Editing Affray (section)

==United Kingdom==
===England and Wales===
The [[common law offence]] of affray was abolished<ref>The [[Public Order Act 1986]], [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/9 section 9(1)]</ref> for [[England and Wales]]<ref>The [[Public Order Act 1986]], section 42</ref> on 1 April 1987.<ref>The [[Public Order Act 1986 (Commencement No. 2) Order 1987]], [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/198/article/2/made article 2] and [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/198/schedule/made Schedule] (1987/198 (C. 4))</ref> Affray is now a statutory offence that is [[triable either way]]. It is created by section 3 of the [[Public Order Act 1986]] which provides:

{{Blockquote|{{unbulleted list
|(1) A person is guilty of affray if he uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and his conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.
|(2) Where 2 or more persons use or threaten the unlawful violence, it is the conduct of them taken together that must be considered for the purposes of subsection (1).
|(3) For the purposes of this section a threat cannot be made by the use of words alone.
|(4) No person of reasonable firmness need actually be, or be likely to be, present at the scene.
|(5) Affray may be committed in private as well as in public places.
|(6) ... [Repealed]
|(7) A person guilty of affray is liable on [[conviction]] on [[indictment]] to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or a fine or both, or on [[summary conviction]] to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the [[statutory maximum]] or both.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/3 Digitised copy] of section 3 of the [[Public Order Act 1986]] from [[Legislation.gov.uk]].</ref>}}}}

The term "violence" is defined by section 8.{{clarify|date=February 2015}}

Section 3(6) once provided that a constable could arrest without warrant anyone he reasonably suspected to be committing affray, but that subsection was repealed by paragraph 26(2) of Schedule 7 to, and Schedule 17 to, the [[Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005]], which includes more general provisions for police to make arrests without warrant.

The ''[[mens rea]]'' of affray is that person is guilty of affray only if he intends to use or threaten violence or is aware that his conduct may be violent or threaten violence.<ref>The [[Public Order Act 1986]], [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/6 section 6(2)]</ref>

The offence of affray has been used by [[HM Government]] to address the problem of drunken or violent individuals who cause serious trouble on [[airliner]]s.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

In ''[[Common purpose#Controversy|R v Childs & Price]]'' (2015),<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gerard-childs-stephen-price-cleared-8721065|title=Gerard Childs and Stephen Price cleared of Prescot retail park murder of Jonathan Fitchett on appeal|last=Pattinson|first=Rob|date=25 February 2015|work=Liverpool Echo|publisher=Trinity Mirror Merseyside|access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref><ref>R v Childs & Price 2015: as yet unreported</ref> the Court of Appeal quashed a murder verdict and replaced it with affray, having dismissed an allegation of common purpose.

===Northern Ireland===
Affray is a serious offence for the purposes of Chapter 3 of the [[Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008]].<ref>The [[Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008]], [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/2008/1216/article/12 article 12(2)] and [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/2008/1216/schedule/1 Schedule 1], paragraph 5.</ref>