The Assizes
| Published date | 01 July 1962 |
| Date | 01 July 1962 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836202600302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The Assizes
PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACTS: THE BURDEN OF PROOF AND
"PUBLIC
BODY"
R.
v. Newbould
THERE is a distinction in
the
Prevention of Corruption
Acts as regards
the
burden
of proof between cases in
which
the
accused is in
the
employment of
"a
public
body"
and
cases in which he is not.
If
he is in such employment and it is
proved
that
any money, gift, or other consideration has been
paid or given to or received by him from a person, or agent of
aperson, holding or seeking to obtain acontract from a public
body,
then
"the
money, gift, or consideration shall be deemed
to have been paid or given and received corruptly as such
inducement or reward ...unless
the
contrary is proved"
(Prevention of Corruption Act, 1916, s. 2).
In
these Acts and in
the
Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889, the expression
"public
body"
includes "local and public authorities of all
descriptions" (s. 4 (2». At
the
Sheffield assizes in R. o,
Newbould Wino,
J.,
as a preliminary issue, dealt with
the
question whether the National Coal Board was a "public
body"
within
the
meaning of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1916.
The
defendant was a housing manager employed by
the
Board.
Winn,
J.,
held
that
the Board was not apublic authority and,
therefore, not a public body for
the
purposes of
the
Prevention
of Corruption Acts, 1889 to 1916, and accordingly
the
trial
proceeded on
the
footing that the
burden
of proof was on
the
prosecution.
The
origin of this line of legislation is
the
Public Bodies
Corrupt
Practices Act, 1889, in which
the
expression
"public
body"
means
"any
council of a county or council of a city or
town, any council of a municipal borough, also any board,
commissioners, select vestry, or other body which has power
to act
under
and for
the
purposes of any Act relating to local
government". All these bodies are governmental bodies con-
175
To continue reading
Request your trial