Editing Riot Act (section)

==Main provisions==
[[Image:The Riot Act text.jpg|thumb|alt=The text of the Riot Act|The full Riot Act 1714. The lower part contains the proclamation that was to be read aloud.]]

===Proclamation of riotous assembly===
The act created a mechanism for certain local officials to make a proclamation ordering the dispersal of any group of twelve or more people who were "unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled together". If the group failed to disperse within one hour, then anyone remaining gathered was guilty of a [[felony]] without [[benefit of clergy]], punishable by death.<ref name=":0" />

The proclamation could be made in an incorporated town or city by the [[mayor]], [[bailiff]] or "other head officer", or a [[justice of the peace]]. Elsewhere it could be made by a justice of the peace or the [[sheriff]], [[undersheriff]] or [[parish constable]]. It had to be read out to the gathering concerned and had to follow precise wording detailed in the act; several convictions were overturned because parts of the proclamation had been omitted, in particular "God save the King".<ref>{{cite book |title= The Legal observer, or, Journal of jurisprudence |publisher= J. Richards |year=1831 |volume=2 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwMvAAAAIAAJ&q=god%20save%20the%20king%20omitted&pg=PA32 |access-date=30 December 2009 }}</ref>

The wording that had to be read out to the assembled gathering was as follows:

{{blockquote|Our sovereign lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God save the King.}}

In a number of jurisdictions, such as Britain, Canada and New Zealand, wording such as this was enshrined and codified in the law itself. While the expression "reading the Riot Act" is cemented in common idiom with its figurative usage, it originated fairly and squarely in statute itself. In New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961, section 88, repealed in 1987, was specifically given the heading of "Reading the Riot Act".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328563.html |title=Crimes Act 1961, Public Act 88 |website=New Zealand Legislation |publisher=New Zealand Government |language=en-NZ |access-date=30 July 2018 }}</ref>

===Consequences of disregarding the proclamation===
If a group of people failed to disperse within one hour of the proclamation, the act provided that the authorities could use force to disperse them. Anyone assisting with the dispersal was specifically indemnified against any legal consequences in the event of any of the crowd being injured or killed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=LawCite |url=http://classic.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=%5B2003%5D%20AdelLawRw%206&name=Hinton,%20Martin%20--- |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=classic.austlii.edu.au}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Full text of the Riot Act (c. 1714 - 1715) |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8142/8142-h/8142-h.htm |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

Because of the broad authority that the act granted, it was used both for the maintenance of civil order and for political means. A particularly notorious use of the act was the [[Peterloo Massacre]] of 1819 in [[Manchester]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Chester Spring Assizes – Trial of Johnston, Drummond and Bagguley, for Sedition and Conspiracy|work=Chester Courant|date=20 April 1819}}</ref>

===Other provisions===
The act also made it a felony punishable by death without [[benefit of clergy]] for "any persons unlawfully, riotously and tumultuously assembled together" to cause (or begin to cause) serious damage to places of religious worship, houses, barns, and stables.<ref name=":0" />

In the event of buildings being damaged in areas that were not incorporated into a town or city, the residents of the [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] were made liable to pay damages to the property owners concerned. Unlike the rest of the act, this required a civil action. In the case of incorporated areas, the action could be brought against two or more named individuals. This provision encouraged residents to attempt to quell riots in order to avoid paying damages.<ref>W. Nippel, "Reading the Riot Act:  The Discourse of Law-Enforcement in 18th Century England," ''History and Anthropology'' 1 (June 1985): 405–406.</ref>

Prosecutions under the act were restricted to within one year of the event.<ref name=":0" />