law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, cheating is a specific

criminal offence In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

relating to

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

. Historically, to cheat was to commit a

misdemeanour A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

. However, in most

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

s, the offence has now been codified into statute. In most cases the codified statutory form of cheating and the original common law offence are very similar, however there can be differences. For example, under

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, b ...

it was held in ''R v Sinclair'' that " 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". Examples of cheating upheld by the courts have included fraudulently pretending to have power to discharge a soldier, using false weights or measures, and playing with false dice.

Definition

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'' is regarded as fairly comprehensive, and is cited as an authoritative definition by ''

Stroud's Judicial Dictionary ''Stroud's Judicial Dictionary'' is a law dictionary. The First Edition by Frederick Stroud was published in 1890. The Second Edition was by the same author and was published in 1903. A supplement by the same author was published in 1906. A suppl ...

''.

Other statutory uses

A number of jurisdictions also have statutory offences relating to cheating in

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

. See for example section 42(3) of the

Gambling Act 2005 The Gambling Act 2005 (2005 c 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling. It transfers authority for licensing gambling from t ...

England and Wales

The common law offence of cheating was abolished, except as regards offences relating to the

public revenue Government revenue or national revenue is money received by a government from taxes and non-tax sources to enable it to undertake public expenditure. Government revenue as well as government spending are components of the government budget and i ...

, by section 32(1)(a) of 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 ...

Cheating the public revenue

William Harkins said that "all frauds affecting the Crown and public at large are indictable as cheats at common law". This passage was cited in ''R v Mulligan''. 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. The following cases are also relevant: *''R v Hudson'' *''R v Mavji'' *''R v Redford'' *''R v Hunt''

Sentence

See ''R v Regan'', ''Attorney General's References (Nos. 88, 89, 98 and 91 of 2006)'', and ''R v Meehan and others''.

Cheating at play

This offence was formally created by section 17 of the

Gaming Act 1845 The Gaming Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict., c. 109) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's principal provision was to deem a wager unenforceable as a legal contract. The Act received royal assent on 8 August 1845. Sections 17 and ...

. The current English legislation on cheating in betting is found in s42 Gambling Act 2005.

Going equipped for cheat

In section 25 of the

, the word "cheat" meant an offence under section 15 of that Act.Theft Act 1968, section 25(5) The said section 15 created the offence of

obtaining property by deception Obtaining property by deception was formerly a statutory offence in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales This offence was created by section 15 of the Theft Act 1968. Sections 15(1) and (2) of that Act read: This offence r ...

. The

Fraud Act 2006 The Fraud Act 2006 (c 35) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which affects England and Wales and Northern Ireland. It was given royal assent on 8 November 2006, and came into effect on 15 January 2007. Purpose The Act gives a sta ...

replaced these offences with new ones using different terminology.

References and notes

{{History of English criminal law Crimes English criminal law Common law offences in England and Wales