How laws change over time

• laws on same-sex relationships have changed greatly in the UK in the recent decades
• in the UK, all homosexual acts between men were made a crime in 1885, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment
• homosexual acts between males aged 21 or over were decriminalised in england and wales in 1967, in scotland in 1980 and northern ireland in 1982 (lesbian acts had never been illegal
• the age of homosexual consent was reduced to 18 in 1994 and then equalised with heterosexuals at 16 in 2000
• in 1861, the british empire introduced a law in india making homosexuality a crime. this law was struck down by indias supreme court in 2018 and homosexuality is no longer an offence
• laws regarding homosexuality changed because of:

  • the wolfenden report
  • campaigns
  • politicians
  • human rights
• the wolfenden report

  • an increase in prosecutions of gay men and 1000 were in prison by 1954
  • a committee was set up under sir john wolfenden to consider reform of the law
  • the committees report published in 1957 following the interview of police, psychiatrists, religious leaders and gay men recommended that homosexual acts in private between consenting adults over 21 be legalised
• campaigns

  • the homosexual law reform society successfully campaigned for the change in the law that legalised gay sex in 1967
  • stonewall and the campaign for homosexual equality led to equalising the age of consent at 16
• politicians

  • roy jenkins supported the campaign and as home secretary he introduced the necessary legislation in 1967
  • others have introduced further legislation such as the 2010 equality act which outlaws discrimination of grounds of sexual orientation
• human rights

  • in india, the main reason for the law change was the decision that the supreme court has no right to control citizens private lives
  • this concern with equal rights also underlies changes in the law on homosexuality in the uk
• drug laws have changed over time in many countries. in some cases, possession of certain drugs has been made a criminal offence, while in other cases it has been decriminalised, as in the case of portugal
• the portugese case

  • from 2001, possession of drugs was changed from a crime to a civil offence if the quantity involved was less than a ten-day personal supply
  • this applied to hard drugs and soft drugs
  • from the 1930s to 1975 portugal was ruled a ‘closed’ and strictly regulated society
  • after 1975, portugal became a democracy but this led to a high rate of heroin addiction and hiv infection
• public health

  • drug use should be regarded as a public health issue aimed at harm reduction, rather than an issue for the criminal justice system
  • drug use has fallen sharply since the change in law
• the law on drugs in portugal was changed because of the sudden growth in the scale of drug addictions after 1975
• in the UK, firearm laws changed following:

  • 1987 - michael ryan shot and killed 16 people in hungerford, berkshire
  • 1996 - thomas hamilton shot and killed 16 children and 1 teacher at dunblane primary near stirling in scotland
• the firearm law was tightened in 1997 following a government enquiry led by a senior former judge, lord cullen
• john majors conservative government introduced an act banning all handguns except .22 single shot weapons. following labours victory in the general election, tony blairs government introduced a second firearms (amendment) act, banning the remaining handguns
• the gun control network was set up by lawyers, academics and parents of victims to campaign for tighter gun control laws
• the snowdrop campaign was started by bereaved dunblane parents and their friends and organised a petition and collected 750,000 signatures calling for a change in the law
• childhood is a good example of social construction. although everyone goes through a biological stage of physical immaturity in the first years of life, how society has defined this phase has varied greatly over time
• we see children as fundamentally different from adults: vulnerable, innocent and in need of protection and nurturing. as a result, in many ways children are kept separate from the adult world and its dangers
• the historian philippe aries argues that until the 13th century, ‘the idea of childhood did not exist’
• in the 13th century, the law made no distinction between children and adults, and children could face the same severe punishments as those handed out to adults
• the idea of childhood as a separate stage in life gradually developed and society became more ‘child-centred’. parents invest a great deal in their children both emotionally and financially, and the state takes a great interest in their wellbeing
• laws excluding children from paid work

  • in the 19th century, children as young as six were widely used in cotton mills, coal mines and other industries
  • a series of factory acts gradually excluded children from the workplace
• compulsory schooling

  • introduced in 1880
  • ensured a basic education for all and had the effect of keeping children out of paid work
• child protection and welfare legislation

  • the 2004 children act made the childs welfare the fundamental principle underpinning the work of agencies such as social services
• childrens rights

  • the childrens act defines parents as having responsibilities rather than rights in relation to children
  • while the UNs convention on the rights of the child 1989 lays done rights such as entitlement to healthcare and education, protection from abuse and the right to participate in decisions that affect them
• laws and policies that only apply to children

  • minimum ages for a wide range of activities, from sex to smoking, reinforce the idea that children are different from adults and so different rules must be applied to their behaviour
• in the past, physical punishment for criminal behaviour was common
• at various times in history, criminals could be punished by:

  • capital punishment - execution: the 1723 black act made over 50 offences of theft and poaching into capital crimes
  • corporal punishment - includes flogging, caning, branding, and being put in the stocks
• the number of offences carrying the death penalty was reduced over time until it remained only for murder and treason
• capital punishment was abolished in britain in 1965
• corporal punishment has gradually disappeared.
• flogging in the armed forces was abolished in 1881 and all corporal punishment was abolished in 1967
• capital punishment is now regarded as a breach of the most basic human right - the right to life
• nothing can be done to correct a miscarriage of justice, where a person executed is later proven to have been innocent
• the death penalty does not appear to act as a deterrent. most murders are committed in the heat of the moment without thought to the possible punishment
• some writers argue that changes in the law are the result of a long-term decline in violence
• norbert elias argues that society has undergone a ‘civilising process’ over the last 500 years