1277;J. ONIBANIYI & ANOR VS THE STATE (1972) SUIT NO: SC.235/1971 8-9 SC PAGE 97 PER
UDO UDOMA JSC.
In Australian Jurisprudence, the words, “honesty” and “dishonesty” as discussed in the case of R VS
SALVO (1980) VR PAGE 40 AT PAGE 407, are used in ordinary parlance to connote respectively,
“non-compliance with or disregard of the dictates of the Moral Virtue of Justice, which acknowledges
and gives effect to the rights of others to, or in respect of material things, or of the relationship of one
Person to another, e.g. Master and Pupil, Vendor and Purchaser, Employer and Employee, etc. The
Terms may in certain contexts connote respect for or the disregard of the Moral Virtue of Truth. The
word “dishonestly” implies reference to a Standard of Morality underlying the Law: they derive not
from the Law but from the Standard of Ethics accepted by the Community. The Law sets Standards of
Legality and Illegality but cannot set and never has purported to set Standards of Morality.”
The Court of Appeal in England in the case of R VS GHOSH (1982) 2 ALL ER PAGE 689 AT PAGE 696
at RATIO 154, held that Dishonesty is an element of Mens Rea, clearly referring to a State of Mind, and
that overall, the test that must be applied is hybrid, but with a Subjective Bias which "looks into the
mind" of the Person concerned and establishes what he was thinking. The Test was Two-Stage,
namely:
a) "Where the Person's actions honest according to the Standards of Reasonable and Honest
People?" If a Jury decides that they were, then the Defendant's claim to be honest will be
credible. But, if the Courtdecides that the Actions were Dishonest, the further question is: b) "Did the Person concerned believe that what he did was Dishonest at the time?"
The QueenslandCourt of Appeal in Australia in the Case of R VS DILLON; EX PARTE ATTORNEY
GENERAL (QLD) (2015) QCA PAGE 155 OR (2016) 1 Qd R 56 (14/194), departed from the Dictum
in R VS GHOSH (CITED SUPRA), when it held inter alia that, “…Queensland Courts must now
construe the Term “Dishonestly” as requiring the Prosecution to prove only that what the Accused
Person did was dishonest by the Standards of Ordinary Honest People, and to secure a Conviction, the
Prosecution need not prove that the Accused Person must have realized that what he or she was
doing, was Dishonest by the Standards of Ordinary Honest People.”
The Decision in R VS GHOSH (CITED SUPRA) was also criticized in 2017, and overruled by the
United Kingdom’s Supreme Court in the case of IVEY VS GENTING CASINOS (UK) LTD TRADING
AS, CROCKFORDS [2017] UKSC 67DELIVERED ON THE 25TH OCTOBER 2017, where the Supreme
Court concluded that the Correct Approach is to:
a) Determine what the Defendant actually knew of or believed as to the Facts. Whether the
Defendant’s beliefs were reasonable, are not a Separate Issue – but goes to whether the beliefs
were genuinely held;
b) Decide whether the Defendant’s Conduct is dishonest by the Standards of Ordinary,
Reasonable and Honest People;
c) There is no further Requirement that the Defendant Knew or Appreciated that he or she acted
Dishonestly.
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