This offence is created by section 4 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 which reads: ... whosoever shall solicit, encourage, persuade, or endeavour to persuade, or shall propose to any person, to murder any other person, whether he be a subject of His/Hers Majesty or not, and whether he be within the King’s/Queen's dominions or not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable ... to [imprisonment for life] ...The words omitted at the beginning were repealed by sections 5(10)(a) and 65(5) of, and Schedule 13 to, the Criminal Law Act 1977.
The following cases are relevant: Soliciting to murder is an offence against the person for the purposes of section 3 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952.
The following cases are relevant: As to violent offender orders, see section 98(3) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Initially, a person guilty of an offence under section 4 was liable on conviction to penal servitude for a term not more than ten and not less than three years or to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour.
The penalty was increased by article 5(1) of the Criminal Law (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (S.I.