|
EXTORTION ( See also: English See also: law the See also: term applied to the exaction by public See also: officers of See also: money or money's worth not due at all, or in excess of what is due, or before it is due
.
Such exaction, unless made in See also: good faith (i.e. in honest See also: mistake as to the sum properly payable), is a misdemeanour by the See also: common law and is punishable by See also: fine and (or) imprisonment
.
Besides the punishment above stated, an See also: action for twice the value of the thing extorted lies against officers of the See also: king (127513 Edw
.
I. c
.
26)
.
There are numerous provisions for the punishment of particular officers who make illegal exactions or take illegal fees: e.g. sheriffs and their officers (Sheriffs
See also: Act 1887), county See also: court bailiffs (County Courts Act 1888), clerks of courts of See also: justice, and gaolers who exact fees from prisoners
.
A gaoler is also punishable for detaining the See also: corpse of a prisoner as security for See also: debt
.
The term " public officer " is not limited to offices under the See also: crown; and there are old precedents of criminal proceedings for extortion against churchwardens, and against millers and ferrymen who demand tolls in excess of what is customary under their franchise
.
The term extortion is also applied to the exaction of money or money's worth by menaces of See also: personal violence or by threats to accuse of See also: crime or to publish defamatory See also: matter about another See also: person
.
These offences fall partly under the See also: head of robbery and partly under See also: blackmail, or what in French is termed See also: chantage
.
See See also: Russell on Crimes (6th ed., vol. i. p
.
423; vol. iii. p
.
348) . |
|
|
[back] EXTINCT |
[next] EXTRACT (from Lat. extrahere, to draw out) |
There are no comments yet for this article.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are encouraged.