# Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832

The Forgery, Abolition of Punishment of Death Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 123) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the United Kingdom the death penalty for all offences of forgery, except for forging wills and certain powers of attorney.

## Background

In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the late 18th-century, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book.
In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book. From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. In 1816, both Houses of Parliament, passed resolutions that an eminent lawyer with 20 clerks be commissioned to make a digest of the statutes, which was declared "very expedient to be done." However, this was never done.
In 1812, William Booth was the last person to be hanged for forgery in England. A public outcry at the harshness of his sentence resulted in the death penalty in England and Wales being reserved for capital crimes, making Booth the last person in England hanged for a non-capital crime.
In 1822, Sir Robert Peel entered the cabinet as home secretary and in 1826 introduced a number of reforms to the English criminal law, which became known as Peel's Acts. This included efforts to modernise, consolidate and repeal provisions from a large number of earlier statutes, including:
* Benefit of Clergy
* Larceny and other Offences of Stealing
* Burglary, Robbery and Threats for the Purpose of Robbery or of Extortion
* Embezzlement, False Pretences, and the Receipt of Stolen Property
* Malicious Injuries to Property
* Remedies against the Hundred
In 1827, several acts were passed for this purpose, territorially limited to England and Wales and Scotland, including:
* Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27), which repealed for England and Wales over 140 enactments relating to the criminal law.
* Criminal Law Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28), which modernised the administration of criminal justice.
* Larceny Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to larceny.
* Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property.
In 1828, parallel bills for Ireland to Peel's Acts were introduced, becoming:
* Criminal Statutes (Ireland) Repeal Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. 54), which repealed for Ireland over 140 enactments relating to the criminal law.
* Criminal Law (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. 54), which modernised the administration of criminal justice.
* Larceny (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 55) which consolidated provisions in the law relating to larceny.
* Malicious Injuries to Property (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 56), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious injuries to property.
In 1828, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to offences against the person and repealed for England and Wales almost 60 enactments relating to the criminal law. In 1829, the Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. 34) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to offences against the person and repealed for Ireland almost 60 enactments relating to the Criminal law.
In 1828, the Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 74) was passed, which repealed for India offences repealed by the Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27) the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31).
In 1830, the Forgery Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to forgery and repealed for England and Wales over 25 enactments relating to the criminal law.
In 1832, the Coinage Offences Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 34) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to the counterfeiting and clipping of coins, repealed for the United Kingdom almost 50 enactments relating to the criminal law, and abolished the punishment of the death penalty for coinage offences.

## Passage

In 1832, several petitions were made to Parliament of the United Kingdom to abolish the death penalty in relation to offences of forgery:
* 30 March 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Monstrevan.
* 17 May 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Folkestone.
* 17 May 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Athy.
* 14 June 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Derry, Portarlington, Cavan and Ballybay.
* 22 June 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Leiglin Bridge and Kildare.
* 29 June 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Youghall.
* 2 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Thornton, Aisgarth and Bangor.
* 6 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Parsons Town.
* 9 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Derry.
* 13 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Lutterworth.
* 17 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Bagnal's Town.
* 25 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Jedburgh.
* 25 July 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Liverpool.
* 2 August 1832 (House of Commons): grand jurors from Leitrim.
* 3 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Castle Comer.
* 3 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Waterford.
* 3 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Roscrea.
* 4 August 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Donegal.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Kildare.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Athy.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Cootehill.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Newtown Limivady.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Rathangan.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Thornton Rusts.
* 6 August 1832 (House of Lords): members of the Leinster Circuit Bar.
* 7 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Lisburn.
* 7 August 1832 (House of Lords): grand jurors from Leitrim.
* 7 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Dublin.
* 8 August 1832 (House of Commons): Mr Sadler.
* 9 August 1832 (House of Commons): grand jurors from Lisburne.
* 9 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Kingsbridge.
* 9 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Bishop Stortford.
* 9 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Loughall.
* 9 August 1832 (House of Lords): members of the National Political Union.
* 11 August 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Rathangan, Ramelton and Waterford, and grand jurors from Wexford.
* 16 August 1832 (House of Commons): residents of Dublin.
* 13 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Cavan.
* 13 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Ramelton.
* 13 August 1832 (House of Lords): residents of Leighlin Bridge.
Leave to bring in the Forgery Punishments Bill was granted to the attorney general, Thomas Denman MP, and the solicitor general, Sir William Horne MP, and the Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 22 June 1832, introduced by Thomas Denman MP. The Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 30 June 1832, and was committed to a Committee of the Whole House, which met on 24 July 1832 and reported on 25 July 1832, with amendments. The amended Bill was considered on 26 July 1832 and had its third reading in the House of Commons on 31 July 1832. Notable opposition came from Sir Charles Wetherell MP.
The Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 1 August 1832. The Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 August 1832, introduced by the Lord Chancellor, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, and was committed to a Committee of the Whole House, which met on 13 August 1832, and reported on 14 August 1832, with amendments, adding exceptions at the request of Lord Wynford, allowing the death penalty in cases of forgery of wills and power of attorney. The amended Bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 15 August 1832, with amendments.
The amended Bill was considered and agreed to by the House of Commons on 15 August 1832.
The Bill was granted royal assent on 16 August 1832.

## Provisions

Section 1 of the act abolished the death penalty for all offences of forgery.
Section 2 of the act provided that this abolition did not extent to punishments for forging or altering wills and certain powers of attorney.
Section 3 of the act provided that it is sufficient to describe a forgery in an indictment and that indictments did not need to include a copy of the forged document.

## Legacy
### Subsequent developments

At the start of the parliamentary session in 1853, Lord Cranworth announced his intention to the improvement of the statute law and in March 1853, appointed the Board for the Revision of the Statute Law to repeal expired statutes and continue consolidation, with a wider remit that included civil law. The Board issued three reports, recommending the creation of a permanent body for statute law reform.
In 1854, Lord Cranworth appointed the Royal Commission for Consolidating the Statute Law to consolidate existing statutes and enactments of English law. The Commission made four reports. Recommendations made by the Commission were implemented by the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 64).
On 17 February 1860, the Attorney General, Sir Richard Bethell told the House of Commons that he had engaged Sir Francis Reilly and A. J. Wood to expurgate the statute book of all acts which, though not expressly repealed, were not in force, working backwards from the present time.
In 1861, bills were introduced to consolidate and modernise the criminal law, drafted by Charles Sprengel Greaves across:
* Offences Against the Person
* Malicious Injuries to Property
* Larceny
* Forgery
* Coining
* Accessories and Abettors
In 1861, the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts were passed:
* Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 94)
* Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 95)
* Larceny Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 96)
* Malicious Damage Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 97)
* Forgery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 98)
* Coinage Offences Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 99)
* Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100)

### Repeals

Section 1 of the Forgery Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 84) abolished the exception, providing that any person convicted of any of those offences was liable to be transported for life, or for a term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding four years and not less than two years.
The whole act was repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 95).