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Rout

A common law and public order criminal offence which has gone beyond an unlawful assembly in that some action has been taken towards either the crime intended or the disturbance of the peace.

In his 1897 edition of his American Law Dictionary (The Boston Book Company), John Bouvier wrote that:

"(Rout) generally agrees in all particulars with a riot, except only in this: that it may be a complete offence without the execution of the intended entreprise."

Designed to capture conduct beyond unlawful assembly but not quite a riot, the common law offence has practically never been used, one British author saying that "prosecutions for it are unknown" (Byrne in A Dictionary of English Law, London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1923 at page 786).

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Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.

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