ABSTRACT
Introduction Offences against the person involve assaults and the causing of injuries which do not cause death. These offences range from very simple assaults (for example, through a threat or gesture) to the infliction of very serious injuries to the victim. These offences are all currently governed by the Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) 1861 and, not surprisingly, the courts have had to introduce modern meanings to some of the antiquated terms used in that Act. Indeed, for some time there has been academic and judicial pressure to re-codify these offences using more modern terms and to cover a wider range of activities amounting to an assault not adequately covered by the old legislation. The Law Commission has drafted suggested new offences in their Draft Criminal Code.
