View source for Riot Act

===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 In New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961, section 88, repealed in 1987, was specifically given the heading of "Reading the Riot Act".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>