Why was it introduced?
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 was introduced during the third term of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, as part of a wider part of that government’s “law and order” agenda. This was an area in which the Conservative party was considered to have strong political capital, and legislating in furtherance of the political goal of being tough on crime formed the background to the introduction of this act. In particular, there were public concerns about increasing violent crime, in particular gun crime after the Hungerford massacre of 1987, which had led to the introduction of the Firearms Act 1988, knife crime and lenient sentencing. These considerations formed the political background to the passing of this piece of legislation with the Government hoping that legislation in this area would strengthen their record with regards law and order.
What was the aim of the Act?
In terms of the legal context of the Act, the Criminal Justice Act 1988 sought to increase the powers available to both the Courts and to the Attorney-General in order to strengthen the power of the state in criminal proceedings by increasing the ways and forms of evidence that could be given, including by making exception to the common-law established rule against hearsay evidence. This was intended to make convictions more likely in cases where witnesses could not be found but where an out of court statement had been made by the witness. Furthermore, changes to the way in which the evidence of children was to be given were made to attempt to ensure that child abusers were more likely to be convicted. The act was also designed to address public concerns over sentencing by allowing for sentences which were regarded as being unduly lenient by the Attorney-General to be “referred” to the Court of Appeal, where the Court of Appeal could then decide to extend or otherwise amend a sentence. Public concerns about rising violent crime figures, especially with regards knife-related crime, and about unduly lenient sentences being imposed on convicted offenders were sought to be addressed by the act by the introduction of a ban on “bladed articles”, and by strengthening the fines and sentences available to courts for firearms offences and for child abuse. The act also aimed to change the way in which imprisonment was considered by courts by the establishment of a criteria under which an offender could be granted a custodial sentence. Finally, the act aimed to remove some of the workload from the Crown Courts by re-classifying certain offences as being summary only offences.
What main changes did it make to the law?
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 allowed for the first time the Attorney-General, as advised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), to refer sentences imposed by Courts which were regarded as being unduly lenient. This power was included in s36(1) of the Act, which for the first time allowed for the Attorney-General to refer cases for review to the Court of Appeal in the event that he or she felt that the sentence imposed was unduly lenient.
In addition, the Act sought to change the ways in which evidence could be adduced in Criminal Trials by altering the common law rule against hearsay by providing a statutory exception to the rule against hearsay evidence where the witness was unavailable or could not be found, under s23(2) of the Act. This made it easier for hearsay evidence to be adduced into criminal hearings when the requisite steps to locate the witness had been made but where they could still not be found, were ill or dead.
The rules on evidence in English law were also changed by the Act by making video recordings of the testimony of child witnesses in criminal cases under s32 admissible as evidence in chief, and by removing the requirement that children’s unsworn evidence be required to be corroborated by virtue of s34 of the Act.
Another key change of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 was the introduction of new offences under s139 of having an article with a blade or point in a public place and under s160 of the possession of an indecent image of a child. The Act also introduced supervision orders for young offenders in s128, and put the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme on a statutory footing under s108.
Other changes included the increase in the maximum levels of fines that were levied for certain offences such as for Common Assault, which was codified under s39 of the Act. The common-law offences of Common Assault and Battery were made summary offences under ss39-40 of the Act, and increases in sentences made in ss44-50.
2026 update
Since this summary was written, several provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 have been supplemented or amended by later legislation, particularly in relation to assault offences and weapons offences.
For example, section 39 of the Act, which places the offences of common assault and battery on a statutory footing, remains in force and continues to provide that these offences are summary offences punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine.
However, later legislation has created additional related offences. In particular, the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 introduced a specific offence of assaulting an emergency worker, which can carry a higher maximum penalty than ordinary common assault.
The Act has also been amended by later legislation and statutory instruments regulating offensive weapons, including restrictions introduced through more recent weapons legislation addressing items such as zombie knives and other prohibited weapons.
As a result, although many key provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 remain in force, they now operate as part of a broader and evolving statutory framework governing assault offences, weapons offences and criminal procedure in England and Wales.
