Offence against the person
In UK criminal law, the term "offence against the person" usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person.
They are usually analysed by division into the following categories:
- Fatal offences
- Sexual offences
- Non-fatal non-sexual offences
- Assaults
- Injuries
Offences against the person are usually taken to comprise:
- Fatal offences
- *Murder
- *Manslaughter
- Non-fatal non-sexual offences
- * Assault, or common assault
- * Battery, or common battery
- * Wounding or wounding with intent
- * Poisoning
- * Assault occasioning actual bodily harm
- * Inflicting grievous bodily harm or causing grievous bodily harm with intent
Although most sexual offences will also be offences against the person, for various reasons sexual crimes are usually categorised separately. Similarly, although many homicides also involve an offence against the person, they are usually categorised under the more serious category.
United Kingdom
England and Wales
Fatal offences
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Corporate manslaughter, contrary to section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
- Infanticide, contrary to section 1 of the Infanticide Act 1938
- murder, manslaughter, infanticide or any other offence of which one of the elements is causing a person's death;
- an offence under section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961 in connection with the death of a person; or
- an offence under section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004.
Sexual offences
Non-fatal non-sexual offences
- Assault, or common assault
- Battery, or common battery
- Administering poison, so as to endanger life, contrary to section 23 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
- Administering poison, contrary to section 24 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
- Unlawful wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
- Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent, contrary to section 18 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Visiting Forces Act 1952
England and Wales and Northern Ireland
In the application of section 3 of the 1952 Act to England and Wales and Northern Ireland it means any of the following offences:- murder, manslaughter, torture, robbery and assault and any offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring suicide or an attempt to commit suicide
- any offence not falling within the foregoing bullet point, being an offence punishable under any of the following enactments:
- *the Offences against the Person Act 1861, except section 57
- *the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
- *the Punishment of Incest Act 1908
- *sections 1 to 5 and section 11 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, and sections 11, 12, 14 to 16, and 21 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1950
- *the Infanticide Act 1938 and the Infanticide Act 1939
- *article 3 of the Protection of Children Order 1978
- *section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978
- *the Child Abduction Act 1984
- *the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
- *the Child Abduction Order 1985
- *Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
- *the Sexual Offences Order 2008
- an offence of making such a threat as is mentioned in subsection of section 1 of the Internationally Protected Persons Act 1978 and any of the following offences against a protected person within the meaning of that section, namely an offence of kidnapping, an offence of false imprisonment and an offence under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 of causing an explosion likely to endanger life
- an offence under section 2 of the Nuclear Material Act 1983, where the circumstances are that either in the case of a contravention of subsection, the act falling within paragraph or of that subsection, had it been done, would have constituted an offence falling within sub-paragraph or of this paragraph, or in the case of a contravention of subsection or, the act threatened, had it been done, would have constituted such an offence
- an offence of making such a threat as is mentioned in section 3 of the United Nations Personnel Act 1997 and any of the following offences against a UN worker within the meaning of that Act
- *kidnapping
- *false imprisonment
- *an offence under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 of causing an explosion likely to endanger life
- rape and buggery
- offences of rape and buggery under the law of Northern Ireland
- offences punishable under
- *section 89 of the Mental Health Act 1948
- *sections 2 to 28 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956
- *section 1 of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985
Scotland
- murder, culpable homicide, rape, torture, robbery, assault, incest, sodomy, lewd, indecent and libidinous practices, procuring abortion, abduction, cruel and unnatural treatment of persons, threats to murder or to injure persons
- any offence not falling within the last bullet point, being an offence punishable under any of the following enactments:
- *the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
- *section 46 of the Mental Deficiency and Lunacy Act 1913
- *sections 12 to 16 and 22 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1937
- *section 52 of the Civic Government Act 1982
- an offence of making such a threat as is mentioned in subsection of section 1 of the Internationally Protected Persons Act 1978 and the following offence against a protected person within the meaning of that section, namely, an offence under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 of causing an explosion likely to endanger life
- an offence under section 2 of the Nuclear Material Act 1983, where the circumstances are that either, in the case of a contravention of subsection, the act falling within paragraph or of that subsection, had it been done, would have constituted an offence falling within sub-paragraph or of this paragraph, or, in the case of a contravention of subsection or, the act threatened, had it been done, would have constituted such an offence
- an offence of making such a threat as is mentioned in section 3 of the United Nations Personnel Act 1997 and an offence of causing an explosion likely to endanger life, committed against a UN worker, under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883