In the

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 omnipres ...

, embracery is the attempt to influence a

juror A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England dur ...

corruptly to give their

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

in favour of one side or the other in a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

. This may be by promise, persuasions, entreaties, money, entertainments and the like.

Early English law

In English law, embracery was an offence both at

and by statute, punishable by fine and imprisonment. As a statutory offence it dates back to 1360. The offence is complete, whether any verdict has been given or not, and whether the verdict is in accordance with the weight of evidence or otherwise. The person making the attempt, and any member of the jury who consents, are equally punishable. The legal term "embracery" comes from the Old Fr. ''embraseour'', an embracer, ''i.e.'', one who excites or instigates, literally one who sets on fire, from ''embraser'', to kindle a fire. This is unrelated to the common word "embrace", ''i.e.'', to hold or clasp in the arms, which is from French ''embracer'', from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''bracchia'', arms. The false verdict of a jury, whether occasioned by embracery or otherwise, was formerly considered criminal, and jurors were severely punished, being proceeded against by

writ of attaint A writ of attaint is an obsolete writ in English law, issued to inquire whether a jury had given a false verdict in a trial. In criminal cases, the writ of attaint was issued at the suit of the Crown, and in civil cases at the suit of either par ...

. The

Juries Act 1825 The Juries Act 1825, also known as the County Juries Act, was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament. It extends only to England and Wales. Selected clauses Qualifying for jury service The following requirements qualified an individual for jury s ...

, in abolishing writs of attaint, made a special exemption as regards jurors guilty of embracery (s.61).

Prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

for the offence has been so extremely rare that when a case occurred in 1891 it was stated that no precedent could be found for the

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...

. The defendant was fined £200, afterwards reduced to £100.

Modern usage

By 2010 the offence was regarded as obsolete and such misconduct more likely to be

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

d as

perverting the course of justice Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Stat ...

. The last conviction for embracery in the UK was at Caernarvon Crown Court in November 1975 but it was quashed by the Court of Appeal the following year on the initiative of Lord Justice Lawton, who said that the offence was obsolete. The offence was abolished by section 17 of the

Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 (c.23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to bribery. Introduced to Parliament in the Queen's Speech in 2009 after several decades of reports and draft bills, the Act recei ...

, as from 1 July 2011. In the United States, embracery prosecutions have occurred as recently as 1989, when a county commissioner in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

was sentenced to a fine and probation.''Calhoun Times and Gordon County News''
"Sutherland Resigns from Board: Gets Probation in Embracery Case"
15 July 1989, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved on 25 June 2013.

References

{{History of English criminal law Crimes Legal history of England Medieval English court system English criminal law Common law offences in England and Wales

Early English law

Modern usage

See also

References