Malicious Damage Act 1861

Malicious Damage Act 1861[1]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to consolidate and amend the Statute Law of England and Ireland relating to Malicious Injuries to Property.
Citation24 & 25 Vict. c. 97
Territorial extent 
  • England and Wales
  • Ireland
Dates
Royal assent6 August 1861
Commencement1 November 1861[2]
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Malicious Damage Act 1861 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Malicious Damage Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 97) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). It consolidated provisions related to malicious damage 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 Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo 4 c 30) (and the equivalent Irish Act), incorporating subsequent statutes.[4]

The Act applied in the Republic of Ireland until 1991[5] and still applies in some Commonwealth countries which were parts of the British Empire in 1861, such as Sierra Leone.[6]

  1. ^ This short title was conferred by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule.
  2. ^ The Malicious Damage Act 1861, section 79
  3. ^ Greaves. The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts (1861) pp. 3-4
  4. ^ Davis, James Edward. The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, Chapters 94 to 100. Butterworths. 1861. Pages vi and vii. Google Books.
  5. ^ Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland) (12 December 1991). "Díospóireachtaí Parlaiminte [Parliamentary Debates]: Criminal Damage Bill, 1990: Second Stage". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2009., cols. 1618–1677; Criminal Damage Act, 1991 (No. 31/1991) (Ireland).
  6. ^ Prosecutor v. Kallon (Decision on Challenge to Jurisdiction: Lomé Accord Amnesty), Case No. SCSL-2004-15-AR72(E) (13 March 2004), Special Court for Sierra Leone. Retrieved on 2 June 2008.