Neglect of Duty and Breach of Trust

摘要

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.