Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965

Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965^[1]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Statute book chapter	1965 c. 71
Dates
Royal Assent	8 November 1965
Commencement	9 November 1965
Status: Current legislation

The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is a statute abolishing the death penalty for murder in Great Britain (the death penalty for murder survived in Northern Ireland until 1973). The Act was passed on 8th November 1965 and replaced the penalty of death with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

The Act was introduced to Parliament as a private member's bill. The Act provided that charges of capital murder at the time it was passed were to be treated as charges of simple murder and all sentences of death were to be commuted to sentences of life imprisonment. The Act also contained a sunset clause, which stated that the Act would be repealed unless renewed by Parliament within five years. This was done in 1969 and the Act was made permanent.

The Act overlooked four other capital offences: high treason, "piracy with violence" (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty was not finally abolished in the United Kingdom until 1998. However the last executions in the United Kingdom were in 1964, for murder.

External links

• Official text of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
• Official text of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 as originally enacted within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database

(In force version may be out of date; see warning on site).

See also

• Death penalty
• Murder in English law
• Capital punishment in the United Kingdom

Notes

1. ^ Short title as conferred by s. 3 of the Act