Wikipedia

Misfeasance: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(29 intermediate revisions by 22 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Short description|Types of failure to discharge public obligations under law}}
{{Tort law}}
{{Insolvency}}
The expressions '''misfeasance''' and '''nonfeasance''', and occasionally '''malfeasance''', are used in [[English law]] with reference to the discharge of public [[obligations]] existing by [[common law]], custom or statute.▼
 
▲The expressions '''misfeasanceMisfeasance''' and, '''nonfeasance''', and occasionally '''malfeasance''', are usedtypes inof [[English law]] with referencefailure to the discharge of public [[obligations]] existing by [[common law]], [[custom (law)|custom]], or [[statute]].
 
The [[Carta de Logu]] caused [[Eleanor of Arborea]] to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the crime of misfeasance.<ref name="4Lalli2014">{{cite book|author=Virginia Lalli|title=Women in Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpX8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|date=February 2014|publisher=Author House|isbn=978-1-4918-6454-8|pages=18–}}</ref>
 
==Definition and relevant rules of law==
When a contract creates a duty that does not exist at common law, there are three things the parties can do wrong:
* '''Nonfeasance''' is the failure to act where action is required - [[willfullyrequired—willfully or in neglect. Nonfeasance is similar to [[omission (law)|omission]].
* '''Misfeasance''' is the willful inappropriate action or intentional incorrect action or advice.
* '''Malfeasance''' is the willful and intentional action that injures a party.
 
'''Example:'''For Aexample, if a company hires a catering company to provide drinks and food for a retirement party., Ifand the catering company doesn'tfails to show up, it's is considered '''nonfeasance'''. If the catering company shows up but provides only providesthe drinks (andbut not the food, which was also paid for), it's is considered '''misfeasance'''. If the catering company accepts a bribe from itsthe client's competitor to undercook the meat, thereby giving those present [[food poisoning]], it's is considered '''malfeasance'''.
 
The rule of law laid down is that an action in contract (''[[ex contractu]]'') will lie for any of the three. However, an action in tort (''[[ex delicto]]''), will lie only in misfeasance or malfeasance. The doctrine was formerly applied to certain callings carried on publicly.<ref>''R. v. Kilderby'', 1669, 1 Will. Saund. 311, 312 c</ref>
 
At presentCurrently, the terms misfeasance and nonfeasance are most often used with reference to the conduct of municipal authorities with reference to the discharge of their statutory obligations; and it is an established rule that an action lies in favour of persons injured by misfeasance, i.e. by [[negligence]] in discharge of the duty; but that in the case of nonfeasance the remedy is not by action but by indictment or ''[[mandamus]]'' or by the particular procedure prescribed by the statutes.
 
This rule is fully established in the case of failure to repair public highways;, but in other cases, the courts are astute to find evidence of carelessness in the discharge of public duties and on that basis to award damages to individuals who have suffered thereby.
 
Misfeasance is also used with reference to the conduct of directors and officers of [[joint-stock companies]]. The word malfeasance is sometimes used as equivalent to [[Medicalmedical malpractice|malpractice]] by a medical practitioner.
 
Misfeasance in the context of directors who run companies can be deployed to refer to actions that fall below the standard expected and which may be prescribed in legislative provisions.<ref name=Green>{{cite web|last1=Green|first1=Elliot|title=Misfeasance, Breach of Duty And Breach of Trust (Ch)|url=https://www.oliverelliot.co.uk/recover-a-debt-insolvency/insolvency-litigation/misfeasance-breach-of-duty-breach-of-trust/|access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Connivance]]
* [[Misfeasance in public office]]▼
* [[Malfeasance in office]]
▲* [[Misfeasance in public office]]
* [[Sabotage]]
* [[Political corruption]]
* [[ConnivanceSabotage]]
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
{{1911EB1911|wstitle=Nonfeasance}}
 
[[Category:Legal termsterminology]]
[[Category:Tort law]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfeasance"