Section 1(4) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 formerly provided that it was immaterial that the murder in question would not be triable in England and Wales if committed in accordance with the intention of the parties to the agreement. This reproduced the effect of section 4 of the 1861 Act.
See now section 1A of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Sentence
A person guilty of conspiracy to murder is liable to imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.[2]
As to the maximum sentence in a case where the agreement was entered into before Part I of the Criminal Law Act 1977 came into force, see section 5(5) of that Act.
The law varies between states with the maximum sentence for this offence being 14 years' imprisonment in Queensland and 25 years' imprisonment in New South Wales.[8]
New Zealand
In New Zealand law, the penalty for the offence of conspiracy to murder is up to 10 years imprisonment, which is set out in section 175 of the Crimes Act 1961.[9] The intended murder need not happen in New Zealand.
United States
Conspiracy to murder is a defined crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, and normally does not require a murder actually occurring.[10] Federally, it is punishable under Title 18 by up to life imprisonment.[11]