# Criminal Lunatics Act 1884

The Criminal Lunatics Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. 64) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated enactments relating to mentally ill offenders in England and Wales.

## Passage

Leave to bring in the Criminal Lunatics Bill to the House of Commons was granted to J. T. Hibbert MP and the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt MP on 19 June 1884. The bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 19 June 1884, presented by J. T. Hibbert MP. The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 26 June 1884 and was committed to a committee of the whole house. The committee was discharged on 27 June 1884 and was committed to the Standing Committee on Law, and Courts of Justice, and Legal Procedure, which reported on 17 July 1884, with amendments. The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 31 August 1884 and passed, without amendments.
The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 1 August 1884. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 5 August 1884 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met reported on 7 August 1884, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 8 August 1884 and passed, with amendments.
The amended bill was considered and agreed to by the House of Commons on 8 August 1884.
The bill was granted royal assent on 14 August 1884.

## Provisions
### Repealed enactments

Section 17 of the act repealed 11 enactments, listed in the first schedule to the act. Section 17 of the act also provided that the repeals would not affect any warrant issued or order made under the repealed enactments.
| Citation | Short title | Title | Extent of repeal |
| 3 & 4 Vict. c. 54 | Insane Prisoners Act 1840 | An Act for making further provision for the confinement and maintenance of insane prisoners. | The whole act. |
| 6 & 7 Vict. c. 26 | Millbank Prison Act 1843 | An Act for regulating the prison at Millbank. | Section twenty-one. |
| 16 & 17 Vict. c. 96 | Care and Treatment of Lunatics Act 1853 | An Act to amend an Act passed in the ninth year of Her Majesty " for the regulation of the care and treatment " of lunatics. | Section thirty-eight from and including the words " save as herein-after provided;" to the end of that section. |
| 23 & 24 Vict. c. 75 | Criminal Lunatic Asylums Act 1860 | An Act to make better provision for the custody and care of criminal lunatics. | Section two, the words "of the Acts herein-before mentioned, or under any other," and the words " or to be unfit from imbecility of mind for penal discipline." Sections seven, nine, and ten. |
| 25 & 26 Vict. c. 86 | Lunacy Regulation Act 1862 | The Lunacy Regulation Act, 1862 | Section fifteen. |
| 27 & 28 Vict. c. 29 | Insane Prisoners Act 1864 | An Act to amend the Act third and fourth Victoria, chapter fifty-four, for making further provision for the confinement and maintenance of insane prisoners | The whole act. |
| 29 & 30 Vict. c. 109 | Naval Discipline Act 1866 | The Naval Discipline Act, 1866 | Section eighty, so far as relates to a person imprisoned in England. |
| 30 & 31 Vict. c. 12 | Criminal Lunatics Act 1867 | The Criminal Lunatics Act, 1867 | The whole act. |
| 32 & 33 Vict. c. 78 | Criminal Lunatics Act 1869 | The Criminal Lunatics Act, 1869 | The whole act. |
| 44 & 45 Vict. c. 58 | Army Act 1881 | The Army Act, 1881 | In section one hundred and thirty so much of sub-section five as relates to a person imprisoned in England. |
| 46 & 47 Vict. c. 38 | Trial of Lunatics Act 1883 | The Trial of Lunatics Act, 1883 | Sub-section three of section two. |

## Legacy

The act was described as a Consolidation Act.
The whole act was repealed by section 121 of, and the fifth schedule to, the Mental Health Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 72).