Criminal Law Act 1977

Part I — Conspiracy

The offence of conspiracy

1

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, if a person agrees with any other person or persons that a course of conduct shall be pursued which, if the agreement is carried out in accordance with their intentions, either—

• (a) will necessarily amount to or involve the commission of any offence or offences by one or more of the parties to the agreement, or

• (b) would do so but for the existence of facts which render the commission of the offence or any of the offences impossible,

he is guilty of conspiracy to commit the offence or offences in question.

• (1A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (1B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) Where liability for any offence may be incurred without knowledge on the part of the person committing it of any particular fact or circumstance necessary for the commission of the offence, a person shall nevertheless not be guilty of conspiracy to commit that offence by virtue of subsection (1) above unless he and at least one other party to the agreement intend or know that that fact or circumstance shall or will exist at the time when the conduct constituting the offence is to take place.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) In this Part of this Act “offence” means an offence triable in England and Wales . . ..

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Exemptions from liability for conspiracy

2

• (1) A person shall not by virtue of section 1 above be guilty of conspiracy to commit any offence if he is an intended victim of that offence.

• (2) A person shall not by virtue of section 1 above be guilty of conspiracy to commit any offence or offences if the only other person or persons with whom he agrees are (both initially and at all times during the currency of the agreement) persons of any one or more of the following descriptions, that is to say—

• (a) his spouse or civil partner ;

• (b) a person under the age of criminal responsibility; and

• (c) an intended victim of that offence or of each of those offences.

• (3) A person is under the age of criminal responsibility for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above so long as it is conclusively presumed, by virtue of section 50 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, that he cannot be guilty of any offence.

Penalties for conspiracy

3

• (1) A person guilty by virtue of section 1 above of conspiracy to commit any offence or offences shall be liable on conviction on indictment—

• (a) in a case falling within subsection (2) or (3) below, to imprisonment for a term related in accordance with that subsection to the gravity of the offence or offences in question (referred to below in this section as the relevant offence or offences); and

• (b) in any other case, to a fine.

Paragraph (b) above shall not be taken as prejudicing the application of section 120 of the Sentencing Code (general power of court to fine offender convicted on indictment) in a case falling within subsection (2) or (3) below.

• (2) Where the relevant offence or any of the relevant offences is an offence of any of the following descriptions, that is to say—

• (a) murder, or any other offence the sentence for which is fixed by law;

• (b) an offence for which a sentence extending to imprisonment for life is provided; or

• (c) an indictable offence punishable with imprisonment for which no maximum term of imprisonment is provided,

the person convicted shall be liable to imprisonment for life.

• (3) Where in a case other than one to which subsection (2) above applies the relevant offence or any of the relevant offences is punishable with imprisonment, the person convicted shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term provided for that offence or (where more than one such offence is in question) for any one of those offences (taking the longer or the longest term as the limit for the purposes of this section where the terms provided differ).

In the case of an offence triable either way the references above in this subsection to the maximum term provided for that offence are references to the maximum term so provided on conviction on indictment.

Restrictions on the institution of proceedings for conspiracy

4

• (1) Subject to subsection (2) below proceedings under section 1 above for conspiracy to commit any offence or offences shall not be instituted against any person except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions if the offence or (as the case may be) each of the offences in question is a summary offence.

• (2) In relation to the institution of proceedings under section 1 above for conspiracy to commit—

• (a) an offence which is subject to a prohibition by or under any enactment on the institution of proceedings otherwise than by, or on behalf or with the consent of, the Attorney General, or

• (b) two or more offences of which at least one is subject to such a prohibition,

subsection (1) above shall have effect with the substitution of a reference to the Attorney General for the reference to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

• (3) Any prohibition by or under any enactment on the institution of proceedings for any offence which is not a summary offence otherwise than by, or on behalf or with the consent of, the Director of Public Prosecutions or any other person shall apply also in relation to proceedings under section 1 above for conspiracy to commit that offence.

• (4) Where—

• (a) an offence has been committed in pursuance of any agreement; and

• (b) proceedings may not be instituted for that offence because any time limit applicable to the institution of any such proceedings has expired,

proceedings under section 1 above for conspiracy to commit that offence shall not be instituted against any person on the basis of that agreement.

• (5) Subject to subsection (6) below, no proceedings for an offence triable by virtue of section 1A above may be instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney General.

• (6) The Secretary of State may by order provide that subsection (5) above shall not apply, or shall not apply to any case of a description specified in the order.

• (7) An order under subsection (6) above—

• (a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and

• (b) shall not be made unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.

Abolitions, savings, transitional provisions, consequential amendment and repeals

5

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the offence of conspiracy at common law is hereby abolished.

• (2) Subsection (1) above shall not affect the offence of conspiracy at common law so far as relates to conspiracy to defraud, . . . .

• (3) Subsection (1) above shall not affect the offence of conspiracy at common law if and in so far as it may be committed by entering into an agreement to engage in conduct which—

• (a) tends to corrupt public morals or outrages public decency; but

• (b) would not amount to or involve the commission of an offence if carried out by a single person otherwise than in pursuance of an agreement.

• (4) Subsection (1) above shall not affect—

• (a) any proceedings commenced before the time when this Part of this Act comes into force;

• (b) any proceedings commenced after that time against a person charged with the same conspiracy as that charged in any proceedings commenced before that time; or

• (c) any proceedings commenced after that time in respect of a trespass committed before that time;

but a person convicted of conspiracy to trespass in any proceedings brought by virtue of paragraph (c) above shall not in respect of that conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term exceeding six months.

• (5) Sections 1 and 2 above shall apply to things done before as well as to things done after the time when this Part of this Act comes into force, but in the application of section 3 above to a case where the agreement in question was entered into before that time—

• (a) subsection (2) shall be read without the reference to murder in paragraph (a); and

• (b) any murder intended under the agreement shall be treated as an offence for which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years is provided.

• (6) The rules laid down by sections 1 and 2 above shall apply for determining whether a person is guilty of an offence of conspiracy under any enactment other than section 1 above, but conduct which is an offence under any such other enactment shall not also be an offence under section 1 above.

• (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (8) The fact that the person or persons who, so far as appears from the indictment on which any person has been convicted of conspiracy, were the only other parties to the agreement on which his conviction was based have been acquitted of conspiracy by reference to that agreement (whether after being tried with the person convicted or separately) shall not be a ground for quashing his conviction unless under all the circumstances of the case his conviction is inconsistent with the acquittal of the other person or persons in question.

• (9) Any rule of law or practice inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (8) above is hereby abolished.

• (10) In section 4 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861—

• (a) the words preceding “Whosoever” shall cease to have effect; and

• (b) for the words from “be kept” to “years” there shall be substituted the words “imprisonment for life”.

• (11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part II — Offences Relating to Entering and Remaining on Property

Violence for securing entry

6

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, any person who, without lawful authority, uses or threatens violence for the purpose of securing entry into any premises for himself or for any other person is guilty of an offence, provided that—

• (a) there is someone present on those premises at the time who is opposed to the entry which the violence is intended to secure; and

• (b) the person using or threatening the violence knows that that is the case.

• (1A) Subsection (1) above does not apply to a person who is a displaced residential occupier or a protected intending occupier of the premises in question or who is acting on behalf of such an occupier; and if the accused adduces sufficient evidence that he was, or was acting on behalf of, such an occupier he shall be presumed to be, or to be acting on behalf of, such an occupier unless the contrary is proved by the prosecution.

• (2) Subject to subsection (1A) above, the fact that a person has any interest in or right to possession or occupation of any premises shall not for the purposes of subsection (1) above constitute lawful authority for the use or threat of violence by him or anyone else for the purpose of securing his entry into those premises.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) It is immaterial for the purposes of this section—

• (a) whether the violence in question is directed against the person or against property; and

• (b) whether the entry which the violence is intended to secure is for the purpose of acquiring possession of the premises in question or for any other purpose.

• (5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) Section 12 below contains provisions which apply for determining when any person is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part of this Act as a displaced residential occupier of any premises or of any access to any premises and section 12A below contains provisions which apply for determining when any person is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part of this Act as a protected intending occupier of any premises or of any access to any premises..

Adverse occupation of residential premises

7

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and to section 12A(9) below, any person who is on any premises as a trespasser after having entered as such is guilty of an offence if he fails to leave those premises on being required to do so by or on behalf of—

• (a) a displaced residential occupier of the premises; or

• (b) an individual who is a protected intending occupier of the premises.

• (2) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he believed that the person requiring him to leave the premises was not a displaced residential occupier or protected intending occupier of the premises or a person acting on behalf of a displaced residential occupier or protected intending occupier.

• (3) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence for the accused to prove—

• (a) that the premises in question are or form part of premises used mainly for non-residential purposes; and

• (b) that he was not on any part of the premises used wholly or mainly for residential purposes.

• (4) Any reference in the preceding provisions of this section to any premises includes a reference to any access to them, whether or not any such access itself constitutes premises, within the meaning of this Part of this Act.

• (5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) Section 12 below contains provisions which apply for determining when any person is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part of this Act as a displaced residential occupier of any premises or of any access to any premises and section 12A below contains provisions which apply for determining when any person is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part of this Act as a protected intending occupier of any premises or of any access to any premises.

Trespassing with a weapon of offence

8

• (1) A person who is on any premises as a trespasser, after having entered as such, is guilty of an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, he has with him on the premises any weapon of offence.

• (2) In subsection (1) above “weapon of offence” means any article made or adapted for use for causing injury to or incapacitating a person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use.

• (3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Trespassing on premises of foreign missions, etc.

9

• (1) Subject to subsection (3) below, a person who enters or is on any premises to which this section applies as a trespasser is guilty of an offence.

• (2) This section applies to any premises which are or form part of—

• (a) the premises of a diplomatic mission within the meaning of the definition in Article 1(i) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations signed in 1961 as that Article has effect in the United Kingdom by virtue of section 2 of and Schedule 1 to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964;

• (aa) the premises of a closed diplomatic mission;

• (b) consular premises within the meaning of the definition in paragraph 1(j) of Article 1 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations signed in 1963 as that Article has effect in the United Kingdom by virtue of section 1 of and Schedule 1 to the Consular Relations Act 1968;

• (bb) the premises of a closed consular post;

• (c) any other premises in respect of which any organisation or body is entitled to inviolability by or under any enactment; and

• (d) any premises which are the private residence of a diplomatic agent (within the meaning of Article 1(e) of the Convention mentioned in paragraph (a) above) or of any other person who is entitled to inviolability of residence by or under any enactment.

• (2A) In subsection (2) above—

• “the premises of a closed diplomatic mission” means premises which fall within Article 45 of the Convention mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above (as that Article has effect in the United Kingdom by virtue of the section and Schedule mentioned in that paragraph); and

• “the premises of a closed consular post” means premises which fall within Article 27 of the Convention mentioned in subsection (2)(b) above (as that Article has effect in the United Kingdom by virtue of the section and Schedule mentioned in that paragraph);

• (3) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he believed that the premises in question were not premises to which this section applies.

• (4) In any proceedings for an offence under this section a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Secretary of State stating that any premises were or formed part of premises of any description mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (2) above at the time of the alleged offence shall be conclusive evidence that the premises were or formed part of premises of that description at that time.

• (5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

• (6) Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not be instituted against any person except by or with the consent of the Attorney General.