Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met. English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of Common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countriesand the Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive A summary offense, also known as a petty crime, is a criminal act in some Common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded with summarily without the right In many Common law Jurisdictions (eg the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Canada, United States, India, A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, or wobbler are the special class offences in the Common law Regulatory offences or quasi-criminal offences are a class of crime in which the standard for proving Culpability has been lowered so a Mens rea A lesser included offense, in Criminal law, is a crime for which all of the elements necessary to impose Liability are also elements found in a more serious crime Actus reus, sometimes called the external element or the objective element of a crime is the Latin term for the "guilty act" which when proved Causation is the "causal relationship between conduct and result In Criminal law, mens rea the Latin term for "guilty mind" is usually one of the necessary elements of a Crime. In the Criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of Mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to In English Criminal law, intention is one of the types of Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" that when accompanied by an In the Criminal law, recklessness (also called unchariness) is one of the four possible classes of mental state constituting Mens rea (the In the Criminal law, criminal negligence is one of the three general classes of Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" element required In the Criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a Corporation as a fictitious person can be liable for the acts and omissions The legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity In Criminal law, strict liability is liability for which Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" does not have to be proven in relation In the Criminal law, an omission, or failure to act will constitute an Actus reus ( Latin for "guilty act" and give rise to liability In Western Jurisprudence, concurrence, (or contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence Ignorantia juris non excusat or Ignorantia legis neminem excusat ( Latin for " Ignorance of the Law does not excuse" In English Criminal law, incitement is an anticipatory Common law offence and is the act of persuading encouraging instigating pressuring or threatening In the Criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between Natural persons to break the law at some time in the future and in some cases with at least one overt act An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a Crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal Attempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself the actions must go beyond mere preparation In Criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise refers to the situation where two or more people embark on a project In the Criminal law, consent may be an Excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring Liability for what was done For duress in US law see Duress Duress in English criminal law is a complete common law defence operating in favour of those who commit For the discussion on general principles and policy see Necessity In English law, the defence of necessity recognises that there may In English Criminal law, the defence of self-defence provides for the right of people to act in a manner that would be otherwise unlawful in order to preserve the For a description of the general principles see Provocation (legal. For the law in other Criminal jurisdictions see Diminished responsibility. The M'Naghten Rules (pronounced and sometimes spelled McNaughton) were the first serious attempt to Codify and rationalise the attitude of the criminal law towards In Criminal law, a common assault is a Crime when the Victim apprehends immediate use of unlawful violence by the Defendant or the Defendant Battery is a term used by the Common law jurisdictions which involves an Injury or other Contact upon the Person of another in a manner likely Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (often abbreviated to Assault O Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm (often abbreviated to GBH) is a phrase used in English Criminal law which was introduced in sections 18 and 20 The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c100 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In English law, murder is considered the most serious form of Homicide, in which one person kills another either intending to cause death or intending to For a discussion of the law in other countries see Manslaughter In the English law of Homicide, manslaughter is a less serious Corporate manslaughter is a Criminal offence in English law, being an act of Homicide committed by a company. Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behaviour The term commonly refers to behaviour intended to disturb or upset and when the term is used in a legal sense it refers In English law causing criminal damage was originally a Common law offence. In English law causing criminal damage was originally a Common law offence. The Public Order Act 1986 creates offences commonly used by United Kingdom police to deal with public disorder and Violence. For the law of Tort, see Nuisance In the English Criminal law, public nuisance is a class of Common law offence The Theft Act 1968 (1968 c60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, governing most of the general property offences in English law. In Criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person's Property without that person's freely-given Dishonesty is a word which in common usage may be defined as the act or to act without honesty a lack of probity to cheat lying or being deliberately deceptive lacking in Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. A TWOC can also be a medical procedure - a trial without Catheter TWOC is an Acronym standing for Taking Without Owner's Consent. In English law, the main deception offences are defined in the Theft Act 1968 (TA68 the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment Act 1996 In English Criminal law, handling takes place after the Theft is completed and is committed by a fence or other person who helps the thief to realise The Theft Act 1978 supplemented the earlier Deception offences in English law contained in sections 15 and 16 of the Theft Act 1968 by reforming some aspects of those Forgery is the process of making adapting or imitating objects statistics or documents (see False document) with the intent to deceive. The Fraud Act 2006 (2006 c35 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, affecting England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Computer crime, Cybercrime, e-crime, hi-tech crime or electronic crime generally refers to criminal activity where a Computer Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person In Criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or Asportation of a person against the person's will usually to hold the person in False imprisonment Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a The crime of obstruction of justice includes crimes committed by Judges Prosecutors attorneys general, and elected officials in general Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated Criminal law. A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties Property law is the area of Law that governs the various forms of Ownership in Real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of Law which governs the management of personal affairs and the Disposition of Property of The Law of evidence governs the use of Testimony (eg oral or written statements such as an Affidavit) and exhibits (e This information is usually of an embarrassing or socially damaging nature. As the information is substantially true, the act of revealing the information may not be criminal in its own right nor amount to a civil law defamation; the crime is making demands to withhold it. Civil law, as opposed to Criminal law, refers to that branch of Law dealing with disputes between Individuals and/or Organizations, in which
Blackmail is similar to extortion—the difference being that extortion involves an underlying, independent criminal act, while blackmail does not. Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person Unlawfully obtains either money property or services
The word is derived from the word for tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to Border Reivers in return for immunity from raids. Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo - Scottish border ( Border country) for nearly three hundred years from the late 13th century This tribute was paid in goods or labour (reditus nigri, or "blackmail"): the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi, or "white rent" (denoting payment by silver).
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English law
Under section21(1) of the Theft Act 1968 of English law, a person commits the offence:
- if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces; and for this purpose a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief:
- (a) that he has reasonable grounds for making the demand; and
- (b) that the use of the menaces is a means of reinforcing the demand. The Theft Act 1968 (1968 c60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, governing most of the general property offences in English law. English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of Common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countriesand the
The Act uses the word "menaces" which is considered wider in scope than "threat" and involves a warning of any consequences known to be considered unpleasant by the intended victim. This covers the spectrum from actual or threatened violence to the victim or others, through damage to property, to the disclosure of information. Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes In English law causing criminal damage was originally a Common law offence.
Pretexts for blackmail have included the threat to reveal adultery or criminal acts. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is But whatever the nature of the menace, it must be direct. Any vague threat to cause "something bad" to happen to some other person, except when certain demands are met, should not affect the mind of an ordinary person. Intimidation (also called cowing) is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of Injury or Harm.
Commercial blackmail has become more common. This arises when a large commercial organisation receives credible information that it will suffer loss or damage in a particular way unless money is transferred. There are two major areas of threat:
- denial of service attacks target corporations that have a major presence on the internet. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Disrupting the portal through which on-line sales are made could seriously affect the corporation's revenue flow and demonstrating an ability to orchestrate consistent attacks may well represent a sufficient menace for these purposes; and
- introducing poisons or other dangerous chemicals into the products offered for sale in a supermarket or other large store could significantly damage retail sales, or influence a manufacturer or national distributor. A web portal is a site that provides a single function via a web page or site In the context of Biology, poisons are substances that can cause damage, Illness, or Death to Organisms usually by Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good For example, a blackmailer threatened Masterfoods Corporation, the company that manufactures Mars Bars in Australia, claiming to have poisoned seven Mars and Snickers bars at random in New South Wales. The Mars Bar is a Chocolate bar manufactured by Mars Incorporated. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.
(See also protection racket. A protection racket is an Extortion scheme whereby a powerful entity or individual coerces other less powerful entities or individuals to pay protection money )
Lawful means
Debt collectors have been accused of blackmail, but those pursuing legal debts are generally able to justify their threats of repossession because, even though as it may be unpleasant to the victim, this is a legitimate use of lawful civil law remedies. A legal remedy (also judicial relief) is the means a Court of law, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction enforces a Right, imposes By contrast, those chasing illegal debts (a gambling debt, for example, which was not until recently enforceable under English law) who back up their demands with the threat of bodily injury cannot avail themselves of the same defence. There will also be liability even though the debts are legally owed if the menaces are of a criminal nature, e. g. of an assault or more serious violence or criminal damage occurred. Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand, The offence criminalises the means adopted by the creditors as the social problem to be deterred, rather than the evasion by the debtors. In Economics a debtor is simply an entity that owes a Debt to someone else the entity could be an individual a firm a government or an organization The creditors are expected to use the standard judicial remedies to recover what is owing.
The maximum sentence under the terms of the Act is life imprisonment; this reflects the severity of the offense, which in turn, can consequently destroy a person's reputation, personal life and livelihood.
If the elements of blackmail are not made out and the defendant has acquired a vehicle, a charge under s12 Act 1968 may be preferred, see TWOC. A TWOC can also be a medical procedure - a trial without Catheter TWOC is an Acronym standing for Taking Without Owner's Consent.
See also
- Blackmail is often used in espionage to recruit spies or cause them to lie under oath or refuse to testify.
- Loan sharking
- Nuclear blackmail
- FBI Files on Elvis Presley
References
- Allen, Michael. A loan shark is a person or body that offers illegal Unsecured loans at high Interest rates to individuals often backed by Blackmail or threats Nuclear Blackmail is a form of Nuclear strategy in which an aggressor uses the threat of use of Nuclear weapons to force an adversary to perform The FBI Files on Elvis Presley include records kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning Elvis Presley. Textbook on Criminal Law. Oxford University Press: Oxford. (2005) ISBN 0-19-927918-7.
- Criminal Law Revision Committee. 8th Report. Theft and Related Offences. Cmnd. 2977
- Griew, Edward. Theft Acts 1968 & 1978, Sweet & Maxwell: London. ISBN 0-421-19960-1
- Ormerod, David. Smith and Hogan Criminal Law, LexisNexis: London. (2005) ISBN 0-406-97730-5
- Smith, J. C. Law of Theft, LexisNexis: London. (1997) ISBN 0-406-89545-7
Dictionary
blackmail
-noun
- (archaic): A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
- Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
- (English Law): Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to white rent", which paid in silver. To levy blackmail, to extort money by threats, as of injury to one's reputation.
-verb
- (transitive): To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
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