2 April 1804

Evidence

Forthcomingness

Ch.4. Misprision

extent conceivable

Ch. 4. Means continued - Obligation, of informing without previous summons.

§.4. Compulsion by pre-established obligation: viz: obligation of furnishing evidence spontaneously, i.e. without summons to that effect.

§.1. Conceivable extent of the obligation.

One way of obtaining discovery of evidence, is by means of a pre-established law of general obligation, obliging persons in general, or persons of particular descriptions, to give information, to take the local Judge /Judge ad hoc/, or other official person appointed for the purpose, of matters of fact of the description in question - capable of serving as evidence in the species of cause in question, and this without waiting for any address general or special, specifying the particular purpose - i.e. the particular /individual/ cause or suit for which such information is required.

A law or obligation of this sort /By a law to this effect/ a class of negative offences would be created, the ramifications of which would be capable of being extended over every division of the substantive law non-penal branch as well as penal included.

It is in its application to the penal branch that the nature of such an obligation will be most readily and clearly apprehended.

In a former work mention has been made of the class of offences termed negative offences: a class so /capable of/ compleatly pervading the whole system of penal law, that for every different species of positive offence, a correspondent species of negative offence might be incurred: the positive offence consisting as the production of the sort of mischief in question; the negative in the seeing it about to take place, without using any endeavours to prevent it. A negative offence of this class might be termed one species of Non-prevention.

Parallel to and co-extensive with that division of negative offences, may be added the other division here in question. An offence belonging to this division consists in the not giving /forbearing to give/ information of or concerning all /any/ offence belonging to the list of positive offences. It may be termed an offence of Non-delation. But in like manner a basis for a correspondent modification of the offence of non-delation may be afforded by each [...?] of the negative offence of non-prevention.