Agent provocateur

What does Agent provocateur mean in American Law?

The definition of Agent provocateur in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

A French term now part of English referring to a person who infiltrates a group on behalf of its enemy, especially the then government, and causes the group to take unlawful actions which expose its members to negative sanctions, either loss of public support or criminal punishment. An underground police officer who joins a group of young political radicals and brings them to stop talking and posturing and blow up a building instead is an agent provocateur. Under some circumstances his involvement might generate a successful defense of entrapment. But the fact questions are difficult, e.g., it is not thought to amount to entrapment if the

undercover officer merely does not dissuade an illegal act, or merely takes part in carrying it out; it is almost necessary to show that no unlawful act would have taken place but for the acts of the agent provocateur.

Agent provocateur in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of agent provocateur.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Officer
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• agent provocateur in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• agent provocateur in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

English Legal System: Agent Provocateur

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Agent Provocateur : A person who actively entices, encourages, or persuades someone to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed for the purpose of securing his conviction (See entrapment). In such a case the agent provocateur will be regarded as an accomplice in any offence that the accused commits as a result of this intervention.

Agent Provocateur in the National Security Context

A definition and brief description of Agent Provocateur in relation to national security is as follows:An operative or agent who infiltrates a group or organization with the purpose of inciting its members to self-destructive acts.