Statute of Stabbing

The Statute of Stabbing^[1] was an act of the Parliament of England enacted during the reign of James I that provided that if any person stabbed "any person that hath not any weapon drawn or that hath not then first stricken the party", and they died within six months as a result, was to suffer the death penalty without being permitted benefit of clergy.

Statute of Stabbing 1603

Parliament of England
Long title	An Act to take away the Benefit of Clergy from some kind of Manslaughter.
Citation	1 Jas. 1. c. 8
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	7 July 1604
Commencement	7 July 1604[a]
Repealed	1 July 1828 (England and Wales) 1 March 1829 (India)
Other legislation
Repealed by	Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (England and Wales) Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (India)
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Under the statute, killings subject to benefit of clergy were called manslaughters and required that a defendant prove a "sudden quarrel" or provocation. Deaths resulting from armed attacks that had been planned were called murders.^[2]

Legacy

The act was repealed for England and Wales by section 1 of the Offences against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31) and for India by section 125 of the Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 74).

Notes

1. The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793.