Compounding a felony was a common law misdemeanour in England consisting of a prosecutor or victim accepting something of value in exchange for agreeing not to prosecute, or to hamper the prosecution of, a felony. It did not extend to a victim simply accepting the return of stolen property or restitution, so long as there was no agreement to drop prosecution. The offence has since been replaced by statutory provisions in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and New South Wales, and compounding a mere misdemeanour was never a crime at common law, though an agreement not to prosecute one remains unenforceable as contrary to public policy.
Facts
Elements of OffenseA prosecutor or victim accepting anything of value under an agreement not to prosecute, or to hamper the prosecution of, a felony; accepting the return of stolen property or restitution is not compounding as long as there is no agreement not to prosecute. 1 Jurisdiction VariationThe common law offence has been replaced by statutory provision in England and Wales (concealing certain offences or giving false information), Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and New South Wales. 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Europe, found in there.
Sources
1. Compounding a felony (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph, final sentence
It is not compounding for the victim to accept an offer to return stolen property, or to make restitution, as long as there is no agreement not to prosecute.
Sentence introducing the list of jurisdictions
Compounding has been replaced by statutory provision in numerous jurisdictions that recognize common law offences:
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