From: Jonathan Spencer, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>"misfeasance in public office" - what Act is that under?
It isn't under any Act, it's an ancient common law tort (civil wrong)
which is enjoying something of a revival. The necessary elements are
given in "Three Rivers District Council et al v. Governor of the Bank of
England" (The Times, 22nd April 1996) and are:-
1. deliberate and dishonest wrongful abuse of the powers given to a
public officer
2. malice in the sense of an intention to injure the claimant, combined
with a knowledge that he had no power to do the act complained of, or
reckless as to whether he had the powers or not
3. can be committed by acts of omission as well as commission
4. the purpose of the tort was to give compensation to those who had
suffered loss as a result of improper abuse of power.
So, for example, if a firearms licensing officer noticed that a Notice
of Transfer of a firearm did not provide all the details required by the
Firearms Act, and he deliberately failed to seek from the FAC holder
those details with the result that an offence was committed and
subsequently prosecuted the FAC holder for the offence of failure to
notify the chief officer of police, then that firearms licensing officer
would, in my opinion, be guilty of the tort of misfeasance in public
office. As a police constable, he had a duty to prevent a crime from
occurring and he could have done this, but he sat back and allowed the
offence to occur in order that he could then pursue the FAC holder for
the offence. A purely fictional example, of course, not that I am
bitter and twisted. :-)
Anyone interested in more detail is well advised to study "Suing The
Police: A practical guide to knowing and enforcing your rights" by
Chaman Salhan and Henry Spooner, ISBN 1-901-657-868, which costs L19.95
but no doubt can be borrowed from a library. Ask me why I've got a
copy. :-)
--Jonathan Spencer, firearms examiner
"Justice is open to everybody in the same way as the Ritz Hotel."
Judge Sturgess, 22 July 1928
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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