Editing Assault (section)

===United Kingdom===
;Piracy with violence: Section 2 of the [[Piracy Act 1837]] provides that it is an offence, amongst other things, for a person, with intent to commit or at the time of or immediately before or immediately after committing the crime of piracy in respect of any ship or vessel, to assault, with intent to [[Murder in English law|murder]], any person being on board of or belonging to such ship or vessel.
;Assault on an officer of Revenue and Customs: This offence (relating to officers of [[Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs|HMRC]]) is created by section 32(1) of the [[Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005]].
;Assaulting an immigration officer: This offence is created by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/30/section/22 section 22(1)] of the [[UK Borders Act 2007]].
;Assaulting an accredited financial investigator: This section is created by section 453A of the [[Proceeds of Crime Act 2002]].<ref>Section 453A was inserted by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/27/section/81 section 81(2)] of the [[Serious Crime Act 2007]] and amended by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/26/schedule/7/paragraph/94 paragraph 94] of Schedule 7 to the [[Policing and Crime Act 2009]].</ref>
;Assaulting a member of an international joint investigation team: This offence is created by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/15/section/57 section 57(2)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226203609/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/15/section/57 |date=26 February 2021 }} of the [[Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005]].
;Attacks on internationally protected persons: Section 1(1)(a) of the [[Internationally Protected Persons Act 1978]] (c.17) makes provision for assault occasioning actual bodily harm or causing injury on "protected persons" (including Heads of State).
;Attacks on UN Staff workers: Section 1(2)(a) of the [[United Nations Personnel Act 1997]] (c.13) makes provision for assault causing injury, and section 1(2)(b) makes provision for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on UN staff.
;Assault by person committing an offence under the Night Poaching Act 1828: This offence is created by section 2 of the [[Night Poaching Act 1828]].

Abolished offences:

;Assault on customs and excise officers, etc.: Section 16(1)(a) of the [[Customs and Excise Management Act 1979]] (c.2) provided that it was an offence to, amongst other things, assault any person duly engaged in the performance of any duty or the exercise of any power imposed or conferred on him by or under any enactment relating to an assigned matter, or any person acting in his aid. For the meaning of "assault" in this provision, see Logdon v. DPP [1976] Crim LR 121, [[Divisional Court (England and Wales)|DC]]. This offence was abolished and replaced by the [[Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005]].
;Assaulting a person designated under section 43 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005: This offence was created by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/15/section/51 section 51(1)] of the [[Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005]]. It related to officers of the [[Serious Organized Crime Agency]] and was repealed when that agency was abolished.

====England and Wales====
{{See also|Battery (crime)#England and Wales}}

English law provides for two offences of assault: [[common assault]] and [[battery (crime)|battery]]. Assault (or [[common assault]]) is committed if one intentionally or recklessly causes another person to apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence. ''Violence'' in this context means any unlawful touching, though there is some debate over whether the touching must also be hostile. The terms "assault" and "common assault" often encompass the separate offence of battery, even in statutory settings such as section 40(3)(a) of the [[Criminal Justice Act 1988]] (c. 33).

A common assault is an assault that lacks any of the aggravating features which Parliament has deemed serious enough to deserve a higher penalty. Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 provides that common assault, like battery, is triable only in a [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]] in England and Wales (unless it is linked to a more serious offence, which is triable in the [[Crown Court]]). Additionally, if a defendant has been charged on an indictment with assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), or racially/religiously aggravated assault, then a jury in the Crown Court may acquit the defendant of the more serious offence, but still convict of common assault if it finds common assault has been committed.

=====Aggravated assault=====
An assault which is aggravated by the scale of the injuries inflicted may be charged as offences causing "actual bodily harm" (ABH) or, in the severest cases, "[[grievous bodily harm]]" (GBH).
;Assault occasioning actual bodily harm: This offence is created by section 47 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).
;Inflicting grievous bodily harm: Also referred to as "malicious wounding" or "unlawful wounding". This offence is created by section 20 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).
;Causing grievous bodily harm with intent: Also referred to as "wounding with intent". This offence is created by section 18 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).

Other aggravated assault charges refer to assaults carried out against a specific target or with a specific intent:
;Assault with intent to rob: The penalty for [[assault with intent to rob]], a common law offence, is provided by section 8(2) of the [[Theft Act 1968]].
;Racially or religiously aggravated common assault: This offence is created by section 29(1)(c) of the [[Crime and Disorder Act 1998]] (c. 37), defined in terms of the common law offence.
;Racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm: This offence is created by section 29(1)(b) of the [[Crime and Disorder Act 1998]] (c. 37), defined in terms of the common law offence.
;[[Assault with intent to resist arrest]]: This offence is created by section 38 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).
;Assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty: Section 89(1) of the [[Police Act 1996]] (c. 16) provides that it is an offence for a person to assault a [[constable]] acting in the execution of his duty or a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty. It is a summary offence with the same maximum penalty as common assault.
;Assaulting a traffic officer: This offence is created by section/10 section 10(1) of the [[Traffic Management Act 2004]] (c. 18). This offence applies to [[Traffic Warden|Traffic Wardens]], [[Civil enforcement officer|Civil Enforcement Officer]]s and [[Police community support officer|PCSO]]s if they have been conferred with road traffic powers by their force. 
;Assaulting a person designated or accredited under sections 38 or 39 or 41 or 41A of the Police Reform Act 2002: This offence is created by section/46 section 46(1) of the [[Police Reform Act 2002]] (c. 30). Those sections relate respectively to persons given police powers by a chief police officer, such as [[PCSO: Police Community Support Officer|PCSO]]s detention officers or contractors retained by police, accredited contractors under a community safety accreditation scheme, and weights and measures inspectors.
;Assault on a prison custody officer: This offence is created by section 90(1) of the [[Criminal Justice Act 1991]] (c. 53).
;Assault on a secure training centre custody officer: This offence is created by section 13(1) of the [[Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994]] (c. 33).
;Assault on officer saving wreck: This offence is created by section 37 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).
;Assaulting an officer of the court: This offence is created by section 14(1)(b) of the [[County Courts Act 1984]] (c. 28).
;Cruelty to persons under sixteen: This offence is created by section 1(1) of the [[Children and Young Persons Act 1933]] ([[23 & 24 Geo. 5]]. c. 12) and applies to a person who has responsibility for the child. In England (but not Wales since 2022), common law provides a defence of "reasonable punishment" to battery (i.e. assaults involving touching); the [[Children Act 2004]] (c. 31) limits the defence to exclude, among other offences, cruelty under the 1933 act, but not battery, which implies that [[spanking|smacking]] is not always to be considered cruelty.
;Sexual assault: The offence of [[Sexual assault#England and Wales|sexual assault]] is created by section 3 of the [[Sexual Offences Act 2003]] (c. 42). It is not defined in terms of the offences of common assault or battery. It instead requires intentional touching and the absence of a reasonable belief in consent. 
;Assault by penetration: This offence is defined by section 2 of the [[Sexual Offences Act 2003]] (c. 42). Whereas [[rape]] consists only of penetration with the perpetrator's penis, assault by penetration can be committed with anything, though unlike rape it excludes penetration of the mouth. It carries the same maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
; Assault on an emergency worker: The [[Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018]] (c. 23) makes common assault an either way offence (section 1) when committed against an emergency worker (defined in section 3), with a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment if tried on indictment. The act did not repeal any enactments, so the existing offence of assault on a constable is still available, but that offence cannot be tried on indictment and is therefore limited to six months.

====Scotland====
In [[Scots law]], assault is defined as an "attack upon the person of another".<ref>MacDonald, ''Criminal Law'' (5th edn, 1948) p.155</ref> There is no distinction made in Scotland between assault and battery (which is not a term used in Scots law), although, as in England and Wales, assault can be occasioned without a ''physical'' attack on another's person, as demonstrated in ''Atkinson v. [[Lord Advocate|HM Advocate]]''<ref>1987 SCCR 534</ref> wherein the accused was found guilty of assaulting a shop assistant by simply jumping over a counter while wearing a [[ski mask]]. The court said:

{{blockquote|[A]n assault may be constituted by threatening gestures sufficient to produce alarm|''Atkinson v. HM Advocate'' (1987)}}

Scots law also provides for a more serious charge of aggravated assault on the basis of such factors as severity of injury, the use of a weapon, or ''[[Stouthrief|Hamesucken]]'' (to assault a person in their own home). The ''[[mens rea]]'' for assault is simply "evil intent",<ref>MacDonald, op. cit, p.155; ''Smart v. HM Advocate'' 1975 JC 30</ref> although this has been held to mean no more than that assault "cannot be committed accidentally or recklessly or negligently" as upheld in ''[[Lord Advocate's Reference]] No 2 of 1992'' where it was found that a "hold-up" in a shop justified as a joke would still constitute an offence.

It is a separate offence to assault on a constable in the execution of their duty, under section 90 of the [[Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012]] (asp 8) (previously section 41 of the [[Police (Scotland) Act 1967]] (c. 77)) which provides that it is an offence for a person to, amongst other things, assault a constable in the execution of their duty or a person assisting a constable in the execution of their duty.

====Northern Ireland====
Several offences of assault exist in Northern Ireland. The [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100) creates the offences of:
* Common assault and battery: a summary offence, under section 42;
* Aggravated assault and battery: a summary offence, under section 43
* Common assault: under section 47
* Assault occasioning actual bodily harm: under section 47
The [[Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968]] (c. 28 (N.I.)) creates the offences of:
* Assault with intent to resist arrest: under section 7(1)(b); this offence was formerly created by section 38 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] ([[24 & 25 Vict.]] c. 100).

That act formerly created the offence of 'Assault on a constable in the execution of his duty'. under section 7(1)(a), but that section has been superseded by section 66(1) of the [[Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998]] (c. 32) which now provides that it is an offence for a person to, amongst other things, assault a constable in the execution of his duty, or a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty.