| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to consolidate and amend the Statute Law of England and Ireland relating to indictable Offences by Forgery. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 24 & 25 Vict. c. 98 |
| Territorial extent |
|
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 August 1861 |
| Commencement | 1 November 1861[2] |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Text of the Forgery Act 1861 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Forgery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 98) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). It consolidated provisions related to forgery from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act,[3] incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier consolidation act, the Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) (and the equivalent Irish Act), incorporating subsequent statutes.[4]
Most of it was repealed by the Forgery Act 1913, and today forgery is mostly covered by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 and the Identity Documents Act 2010. However three offences under the 1861 act remain in force today (in sections 34, 36 and 37). These deal with forgery of registers of births, marriages and deaths, and with impersonation of a surety.
This act was repealed for England and Wales and Northern Ireland by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, s.30 & Sch., Pt.I, so far as unrepealed, except ss. 34, 36, 37 & 55.
It was repealed in the Republic of Ireland by section 3(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
Certain kinds of forgery used to be high treason until this act downgraded them to felonies.
The act does not apply to Scotland.[5]
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ The Forgery Act 1861, section 56
- ^ Greaves. The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts (1861) pp. 3-4
- ^ James Edward Davis. The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, Chapters 94 to 100: Edited with Notes, Critical and Explanatory. Butterworths. 1861. Pages vi and vii. Google Books.
- ^ Section 55