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Section 3 Persons committing certain offences how to be punished.C1C2C3F1

England and Wales

Changes not yet applied. Later legislation changes this provision in ways not yet written into the text below:

F2. . . F3every petty chapman or pedlar wandering abroad, and trading without being duly licensed, or otherwise authorized by law; every common prostitute wandering in the public streets or public highways, or in any place of public resort, and behaving in a riotous or indecent manner; and every person wandering abroad, or placing himself or herself in any public place, street, highway, court, or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causing or procuring or encouraging any child or children so to do; shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person within the true intent and meaning of this Act; and F4, subject to section 70 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace to commit such offender (being thereof convicted before him by his own view, or by the confession of such offender, or by the evidence on oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses,) to the house of correction, F5. . . for any time not exceeding one calendar month.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Act repealed (E.W.) (29.6.2026) by Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32), ss. 81(1), 208(1) (with s. 81(8)); S.I. 2026/690, reg. 2

F2

Words repealed by National Assistance Act 1948 (c. 29), Sch. 7 Pt. I

F3

Words repealed (E.W.) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c. 43), s. 1(1), Sch. 1

F4

Words inserted by Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48), Sch. 14 para. 1(a)

F5

Words omitted by virtue of Criminal Justice Act 1948 (c. 58), s. 1(2)

Modifications

C1

S. 3 extended by Universities Act 1825 (c. 97), s. 3

C2

S. 3 extended to S. and N.I. by virtue of the extension of s. 4 to those jurisdictions by Prevention of Crimes Act 1871 (c. 112), s. 15; however, by virtue of the repeal (S.) of s. 4 by Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 45), Sch. 4, both sections no longer extend to S. [Editorial note: ss. 3, 4 are not necessarily in the form in which they have effect in Northern Ireland]

C3

S. 3 amended by Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48), s. 70