Republican Foundations: Holding Officials to Account in Criminal Law
Keyword(s):
Top Down
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I explore the historical development of the misconduct offence, principally during the eighteenth century. I see in that development an emerging contrast between a ‘bottom-up’ and a ‘top-down’ understanding of the role of the misconduct offence in holding officials to account in criminal law. I also explain the way in which the offence came to be regarded as a public law remedy: one edge of a two-edged sword (the other edge being judicial review) in the hands of the courts, to deter and punish official misconduct. I find in Sir William Blackstone’s work an important theoretical justification for the offence.
2013 ◽
Vol 76
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pp. 178-186
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