to whether Sam apprehended the attack it cannot fall under common assault as common assault relies on the victim apprehending the immediate threat of violence. However, it will fall under battery as violence was physically inflicted. As it is stated that Liam intended to really hurt Tom it is apparent the mens rea is present in regards to battery. However, as Liam intended to…

residual power to control moral issues, physical harm or not. However, according to the harm principle, ‘…the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant’ Despite this principle, the position of criminal law on the society’s sense of morality and an individual’s right to privacy and freedom has remained a turbulent one.…

Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ John Stuart Mill ‘The function of the criminal law... is to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others…’ Wolfenden Report Introduction These quotations illustrate a contentious area in legal policy and debate. They…

Amending the statute of sexual assault A practical solution to the issue of incorporating sex by deception in criminal law would be the addition of an offence between in severity of rape and sexual assault in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. For adults, the 2003 Act only distinguishes between cases of rape, assault by penetration, and sexual assault. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 clearly distinguishes different levels of assault ranging from common assault to assault inflicting grievous…

are accepted by the society as such”. The main difference between law and morality is that if one ‘breaks’ the law and gets caught, they will receive a justified punishment for their action, most commonly known being sent to prison. Where a person goes against the moral values within a society and there is no law to support it, they would only be seen as deviant. There have certainly been circumstances which have showed proof for the fact that law and morality are connected, however this does…

For a defendant to be convicted of malicious wounding or malicious infliction of grievous bodily harm under s20 offences against the person act 1861 they must commit the Actus Reus and possess the appropriate Mens rea. The Actus Reus states that the defendants wound or infliction grievous bodily harm on the victim with or without a weapon. ‘Wounding’ means breaking all layers of the skin whereas ‘grievous bodily harm’ means really serious injury and includes both physical harm and clinically…

the homosexual acts carried out by the participants in Brown were morally right in the eyes of the court and law, arises. Accordingly, the following essay will explore the issue of consent in law as a defence, and will weigh the arguments of whether these moral judgements should be made by the courts, under the justification of law. Prior to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (hereafter SOA), the definition of consent did not exist within the statute, however there was guidance…

Throughout the history in the United Kingdom, the issue of abortion has prevailed as one of the most significant problems for women's right. The highly religious virtues in the United Kingdom, especially Northern Ireland, interfered with what women could or could not do with their bodies. The first problem arose in 1803 when The Ellenborough Act was passed. This act insured that women could get abortions as long as it was before quickening, which is in the first 16-20 weeks, when according to…