Neglect of Duty and Breach of Trust: Ancient offences in the modern battle against impunity in the public service

Abstract

Purpose

The paper seeks to contend that first, the current law treating Neglect of Duty and Breach of Trust as a single offence is incorrect; and second, that the offences can be an important tool in battling public corruption.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper traces the historical development of the offences throughout the Commonwealth.

Findings

The single‐offence approach lacks historical antecedents and has not been uniformly adopted.

Originality/value

The paper could engender debate, and correction, of the single offence approach as well as encourage greater use of the offences in prosecuting egregious conduct that would not otherwise be criminal.

Citation

Williams, T.F. (2010), "Neglect of Duty and Breach of Trust: Ancient offences in the modern battle against impunity in the public service", Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 336-350. https://doi.org/10.1108/13685201011083867