Riot Act

Uncommon card · No. 171185

The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and order them to disperse or face punitive action. The act's full title was "An Act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters", and it came into force on 1 August 1715. The whole act was repealed for England and Wales by section 10(2) of, and part III of schedule 3 to, the Criminal Law Act 1967, which came into force on 1 January 1968. Acts similar to the Riot Act passed into the laws of British colonies in Australia and North America, some of which remain in force today. The phrase "read the riot act" has passed into common usage for a stern reprimand or warning of consequences.

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