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Dishonesty is to act without
honesty Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft ...
. It is used to describe a lack of probity,
cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
,
lying A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deception, deceiving or Deception, misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a l ...
, or deliberately withholding information, or being deliberately
deceptive Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...
or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousness. Dishonesty is the fundamental component of a majority of offences relating to the acquisition, conversion and disposal of property (tangible or intangible) defined in
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
such as
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
.


English law

Dishonesty has had a number of definitions. For many years, there were two views of what constituted dishonesty in
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
. The first contention was that the definitions of dishonesty (such as those within the
Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of decepti ...
) described a course of action, whereas the second contention was that the definition described a state of mind. A clear test within the criminal law emerged from ''
R v Ghosh ''R v Ghosh'' 982EWCA Crim 2is an English criminal law case setting out a test for dishonesty">dishonest conduct which was relevant as to many offences worded as doing an act dishonestly, such as deception, as Theft Act 1968, theft,Theft Act 19 ...
'' (1982) 75 CR App. R. 154. The Court of Appeal held that dishonesty is an element of ''
mens rea In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action (or lack of action) would cause a crime to be committed. It is considered a necessary element ...
'', clearly referring to a state of mind, and that overall, the test that must be applied is hybrid, but with a subjective bias which "looks into the mind" of the person concerned and establishes what he was thinking. The test is two-stage: *"Were the person's actions honest according to the standards of reasonable and honest people?" If a
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
decides that they were, then the defendant's claim to be honest will be credible. But, if the
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
decides that the actions were dishonest, the further question is: *"Did the person concerned believe that what he did was dishonest at the time?" But this decision was criticised, and over-ruled, by the UK
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in the case of ''
Ivey v Genting Casinos (UK) Ltd t/a Crockfords is a UK Supreme Court case that reconsidered the test used for determining dishonesty. Facts Phil Ivey, an American professional poker player, played and won a series of games of Punto Banco—a variant of baccarat—at Crockfords Casino in ...
UKSC_67
_The_position_as_a_result_is_that_the_court_must_form_a_view_of_what_the_defendant's_belief_was_of_the_relevant_facts_(but_it_is_no_longer_necessary_to_consider_whether_the_person_concerned_believed_that_what_he_did_was_dishonest_at_the_time). Where_dishonesty_is_an_issue_in_civil_cases,_the_trend_in_English_Law_is_for_only_the_actions_to_be_tested_objectively_and_not_to_apply_any_test_as_to_the_subjective_state_of_mind_of_the_actor._Now_that_the_decision_in_Ghosh_has_been_over-ruled_the_same_legal_test_applies_in_English_law_in_civil_and_criminal_cases.


_Theft_Act_1968

The_Theft_Act_1968_ The_Theft_Act_1968c_60_is_an__Act_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom._It_creates_a_number_of__offences_against_property_in_England_and_Wales. On_15_January_2007_the__Fraud_Act_2006_came_into_force,_redefining_most_of_the_offences_of_decepti_...
_contains_a_single_definition_for_dishonesty_which_is_intended_to_apply_to_all_the_substantive_offences._Yet,_rather_than_defining_what_dishonesty_is,_s2_describes_what_it_is_not,_allowing_a_jury_to_take_a_flexible_approach,_thus: s2(1)._A_person's_appropriation_of_property_belonging_to_another_is_not_to_be_regarded_as_dishonest: *_(a)_if_he_appropriates_the_property_in_the_belief_that_he_has_in_law_the_right_to_deprive_the_other_of_it,_on_behalf_of_himself_or_of_a_third_person;_or *_(b)_if_he_appropriates_the_property_in_the_belief_that_he_would_have_the_other's_consent_if_the_other_knew_of_the_appropriation_and_the_circumstances_of_it;_or *_(c)_(except_where_the_property_came_to_him_as_trustee_or_personal_representative)_if_he_appropriates_the_property_in_the_belief_that_the_person_to_whom_the_property_belongs_cannot_be_discovered_by_taking_reasonable_steps. s2(2)._A_person's_appropriation_of_property_belonging_to_another_may_be_dishonest_notwithstanding_that_he_is_willing_to_pay_for_the_property. *_The_s2(1)(a)_''claim_of_right''_is_a_difficult_concept_in_that_it_represents_a_statutory_exception_to_the_fundamental_public_policy_(law).html" "title="017
UKSC 67
The position as a result is that the court must form a view of what the defendant's belief was of the relevant facts (but it is no longer necessary to consider whether the person concerned believed that what he did was dishonest at the time). Where dishonesty is an issue in civil cases, the trend in English Law is for only the actions to be tested objectively and not to apply any test as to the subjective state of mind of the actor. Now that the decision in Ghosh has been over-ruled the same legal test applies in English law in civil and criminal cases.


Theft Act 1968

The
Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of decepti ...
contains a single definition for dishonesty which is intended to apply to all the substantive offences. Yet, rather than defining what dishonesty is, s2 describes what it is not, allowing a jury to take a flexible approach, thus: s2(1). A person's appropriation of property belonging to another is not to be regarded as dishonest: * (a) if he appropriates the property in the belief that he has in law the right to deprive the other of it, on behalf of himself or of a third person; or * (b) if he appropriates the property in the belief that he would have the other's consent if the other knew of the appropriation and the circumstances of it; or * (c) (except where the property came to him as trustee or personal representative) if he appropriates the property in the belief that the person to whom the property belongs cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps. s2(2). A person's appropriation of property belonging to another may be dishonest notwithstanding that he is willing to pay for the property. * The s2(1)(a) ''claim of right'' is a difficult concept in that it represents a statutory exception to the fundamental public policy (law)">public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
principle ''ignorantia juris non excusat'' and allows a limited mistake of law defence. According to ''R v Turner (No2)'' [1971] 2 All ER 441, a case in which a man was charged with the s1 Theft of his own car, the test was one of honest belief in a right, not a mere permission, to act in the particular way. In this, the test is subjective and a matter of fact for the jury to decide. * If the owner or some person able to give a valid
consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
, actually consented to the taking, the property would not belong to another and no ''
actus reus (), sometimes called the external element or the objective element of a crime, is the Law Latin term for the "guilty act" which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the ("guilty mind"), produces criminal liability in th ...
'' would exist. This provision applies to the situation in which either the consent is void
ab initio ''Ab initio'' ( ) is a Latin term meaning "from the beginning" and is derived from the Latin ''ab'' ("from") + ''initio'', ablative singular of ''initium'' ("beginning"). Etymology Circa 1600, from Latin, literally "from the beginning", from ab ...
or is subsequently voided. If the existence or effect of the vitiating factor is not recognised by the defendant, then he would not be dishonest. For example, if a contract was affected by a common or mutual mistake. But if the defendant is initially innocent, he may become dishonest if he later realises the mistake and decides to keep the property (i.e. an omission). Similarly, if he has knowingly misrepresented a material fact and this has induced a consent that he knows or ought to know would not have been freely given, he will be dishonest. * Defendants who are in a
fiduciary A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
relationship are expected to make even unreasonable efforts to identify where the relevant property has come from, but the ordinary defendant who finds property apparently abandoned on the street may not be dishonest if there are no serial numbers or marks that would help to identify the owner. Note that to be abandoned, the owner must have intended to give up all rights in the property and not to pass those rights to another. For example, material discarded in a rubbish bin is not abandoned. The owner intends another to come, empty the bin and dispose of the property without stealing it in the process. Hence, it will be theft to remove any property from a bin or legal disposal site. *If the defendant knows that the owner will not sell the property, so takes the property in any event but leaves a realistic sum of money by way of payment, this will be a dishonest appropriation. For the purposes of the
deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...
offences, dishonesty is a separate element to be proved. The fact that a defendant knowingly deceives the owner into parting with possession of property does not, of itself, prove the dishonesty. This distinguishes between "obtaining by a dishonest deception" and "dishonestly obtains by a deception".


Debtors

Debtor's dishonesty
Criminal Code of Finland The Criminal Code of Finland ( fi, rikoslaki, sv, strafflag) is the codification of the central legal source concerning criminal law in Finland. History The Criminal Code came into effect in 1894, and it has been modified numerous times since the ...

39 luku, § 1–2
 or dishonesty to creditorsSwedish Penal Code
Ds 1999:36
 is a felony in Finland and Sweden. It is an abuse of the
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
process, where the debtor attempts to prevent the recovery of assets. In
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
law, the felonies of debtor's dishonesty (''velallisen epärehellisyys'') and aggravated debtor's dishonesty (''törkeä velallisen epärehellisyys'') are defined. A debtor is dishonest if "1) he destroys his or her property, 2) gives away or otherwise surrenders his or her property without acceptable reason, 3) transfers his or her property abroad in order to place it beyond the reach of his or her creditors or 4) increases his or her liabilities without basis, and thus causes his or her insolvency or essentially worsens his or her state of insolvency". The felony is considered aggravated if "1) considerable benefit is sought, 2) considerable or particularly substantial damage is caused to the creditors, or 3) the offence is committed in a particularly methodical manner". The punishment is fine or imprisonment for at most two years, and four months at minimum and four years at maximum if aggravated. It is essential that there is a direct cause and effect between a debtor's deliberate action and the insolvency; mere poor management or accidental losses are not grounds for conviction. Taking into account judicial practice, the best defense is to claim a lack of deliberate intent, and demonstrate that the actions were reasonable at the time and not intended to cause insolvency. Explicit fraud and embezzlement, involving concealment or presenting fraudulent liabilities, are defined separately, as are the less serious deceitfulness and violation by a debtor. An example was a case involving the former CEO of a bank as the debtor. The debtor was ordered to pay
FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...
1.8 million in damages due to reckless lending that had led to a bankruptcy of the bank. However, the debtor kept multiple credit accounts overdrawn by withdrawing large sums of cash, which he claimed were for daily expenses and frequent travel abroad. Thus, garnishment was not possible, because he could claim that he had no net worth. The court found it unlikely that such sums could be spent on daily expenses, but were in fact stashed somewhere, and convicted the debtor of aggravated debtor's dishonesty. In Swedish law, dishonesty to creditors (''oredlighet mot borgenärer'') and aggravated dishonesty to creditors (''grov oredlighet mot borgenärer'') carry a sentence of up to two-and-a-half years and six years of imprisonment, respectively.


Studies

A 2021 study by Fixgerald which tested academic cheating found that the USA was the most dishonest country.


See also

*
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
*
Intellectual dishonesty Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterised by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways: * One's personal beliefs or politics do not interfere with the pursuit of truth ...
*
Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
*''
R v Ghosh ''R v Ghosh'' 982EWCA Crim 2is an English criminal law case setting out a test for dishonesty">dishonest conduct which was relevant as to many offences worded as doing an act dishonestly, such as deception, as Theft Act 1968, theft,Theft Act 19 ...
'' *
Shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...
*
Shrinkage (accounting) In accounting, inventory shrinkage (sometimes shortened to shrinkage or shrink) occurs when a retailer has fewer items in stock than in the inventory list due to clerical error, goods being damaged, lost, or stolen between the point of manuf ...


References


Further reading

*Allen, Michael. ''Textbook on Criminal Law''. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). . * Ariely, Dan, and Ximena Garcia-Rada, "Contagious Dishonesty: Dishonesty begets dishonesty, rapidly spreading unethical behavior through a society", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'', vol. 321, no. 3 (September 2019), pp. 62–66. *Criminal Law Revision Committee. 8th Report. Theft and Related Offences. Cmnd. 2977. *Griew "Dishonesty: The Objections to Feely and Ghosh"
985 Year 985 ( CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theoph ...
CLR 341. *Griew, Edward. ''Theft Acts 1968 & 1978'', Sweet & Maxwell. *Halpin "The Test for Dishonesty"
996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Em ...
Crim LR 283. * King, Barbara J., "Deception in the Wild: ''Homo sapiens'' is not the only species that lies. Dishonesty abounds in the animal kingdom", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'', vol. 321, no. 3 (September 2019), pp. 50–54. * O'Connor, Cailin, and James Owen Weatherall, "Why We Trust Lies: The most effective
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ...
starts with seeds of
truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'', vol. 321, no. 3 (September 2019), pp. 54–61. *Ormerod, David. ''Smith and Hogan Criminal Law'', LexisNexis, London. (2005) *Smith, J. C. ''Law of Theft'', LexisNexis: London (1997). {{English criminal law navbox Barriers to critical thinking Deception Communication of falsehoods Criminal law