Malicious prosecution

Abstract

The tort of malicious prosecution include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favour of the victim of the malicious prosecution. The duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict. Prosecutorial misconduct occurs when a prosecutor breaks a law or a code of professional ethics in the course of a prosecution. Prosecutors are protected from civil liability even when they knowingly and maliciously break the law in order to secure convictions, and the doctrine of harmless error can be used by appellate courts to uphold convictions despite such illegal tactics, which some argue gives prosecutors few incentives to comply with the law.