History of English criminal law


The first signs of the modern distinction between criminal and civil proceedings were during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The earliest criminal trials had very little, if any, settled law to apply. However, the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation.
A local lord of the manor could hold their servants and tenants responsible in a manorial court and was among wealthy people who could more easily enlist the help of a county or city bailiff, posse comitatus if one existed and the justices of the peace. The sheriff was the often-armed representative of the king in a city, town or shire, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing his laws. The church could hold ecclesiastical courts to resolve offences in its canon law and on its narrow territorial jurisdiction.
Justice for crimes sought in older forums and by private prosecution declined—instead the state courts, and increasingly the state paying lawyers to prosecute became the normal route to justice for matters that conceivably affect or endanger the community at large. In the 18th century European countries began operating police forces; in 1829 the first force formed in England which began its own prosecutions. Consequently criminal law had a more harmonised way of enforcement.

Crown Prosecution

Historically in England, with no police forces and no prosecution service, the only route to prosecution was through private prosecutions brought by victims at their own expense or lawyers acting on their behalf. From 1829, as the police forces were formed, they began to take on the burden of bringing prosecutions against suspected criminals.
Sir John Maule was appointed to be the first Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales in 1880, operating under the Home Office; his jurisdiction was only for decisions as to whether to prosecute in a very small number of difficult or important cases; once prosecution had been authorised, the matter was turned over to the Treasury Solicitor. Police forces continued to be responsible for the bulk of cases, sometimes referring difficult ones to the Director.
In 1962 a Royal Commission recommended that police forces set up independent prosecution departments so as to avoid having the same officers investigate and prosecute cases, although technically the prosecuting police officers did so as private citizens. The Royal Commission's recommendation was not implemented by all police forces, however, and so in 1978, another Royal Commission was set up, this time headed by Sir Cyril Philips. It reported in 1981, recommending that a single unified Crown Prosecution Service with responsibility for all public prosecutions in England and Wales be set up. A White Paper was released in 1983, becoming the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, which established the CPS under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions, consisting of a merger of his old department with the existing police prosecution departments. It began in 1986.

Common law offences

Abolished offences

The following common law offences once existed, but are now statutory, part of other statutory offences, or completely abolished.
See also criminal libel for general information about the common law libel offences listed above.

Offences held no longer to exist or never to have existed

Fatal offences

Extant offences

Extant offences

Offences against property

Extant offences

Forgery, personation and cheating

Abolished offences

See forgery:
See personation:
See cheating:

Offences against the State or Crown or Government and political offences

Abolished offences

Offences against religion and public worship

Abolished offences

Abolished offences

Abolished offences

Abolished offences

Protection of animals and the environment

See Cruelty to animals#United Kingdom and Environmental crime

Road traffic and motor vehicle offences

Participatory offences

Abolished offences

Abolished classes

Abolished defences

Abolished proceedings