Duplicity (law)
Encyclopedia
Duplicity is a legal term used to describe the error committed when the charge (known as a count) on an indictment
describes two different offences. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the jury) can know precisely what offences he is accused of. If a count is poorly drafted so that it alleges two offences, it is said to be duplicitous. A duplicitous count is defective and must be quashed by the judge, unless the judge permits the count to be amended so that it only alleges one offence, or is split into two counts. If a duplicitous count is not noticed until after the defendant has been convicted on it, the verdict may well be void.
This is a completely different situation from when two different counts each allege the same offence, which is sometimes wrongly referred to as duplicity. This may be due to confusing the word duplicity with duplicate.
A number of WorkCover
prosecutions in South Australia have been found to be duplicitous and offer substantial insight into the issue in some of the case law which has evolved on the subject. Such a case is Walsh v Tattersall.
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
describes two different offences. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the jury) can know precisely what offences he is accused of. If a count is poorly drafted so that it alleges two offences, it is said to be duplicitous. A duplicitous count is defective and must be quashed by the judge, unless the judge permits the count to be amended so that it only alleges one offence, or is split into two counts. If a duplicitous count is not noticed until after the defendant has been convicted on it, the verdict may well be void.
This is a completely different situation from when two different counts each allege the same offence, which is sometimes wrongly referred to as duplicity. This may be due to confusing the word duplicity with duplicate.
Australia
One of the best known judgments in Australia relating to duplicity is Johnson v Miller which is still referred to as a sound principle of law.A number of WorkCover
WorkCover
WorkCover can refer to:*Workers' compensation*NT WorkSafe, a workers' compensation agency in Northern Territory, Australia*ORS WorkCover, a unit of the Office of Regulatory Services, Department of Justice and Community Safety of the Australian Capital Territory*WorkCover Authority of New South...
prosecutions in South Australia have been found to be duplicitous and offer substantial insight into the issue in some of the case law which has evolved on the subject. Such a case is Walsh v Tattersall.