http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1988/33

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/section/134/2005-03-11

Criminal Justice Act 1988

An Act to make fresh provision for extradition; to amend the rules of evidence in criminal proceedings; to provide for the reference by the Attorney General of certain questions relating to sentencing to the Court of Appeal; to amend the law with regard to the jurisdiction and powers of criminal courts, the collection, enforcement and remission of fines imposed by coroners, juries, supervision orders, the detention of children and young persons, probation and the probation service, criminal appeals, anonymity in cases of rape and similar cases, orders under sections 4 and 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 relating to trials on indictment, orders restricting the access of the public to the whole or any part of a trial on indictment or to any proceedings ancillary to such a trial and orders restricting the publication of any report of the whole or any part of a trial on indictment or any such ancillary proceedings, the alteration of names of petty sessions areas, officers of inner London magistrates’ courts and the costs and expenses of prosecution witnesses and certain other persons; to make fresh provision for the payment of compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; to make provision for the payment of compensation for a miscarriage of justice which has resulted in a wrongful conviction; to create an offence of torture and an offence of having an article with a blade or point in a public place; to create further offences relating to weapons; to create a summary offence of possession of an indecent photograph of a child; to amend the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 in relation to searches, computer data about fingerprints and bail for persons in customs detention; to make provision in relation to the taking of body samples by the police in Northern Ireland; to amend the Bail Act 1976; to give a justice of the peace power to authorise entry and search of premises for offensive weapons; to provide for the enforcement of the Video Recordings Act 1984 by officers of a weights and measures authority and in Northern Ireland by officers of the Department of Economic Development; to extend to the purchase of easements and other rights over land the power to purchase land conferred on the Secretary of State by section 36 of the Prison Act 1952; and for connected purposes.

1988-07-29

text

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Statute Law Database

2024-06-25

2005-03-11

Criminal Justice Act 1988

s. 36(2)(b)(v) and word

Offensive Weapons Act 2019

s. 13(3)(b)

s. 70(1)

Criminal Justice Act 1988

s. 139AZA(1)(a)(iii) and word

Offensive Weapons Act 2019

s. 13(4)(b)

s. 70(1)

Criminal Justice Act 1988

s. 36(3A)

(3B)

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

s. 46(2)

s. 153(7)

Criminal Justice Act 1988

s. 41(4A)

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

Sch. 10

para. 28

s. 60

Part XI Miscellaneous

Torture

134 Torture.

1

A public official or person acting in an official capacity, whatever his nationality, commits the offence of torture if in theUnited Kingdom or elsewhere he intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on another in the performance or purported performance of his official duties.

2

A person not falling within subsection (1) above commits the offence of torture, whatever his nationality, if—

a

in the United Kingdom or elsewhere he intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on another at the instigation or with the consent or acquiescence—

i

of a public official; or

ii

of a person acting in an official capacity; and

b

the official or other person is performing or purporting to perform his official duties when he instigates the commission of the offence or consents to or acquiesces in it.

3

It is immaterial whether the pain or suffering is physical or mental and whether it is caused by an act or an omission.

4

It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section in respect of any conduct of his to prove that he had lawful authority, justification or excuse for that conduct.

5

For the purposes of this section “lawful authority, justification or excuse” means—

a

in relation to pain or suffering inflicted in the United Kingdom, lawful authority, justification or excuse under the law of the part of the United Kingdom where it was inflicted;

b

in relation to pain or suffering inflicted outside the United Kingdom—

i

if it was inflicted by a United Kingdom official acting under the law of the United Kingdom or by a person acting in an official capacity under that law, lawful authority, justification or excuse under that law;

ii

if it was inflicted by a United Kingdom official acting under the law of any part of the United Kingdom or by a person acting in an official capacity under such law, lawful authority, justification or excuse under the law of the part of the United Kingdom under whose law he was acting; and

iii

in any other case, lawful authority, justification or excuse under the law of the place where it was inflicted.

6

A person who commits the offence of torture shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.