Cheating (law)

Criminal offense in common law

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Criminal law
Elements

* Actus reus
* Mens rea
* Causation
* Concurrence

Scope of criminal liability

* Accessory
* Accomplice
* Complicity
* Corporate
* Mandated reporter
* Principal
* Vicarious

Severity of offense

* Felony (or Indictable offense)
* Misdemeanor (or Summary offense)
* Infraction (also called violation)

Inchoate offenses

* Attempt
* Conspiracy
* Incitement
* Solicitation

Offense against the person

* Assassination
* Assault
* Battery
* Child abuse
* Concealment of a corpse
* Criminal negligence
* Domestic violence
* False imprisonment
* Frameup
* Harassment
* Street
* Home invasion
* Hate crime
* Homicide
* Human trafficking
* Intimidation
* Kidnapping
* Manslaughter (corporate)
* Mayhem
* Murder
* felony
* Preterintention
* Homicide
* Negligent homicide
* Reckless homicide
* Robbery
* Stalking
* Stabbing
* Torture

Sexual offenses

* Adultery
* Bigamy
* Child sexual abuse
* Cybersex trafficking
* Fornication
* Homosexuality
* Incest
* Indecent exposure
* Masturbation
* Obscenity
* Prostitution
* Rape
* Pederasty
* Sex trafficking
* Sexual assault
* Sexual harassment
* Sexual slavery
* Voyeurism

Crimes against property

* Arson
* Arms trafficking
* Blackmail
* Bribery
* Burglary
* Cybercrime
* Embezzlement
* Extortion
* False pretenses
* Forgery
* Fraud
* Gambling
* Intellectual property violation
* Larceny
* Looting
* Payola
* Pickpocketing
* Possessing stolen property
* Robbery
* Smuggling
* Tax evasion
* Theft
* Trespass to land
* Vandalism
* Mischief

Crimes against justice

* Against public justice
* Justice delayed
* Compounding
* Contempt
* Malfeasance in office
* Miscarriage of justice
* Judicial misconduct
* Misprision
* Perjury
* Perverting the course of justice

Crimes against the public

* Apostasy
* Corruption
* Censorship violation
* Dueling
* Genocide
* Ethnic cleansing
* Hostage-taking
* Illegal immigration
* People smuggling
* Insider trading
* Smuggling
* Illegal consumption (such as drugs, alcohol, and smoking)
* Miscegenation
* Piracy
* Political corruption
* Regicide
* Terrorism
* Unreported employment
* Usurpation
* War crimes

Crimes against animals

* Cruelty to animals
* Poaching
* Wildlife smuggling
* Bestiality

Crimes against the state

* Lèse-majesté
* Treason
* Espionage
* Secession
* Sedition
* Subversion

Defenses to liability

* Actual innocence
* Automatism
* Consent
* Defense of property
* Diminished responsibility
* Duress
* Entrapment
* Ignorantia juris non excusat
* Infancy
* Insanity
* Justification
* Might makes right
* Mistake (of law)
* Necessity
* Possession is nine-tenths of the law
* Provocation
* Sanctuary
* Self-defense
* Statute of limitations

Other common-law areas

* Contracts
* Defenses
* Evidence
* Property
* Torts
* Wills, trusts and estates

Portals

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For other uses, see cheating (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with adultery laws.

At law, cheating is a specific criminal offence relating to property.

Historically, to cheat was to commit a misdemeanour at common law. However, in most jurisdictions, the offence has now been codified into statute.[1]

In most cases the codified statutory form of cheating and the original common law offence are very similar, but there can be differences. For example, under English law it was held in R v Sinclair[2] that "[t]o cheat and defraud is to act with deliberate dishonesty to the prejudice of another person's proprietary right." However, at common law a great deal of authority suggested that there had to be contrivance, such that the public were likely to be deceived and that "common prudence and caution are not sufficient security against a person being defrauded thereby".[3]

Examples of cheating upheld by the courts have included fraudulently pretending to have power to discharge a soldier,[4] using false weights or measures,[5] and playing with false dice.[6]

## Definition

[edit]

In relation to the common law offence, no judicial definition of the offence was ever laid down, but the description of the offence set down in Stephen's Criminal Digest[7][8] is regarded as fairly comprehensive, and is cited as an authoritative definition by Stroud's Judicial Dictionary.

> Every one commits the misdemeanour called cheating who fraudulently obtains the property of another by any deceitful practice not amounting to felony, which practice is of such a nature that it directly affects, or may directly affect, the public at large. But it is not cheating, within the meaning of this article, to deceive any person in any contract or private dealing by lies, unaccompanied by such practices as aforesaid.[9]

## Other statutory uses

[edit]

A number of jurisdictions also have statutory offences relating to cheating in gambling. See for example section 42(3) of the Gambling Act 2005.

## England and Wales

[edit]

The common law offence of cheating was abolished, except as regards offences relating to the public revenue, by section 32(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968.

### Cheating the public revenue

[edit]

William Harkins said that "all frauds affecting the Crown and public at large are indictable as cheats at common law".[10] This passage was cited in R v Mulligan.[11]

Prosecutions under the common law are still pursued in England and can result in heavy sentences – significantly in excess of the maximum available to the courts for corresponding statutory offences.[12]

The following cases are also relevant:

* R v Hudson[13]
* R v Mavji[14]
* R v Redford[15]
* R v Hunt[16]

#### Sentence

[edit]

See R v Regan,[17] Attorney General's References (Nos. 88, 89, 90 and 91 of 2006), and R v Meehan and others.[18][further explanation needed]

### Cheating at play

[edit]

This offence was formally created by section 17 of the Gaming Act 1845. The current English legislation on cheating in betting is found in s. 42 Gambling Act 2005.

### Going equipped for cheat

[edit]

In section 25 of the Theft Act 1968, the word "cheat" meant an offence under section 15 of that Act.[19] The said section 15 created the offence of obtaining property by deception. The Fraud Act 2006 replaced these offences with new ones using different terminology.

## References and notes

[edit]

1. ^ In Florida cheating remains a criminal offence by virtue of Fla. Stat. § 775.01 which provides that English common law crimes are crimes in Florida, but a specific statutory penalty for cheating is supplied by Fla. Stat. § 817.29
2. ^ R v Sinclair [1968] 3 All 241
3. ^ Halsbury's Laws of England, 2nd ed., Vol IX, para 944 citing various older common law cases
4. ^ R v Serlested (1627) Lat 202
5. ^ R v Closs (1857) Dears & B 460
6. ^ R v Maddocke (1619) 2 Roll Rep 107
7. ^ Stephen's Criminal Digest, 9th Ed., 362
8. ^ Harrison, Karen; Ryder, Nicholas (2016). The Law Relating to Financial Crime in the United Kingdom. Taylor & Francis. p. 203\. ISBN 978-1-317-02602-0. "James Fitzjames Stephen, A Digest of the Criminal Law 9th ed. (Sweet & Maxwell:London, 1950, 362)"
9. ^ Stroud, Frederick (1890). The Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases Judicially Interpreted. Sweet and Maxwell, limited. p. 124.
10. ^ William Hawkins. Treatise of Pleas of the Crown. Eighth Edition. Page 1322
11. ^ R v Mulligan [1990] Crim LR 427
12. ^ David Winch (14 July 2012). "17 year sentence for VAT carousel fraud". Bartfields Forensic Solicitors.
13. ^ R v Hudson, [1956] 2 QB 252, [1956] 2 WLR 914, [1956] 1 All ER 814, 40 Cr App R 55, [1956] Crim LR 814
14. ^ R v Mavji, [1987] 2 All ER 758, 84 Cr App R 34, [1987] Crim LR 39, CA
15. ^ R v Redford, 89 Cr App R 1, [1989] Crim LR 152, CA
16. ^ R v Hunt, [1994] Crim LR 747, CA
17. ^ R v Regan, 11 Cr App R (S) 15, CA
18. ^ R v Meehan and others, [2006] All ER (D) 105
19. ^ Theft Act 1968, section 25(5)

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English criminal law

Classes of crimes|

* Indictable
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* Summary
* Regulatory (lowered mens rea)
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Elements of crimes|

* Actus reus
* Causation
* Mens rea
* Intention (criminal law)
* Intention in English law
* Recklessness
* Criminal negligence
* Corporate / Vicarious / Strict liability
* Omissions

Doctrines|

* Lesser included offences
* Concurrence
* Ignorantia juris non excusat

Inchoate offences|

* Encouraging or assisting a crime
* Conspiracy
* Accessory
* Attempt
* Common purpose

Defences|

* Self-defence
* Duress
* Necessity
* Loss of control
* Consent
* inc. participation in a sporting event
* Medical procedures
* Prevention of crime
* Lawful excuse
* Insanity
* Diminished responsibility
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* Category:Criminal defences

Offences against
the person|

* Homicide (Murder / Manslaughter / Corporate manslaughter / Infanticide)
* Unlawful killing
* Child destruction
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* Assault occasioning actual bodily harm
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* Battery
* Kidnapping
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* Harassment
* Offences Against the Person Act 1861
* Treason

Sexual offences|

* Rape
* Sexual assault
* Sexual Offences Act 2003

Public order offences|

* Riot
* Violent disorder
* Affray
* Unlawful assembly
* Fear or provocation of violence
* Harassment, alarm or distress
* intent aggravates
* Public Order Act 1986
* Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred
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* Accessory (legal term)
* Misconduct in a public office
* Misfeasance in public office
* Abuse of authority
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Offences against property|

* Arson
* Dishonesty
* Cheating (law)
* Burglary
* Robbery
* Theft
* Criminal damage
* Squatting
* Trespass
* Taking without owner's consent
* Deception
* Handling stolen goods
* Misappropriation of funds
* Blackmail
* Extortion
* Cybercrime
* Theft Act 1968
* Theft Act 1978
* Fraud Act 2006
* Fraud by abuse of position
* Conspiracy to defraud
* Fare evasion
* Webcam blackmail

Forgery, personation
and cheating|

* Forgery
* Cheating the public revenue
* Uttering

Offences against justice|

* Bribery
* Perjury
* Perverting the course of justice
* Witness intimidation
* Witness tampering
* Misprision of treason
* Jury tampering
* Assault with intent to resist lawful apprehension
* Assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty
* Harboring a fugitive
* Encouraging or assisting a crime
* Escape from lawful custody
* Obstruction of justice
* Obstruction of a police officer
* Wasting police time
* Refusing to assist a constable
* Sedition
* Espionage
* Contempt of court
* Fabrication of false evidence
* Rescuing a prisoner

Other common law areas|

* Contract
* Tort
* Property
* Wills
* Trusts and estates
* Evidence
* Criminal procedure

* English law portal
* For obsolete aspects see History of English criminal law table

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History of English criminal law

Part of the common law series

Classes of crimes|

* Felony
* Misdemeanour
* Arrestable offence
* Contempt of sovereign or statute (breach of any statutory wording as a crime)

Inchoate offences|

* Incitement

Defences|

* Marital coercion
* Provocation

Offences against the person or state|

* Petty treason
* Capital murder
* Mayhem (crime)
* Treachery

Sexual offences|

* Buggery
* Gross indecency between men
* Indecent assault

Criminal libel and kindred offences|

* Seditious libel
* Sedition
* Blasphemous libel
* Blasphemy
* Obscene libel
* Defamatory libel

Offences against property|

* Larceny
* Embezzlement
* Fraudulent conversion

Forgery, personation and cheating|

* Cheating

Offences against justice|

* Misprision of felony
* Compounding a felony
* Champerty and maintenance
* Embracery

Death against family honour|

* Felo de se

Criminal behaviour|

* Common scold
* Loitering
* Quasi-crimes: Until-dawn detention for being a stranger passing a night-watchman; informal use of stocks and similar punishments

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