Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Dishonesty definition

What does Dishonesty mean? In legal practice, dishonesty describes conduct falling below the honest standards expected in dealings with property, money or information. It is central to criminal offences (eg theft, fraud), and to civil and regulatory claims (eg deceit, breach of fiduciary duty, professional misconduct). England & Wales and Northern Ireland: Generally not defined by statute. Case law applies the Ivey v Genting Casinos test. The tribunal of fact first determines the defendant’s actual belief as to the facts, then decides whether the conduct was dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people. There is no requirement that the defendant realised their conduct was...

Dishonesty in criminal law post-Ivey: replacing Ghosh, the objective test, jury directions and corporate crime developments

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Dishonesty

Dishonesty furnishes the Mens rea for numerous offences in statute and at Common law, yet it is not comprehensively defined by legislation. The Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968) is the key exception, offering a partial articulation of dishonesty, but only for offences within that Act (see: Theft offences—overview). In essence, dishonesty carries its plain English meaning. Whether a defendant has acted dishonestly is a question for the jury, assisted by judicial directions derived from the test in Ivey. The need to establish dishonesty arises in many, though not all, offences spanning the broad categories of financial, business, or corporate crime. For instance, it is required for the principal offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and for false accounting contrary to TA 1968, s 17. It is also a necessary element of certain offences under the Insolvency Act 1986, the Taxes Management Act 1970, the Companies Act 2006, and the Financial Services Act 2012. Dishonesty likewise forms part of particular common law offences, including conspiracy to defraud (as preserved by section 5 of the Criminal Law Act 1977). It should not be assumed that...

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Christopher Sykes

33 Chancery Lane

Christopher acts for the prosecution and defence in cases of business crime and investigations. He has been instructed by the FCA as junior and disclosure counsel in complex prosecutions. He has gained experience of investigations through his work with the Enforcement Decision Making Committee of the Bank of England and the Fraud Investigation Service of HMRC. He has been led by senior members of Chambers in defending private prosecutions for fraud and in confiscation proceedings. He has defended individuals facing allegations of civil contempt in the High Court for breach of freezing injunctions. He is panel counsel for the SFO. Alongside his business crime practice, Christopher offers extensive experience and expertise in the practice area of professional discipline and regulation. He is frequently instructed by the GDC to present the case in substantive, interim, and High Court matters. He is regularly...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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