Complicity

The fact or condition of being involved as a partner or accomplice in wrongdoing; the sharing in or facilitation of another's illegal or immoral act. In law, complicity doctrine holds that an accessory who assists, encourages, or enables a principal offender bears criminal liability. In administrative ethics, an officer who signs off on a fraudulent file knowing it to be false becomes complicit in the fraud, even without committing the primary act. The Nuremberg Tribunal (1945–46) established that following orders does not negate complicity in crimes against humanity — a principle relevant to civil services ethics.