misprision of felony

Misprision of felony is the crime of deliberately concealing and failing to report knowledge of the commission of a felony. At common law, it was a misdemeanor and did not apply to close relatives of the offender or to individuals for whom disclosure would be self-incriminating. Most common law jurisdictions have since abolished or significantly restricted the offense. In the United Kingdom, misprision of felony was formally abolished in 1967 across all jurisdictions.

In the United States, there are no federal common law crimes. See United States v. Hudson & Goodwin, 11 U.S. 32 (1812). However, a statutory version of misprision of felony is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 4. Under this statute, anyone who knows that a federal felony has been committed and “conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States” is guilty of misprision. Unlike its common law counterpart, the federal offense is a felony and requires affirmative concealment; mere failure to report is not sufficient. Because of this requirement, the privilege against self-incrimination is not a valid defense.

[Last reviewed in July of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team] 

Keywords

• criminal law and procedure

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• criminal law and procedure