Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997

• Enactment Date: 19 May 1997
• Act Number: 26

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Number 26 of 1997

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NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.

All Acts up to and including the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (32/2020), enacted 28 December 2020, and all statutory instruments up to and including the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Commencement) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 53 of 2021), made 9 February 2021, were considered in the preparation of this Revised Act.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to

revisedacts@lawreform.ie.

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Number 26 of 1997

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NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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Introduction

This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was passed.

Related legislation

Annotations

This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions.

An explanation of how to read annotations is available at

www.lawreform.ie/annotations.

Material not updated in this revision

Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.

Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.

A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at

www.irishstatutebook.ie.

Acts which affect or previously affected this revision

• Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (32/2020)

• Children First Act 2015 (36/2015)

• Criminal Law (Defence and the Dwelling) Act 2011 (35/2011)

• Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (24/2010)

• Fines Act 2010 (8/2010)

• Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act 2000 (16/2000)

All Acts up to and including Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (32/2020), enacted 28 December 2020, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision

None.

All statutory instruments up to and including Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Commencement) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 53 of 2021), made 9 February 2021, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

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Number 26 of 1997

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NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

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Acts Referred to
Bail Act, 1997	1997, No. 16
Criminal Damage Act, 1991	1991, No. 31
Criminal Law Act, 1997	1997, No. 14
Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act, 1976	1976, No. 14
Extradition (Amendment) Act, 1994	1994, No. 6
Medical Practitioners Act, 1978	1978, No. 4

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Number 26 of 1997

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NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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AN ACT TO REVISE THE LAW RELATING TO THE MAIN NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON AND TO PROVIDE FOR CONNECTED MATTERS. [19th May, 1997]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Annotations

Modifications (not altering text):

C1

Application of Act extended (28.06.2000) by Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act 2000 (16/2000), s. 2 and sch. 2, commenced on enactment.

Offences against United Nations workers.

2.—Where a person does outside the State an act to, or in relation to, a United Nations worker that, if done in the State, would constitute an offence specified in Part I of the Second Schedule, he or she shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalty to which he or she would have been liable if he or she had done the act in the State.

...

SECOND SCHEDULE

Section 2

PART I

...

Non-fatal offences

4. Any offence under the following provisions of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, 1997 —

(a) section 2 (assault);

(b) section 3 (assault causing harm);

(c) section 4 (assault causing serious harm);

(d) section 5 (threats to kill or cause serious harm);

(e) section 12 (poisoning);

(f) section 13 (endangerment);

(g) section 15 (false imprisonment).

...

Editorial Notes:

E1

A number of Acts refer to offences under this Act as disqualifying or potentially disqualifying offences, or as otherwise meriting certain treatment. They include:

• Greyhound Racing Act 2019 (15/2019), ss. 9, 44

• Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Act 2019 (6/2019), s. 1

• Domestic Violence Act 2018 (6/2018), s. 40

• European Union (Passenger Name Record Data) Regulations 2018 (S.I. No. 177 of 2018)

• Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 (28/2017), s. 2(1)

• Taxi Regulation Act 2013 (37/2013), s. 36

• National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 (47/2012), s. 14A and sch. 3

• Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 (24/2012), s. 2

• Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Act 2012 (16/2012), s. 12

• Road Transport Act 2011 (31/2011), s. 4

• Criminal Justice Act 2006 (26/2006), s. 101

• Children Act 2001 (24/2001), ss. 251, 253-257

Interpretation.

1

1.—(1) In this Act—

“contaminated blood” means blood which is contaminated with any disease, virus, agent or organism which if passed into the blood stream of another could infect the other with a life threatening or potentially life threatening disease;

“contaminated fluid” means fluid or substance which is contaminated with any disease, virus, agent or organism which if passed into the blood stream of another could infect the other with a life threatening or potentially life threatening disease;

“contaminated syringe” means a syringe which has in it or on it contaminated blood or contaminated fluid;

“harm” means harm to body or mind and includes pain and unconsciousness;

“member of the family” in relation to a person, means the spouse, a child (including step-child or adopted child), grandchild, parent, grandparent, step-parent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the person or any person cohabiting or residing with him or her;

“property” means property of a tangible nature, whether real or personal, including money and animals that are capable of being stolen;

“public place” includes any street, seashore, park, land or field, highway and any other premises or place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise, and includes any train, vessel, aircraft or vehicle used for the carriage of persons for reward;

“serious harm” means injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious disfigurement or substantial loss or impairment of the mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any particular bodily member or organ;

“street” includes any road, bridge, lane, footway, subway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, which is for the time being open to the public; and the doorways, entrances and gardens abutting on a street and any ground or car-park adjoining and open to a street, shall be treated as forming part of a street;

“syringe” includes any part of a syringe or a needle or any sharp instrument capable of piercing skin and passing onto or into a person blood or any fluid or substance resembling blood.

(2) For the purposes of sections 17, 18 and 19 it is immaterial whether a belief is justified or not if it is honestly held but the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for the belief is a matter to which the court or the jury is to have regard, in conjunction with any other relevant matters, in considering whether the person honestly held the belief.

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to any enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(b) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

Assault.

2

2.—(1) A person shall be guilty of the offence of assault who, without lawful excuse, intentionally or recklessly—

(a) directly or indirectly...