Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Wharton rule

. Criminal law. The doctrine preventing conspiracy prosecution for a crime that necessarily involves the participation of two or more persons, such as illegal gambling. ( But if an additional person participates so as to enlarge the scope of the agreement, all the actors may be charged with conspiracy. The doctrine takes its name-from the influential criminal-law author Francis Wharton (1820-1889). - Also termed Wharton's rule; concert-of-action rule.