Supreme Court of Victoria – Court of Appeal – CRIMINAL LAW – Referral of questions of law – Misconduct in public office – Common law offence – Elements of offence – Necessary relationship between public office and alleged conduct for purposes of offence – Whether conduct must occur ‘in relation to’ office – Whether public officer must be acting ‘as such’ – How seriousness of misconduct is to be described.
As to the common law offence of misconduct in public office, the court stated that ‘the proper formulation of the offence requires the element [‘acting as such’] to be expressed so that it encompasses the circumstance in which the offender’s misconduct, though not occurring while the offender was discharging a function or duty, had a sufficient connection to their public office. Whether the misconduct was so connected will turn upon the facts of the case’. However, the court emphasised that ‘The misconduct must be incompatible with the proper discharge of the responsibilities of the office’. The court approved the statement that ‘the kernel of the offence is that an officer, having been entrusted with powers and duties for the public benefit, has in some way abused them, or has abused his official position’.
Judges:
ASHLEY and REDLICH JJA and HANSEN AJA
Citations:
[2010] VSCA 106, 27 VR 310, 201 A Crim R 522
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Australia
Cited by:
Cited – Johnson v Westminster Magistrates’ Court Admn 3-Jul-2019
Public Office Misconduct – Acting As not While
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision to issue a summons against him alleging three offences of misconduct in public office. He was said to have issue misleading statements in support of the campaign leading up to the Referendum on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.639247