out of date

• the offences against the person act 1861 is over 150 years old
• When the offences against the person act 1861 was created, people did not have the understanding of mental health problems that we have today. it only referred to bodily harm in the offences, and did not mention mental harm- as such, for some time it was not sure that the offences could include those where the victim suffered psychological harm, like r v Chanfook or r v Burstow.
• Another area in which the offences Against the person act 1861 has created problems is whether inflicting bodily harm could include the situation of infecting another with a disease. in 1861, there was limited understanding of how some diseases are transmitted from person to person, and as such back then the idea that a criminal offence could be convicted by infecting someone else wouldn't have been thought of back then. This has been adjusted by r v Dica and r v Golding- where infecting someone with an STD amounts to grievous bodily harm.
• cosmetic surgery and body adornments have also had to be considered in the cases of r v BM and r v Melin