Snippets from The Reduced Law Dictionary by Roderick Ramage
Capital punishment
The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 sections 1 and 4 suspended the death penalty in Great Britain for murder for five years and substituted life imprisonment. Motions to make the Act permanent were carried in the Commons on 16 December and the Lords on 18 December 1969. The death penalty for murder was abolished in Northern Ireland on 25 July 1973 under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973. The death penalty remained for causing a fire in a naval dockyard, ship etc, espionage, piracy with violence, treason, and some military offences until abolished at dates up to 1998.
Changing names & Christian name
A person acquires a name by registration at birth: Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, s1 and SI 1987/2088, reg 7. He may take a new name except for fraudulent purposes: Davies v Lowndes (1835). A name may be changed by no more than usage but is commonly changed by a deed poll enrolled at the Central Office of the Senior Courts of Justice: Senior Courts
