disclosure
an honest interaction needs the factual account, not a selected account made to look complete;
the principle
Ye shall not steale, neither deale falsely, neither lie one to another.
for a man to have meaningful communication with another man, he should disclose plainly and in time, every fact relevant to that communication which he knows;
he should not use a half-truth, concealed fact, falsehood, stale record, buried term, or delayed correction to make something incomplete appear to be complete, or anything which omitted might be misleading;
full disclosure is all the facts needed for a true communication; it is not every fact, just those that are clearly relevant;
the principle above is a synthesis drawn on this page;
there is no universal statutory duty to volunteer everything known; privacy, confidence, privilege, safety, and another legal duty may limit what may be disclosed; but that is a legal duty, and applies, if it were possible, to legal persons; a legal allegation must identify the particular duty, the particular fact, the state of knowledge, and the purpose of the omission;
where a relevant fact cannot properly be disclosed, the honest course may be to state plainly that the fact is withheld for what ever reason that may be;
H B Clark Biblical Law
H B Clark arranged biblical and other historical sources as a legal treatise; his classifications are Clark's work and are not themselves words written in scripture or statements of present english law;
Biblical Law, second edition, 1944; searchable copy checked; scan record;
Clark's strongest disclosure sources
truth in civil dealing
in section 127, Clark writes that the civil law of the bible rests upon do justly
and speak the truth
; he then connects the duty of one man to the corresponding receipt of truth by his neighbour;
Biblical Law, second edition, section 127; Clark cites micah 6:8, zechariah 8:16, and ephesians 4:25;
bible text cited by Clark
micah 6:8
Hee hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to doe iustly, and to loue mercy, and to walke humbly with thy God?
zechariah 8:16
These are the things that yee shall doe; Speake yee euery man the truth to his neighbour: execute the iudgement of trueth and peace in your gates,
ephesians 4:25
Wherefore putting away lying, speake euery man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
contracts, hidden dishonesty, and the limit
in sections 152 and 153, Clark applies doing justly and speaking truth to a man entering a contract or otherwise dealing with another man; he writes of renouncing the hidden things of dishonesty
, and treats deceitful dealing that misleads or takes advantage as fraud;
Clark expressly writes that one need not ordinarily speak at all and that, if he speaks, he is required to speak truth; the further relevant-fact application written here is an inference: a man should not conceal a fact so that the account he presents becomes false or deceitful;
Biblical Law, sections 152–153; Clark cites 2 corinthians 4:1–2, proverbs 21:6, leviticus 19:13, and 1 thessalonians 4:6 among other passages;
bible text cited by Clark
2 corinthians 4:1–2
Therefore, seeing we haue this ministerie, as we haue receiued mercie wee faint not:
But haue renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftines, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the trueth, commending our selues to euery mans conscience, in the sight of God.
proverbs 21:6
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue, is a vanitie tossed to and fro of them that seeke death.
leviticus 19:13
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired, shall not abide with thee all night, vntill the morning.
1 thessalonians 4:6
That no man goe beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the auenger of all such; as we also haue forewarned you, and testified:
partial disclosure joined to a lie
in section 163, Clark uses the account of ananias and sapphira and writes that deceit or hypocrisy is not accepted even in making gifts; in acts 5, ananias kept back part of the price with sapphira privy to it, and sapphira later affirmed that amount as the sale price; in verse 4 it is written to ananias that, while the land remained, it was his own and that, after the sale, the price was in his power;
Biblical Law, section 163; acts 5:1–10;
bible text cited by Clark
acts 5:2, 5:4, and 5:8–9
And kept backe part of the price, his wife also being priuy to it, and brought a certaine part, and layd it at the Apostles feete.
Whiles it remained, was it not thine owne? and after it was sold, was it not in thine owne power? why hast thou conceiued this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied vnto men, but vnto God.
And Peter answered vnto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. And she saide, Yea, for so much.
Then Peter saide vnto her, How is it that ye haue agreed together, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feete of them which haue buried thy husband, are at the doore, and shall cary thee out.
both causes, faithful evidence, and a hearing
in sections 452 and 453, Clark writes that a party was bound to produce his cause, make his complaint, and offer his evidence, including witness testimony; before judgment, the judge should state the case of both parties
; in section 466 he connects hearing and permission to answer with judgment;
Biblical Law, sections 452–453 and 466; Clark cites proverbs 18:13, john 7:50, acts 23:35, and acts 25:16; the words Clark assigns to john 7:50 are written at john 7:51 in the 1611 facsimile;
bible text cited by Clark
proverbs 18:13
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame vnto him.
john 7:51
Doth our Law iudge any man before it heare him, & know what he doeth?
acts 23:35
I will heare thee, said hee, when thine accusers are also come. And hee commanded him to be kept in Herods iudgement hall.
acts 25:16
To whom I answered, It is not the maner of the Romanes to deliuer any man to die, before that he which is accused, haue the accusers face to face, and haue licence to answere for himselfe concerning the crime laid against him.
the same standard disclosed and used
in section 166, Clark collects the prohibitions against diverse weights, scant measure, false balance, and unrighteous measure; the practical disclosure principle is that the standard presented to another man and the standard actually used must be the same;
Biblical Law, section 166; Clark cites proverbs 11:1 and 20:10, leviticus 19:35–36, deuteronomy 25:13–15, and ezekiel 45:10–12;
bible text cited by Clark
proverbs 11:1
A false ballance is abomination to the LORD: but a iust weight is his delight.
proverbs 20:10
Diuers weights, and diuers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
leviticus 19:35–36
Ye shall doe no vnrighteousnes in iudgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
Iust ballances, iust weights, a iust Ephah, and a iust Hin shall ye haue: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
deuteronomy 25:13–15
Thou shalt not haue in thy bagge diuers weights, a great, and a small.
Thou shalt not haue in thine house diuers measures, a great, and a small.
But thou shalt haue a perfect and iust weight, a perfect and iust measure shalt thou haue: that thy dayes may bee lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giueth thee.
ezekiel 45:10–12
Ye shall haue iust ballances, and a iust Ephah, and a iust Bath.
The Ephah and the Bath shall be of one measure, that the Bath may containe the tenth part of an Homer, and the Ephah the tenth part of an Homer: the measure thereof shall be after the Homer.
And the shekell shall be twentie Gerahs: twenty shekels, fiue and twentie shekels, fifteene shekels shall be your Maneh.
source limit: no exact occurrence of full disclosure
or candour
was found in the ocr-extracted searchable Clark text checked; the full factual disclosure principle is a synthesis from his treatment of truth, concealment, misleading dealing, evidence, hearing both causes, and honest standards;
kjv 1611 source record
the passages below were located with the searchable companion and checked against the 1611 facsimile; original u/v word forms, spelling, punctuation, and capitals are retained, while the long-s letterform is transcribed as s;
truth to a neighbour
zechariah 8:16–17
These are the things that yee shall doe; Speake yee euery man the truth to his neighbour: execute the iudgement of trueth and peace in your gates. And let none of you imagine euill in your hearts against his neighbour, and loue no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
in the source words, truth between neighbours is joined with truthful judgment; every relevant fact in every interaction is not defined there;
ephesians 4:25
Wherefore putting away lying, speake euery man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
the whole account and the other side
1 samuel 3:17–18
What is the thing that the LORD hath said vnto thee? I pray thee hide it not from mee: God doe so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me, of all the things that hee said vnto thee. And Samuel tolde him euery whit, and hid nothing from him.
this is a direct narrative example of a complete answer to a particular request; it is not a command that every man disclose everything to every other man;
proverbs 18:13 and 18:17
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame vnto him.
He that is first in his owne cause, seemeth iust; but his neighbour commeth and searcheth him.
inference drawn here: hear the matter and test the first account against the other side before reaching a conclusion;
nothing profitable held back; hidden dishonesty renounced
acts 20:20 and 20:27
And how I kept backe nothing that was profitable vnto you, but haue shewed you, and haue taught you publikely, and from house to house,
For I haue not shunned to declare vnto you all the counsell of God,
paul is speaking about teaching and ministry; inference drawn here: this is a strong model of complete beneficial instruction, not a general statutory or contractual rule;
2 corinthians 4:2
But haue renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftines, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the trueth, commending our selues to euery mans conscience, in the sight of God.
the immediate subject is ministry and the handling of the word of god; the broader application to honest presentation is an inference drawn here;
a part presented as though it were the whole
acts 5:1–10
And kept backe part of the price, his wife also being priuy to it, and brought a certaine part, and layd it at the Apostles feete.
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. And she saide, Yea, for so much.
ananias kept back part of the price with sapphira privy to it, and sapphira later affirmed that amount as the sale price; in verse 4 it is written to ananias that, while the land remained, it was his own and that, after the sale, the price was in his power;
this is a narrative example of a half-truth joined to an express lie; it does not establish that retaining part of one's own property is itself deceit;
visible accountability and faithful confidence
2 corinthians 8:20–21
Auoyding this, that no man should blame vs in this abundance which is administred by vs.
Prouiding for honest things, not onely in the sight of the Lord, but in the sight of men.
the immediate subject is administration of a contribution; inference drawn here: an honest account should be arranged for examination by man kind, not merely claimed to be inwardly honest;
proverbs 11:13
A tale-bearer reuealeth secrets: but hee that is of a faithfull spirit, concealeth the matter.
an honest reading is not a demand to reveal everything to everyone; the contrast written here is between concealed dishonesty and faithful confidence;
present legal source record
in current legal sources, disclosure duties are written for defined relationships; the legal record below was checked on 6 august 2026 and is kept separate from scripture and the principle written on this page;
Fraud Act 2006: an existing duty must first be found
section 3: failure to disclose
in section 3, man kind framed the offence around a dishonest failure to disclose information which is already subject to a legal duty, together with intent to make a gain for himself or another, cause loss to another, or expose another to a risk of loss;
criminal liability under section 3 depends upon both parts; the underlying legal duty must come from elsewhere;
sections 2, 4, and 5
in section 2, man kind wrote that a representation may be express or implied and that it is false if untrue or misleading and the man making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading; criminal liability also requires dishonesty and intent to make a gain for himself or another, cause loss to another, or expose another to a risk of loss; a half-truth may therefore matter where the whole presentation is misleading;
in section 4, man kind wrote that abuse of a position concerning another's financial interests may consist of an omission; criminal liability also requires dishonesty and the stated gain-or-loss intent; in section 5, gain and loss concern money or other property;
in the official Explanatory Notes, paragraph 18, man kind recorded possible sources of the duty as statute, contract, trade custom, an utmost-good-faith transaction, or a fiduciary relationship; those notes are not part of the enacted words;
in R v D [2019] EWCA Crim 209, paragraphs 19–28, the judges found no alleged duty in statute, common law, fiduciary duty, or equity; an appeal to public policy or common sense was not enough;
sections 2, 3, and 4 extend to england, wales, and northern ireland, not scotland;
material information in consumer and insurance dealings
consumer commercial practice
in section 227 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, material information
is information needed by the average consumer to take an informed transactional decision;
in subsection 227(4), omitting information includes giving it unclearly, too late, or in a way the consumer is unlikely to see; under section 225(4)(a), the misleading omission must be likely to cause a transactional decision which the average consumer would not otherwise have taken for the commercial practice to be unfair on that ground;
comparison drawn here: this is the closest enacted formulation found here to full factual disclosure in ordinary trader–consumer dealings;
non-consumer insurance
in section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015, man kind wrote a duty of fair presentation; where a man acts as the insured, he is to disclose every material circumstance known or which ought to be known, or give enough information to put a prudent insurer on notice to inquire; the disclosure is to be reasonably clear and accessible;
consumer insurance boundary
in section 2 of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, man kind replaced the former consumer duty to volunteer material facts with a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation;
inference drawn here: a truthful answer and a universal duty to volunteer everything are not the same rule;
directors' interests
in sections 177 and 182 of the Companies Act 2006, man kind wrote that a man acting as a director must declare the nature and extent of an interest in certain proposed or existing company transactions;
classification drawn here: this is targeted conflict disclosure, not a general public duty;
fiduciary consent, criminal proceedings, and the exact phrase
fiduciary relationship: all material facts
in Hopcraft v Close Brothers [2025] UKSC 33, paragraphs 211–226, the judges wrote that negating a breach of fiduciary duty requires full disclosure of all material facts; what amounts to material facts depends upon the circumstances;
this is judge-made fiduciary law; the fiduciary relationship must first be established, and the rule is not automatically carried into ordinary arm's-length dealings;
criminal proceedings: relevant unused material
in section 3 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, man kind wrote that the man acting as prosecutor must disclose prosecution material not previously disclosed which might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the prosecution case or assisting the accused; in section 7A, man kind wrote the continuing duty;
this is a defined test for criminal proceedings, not disclosure of every item held; the statutory wording also contains limits, including an order that disclosure would not be in the public interest;
where the exact words are written
in section 1153 of the Companies Act 2006, the heading is Valuer entitled to full disclosure
and the wording concerns information and explanations required by a company valuer;
the exact phrase therefore appears in an Act, but only for a narrow statutory task; man kind did not write a general rule for all interactions there;
source synthesis
full factual disclosure is the timely and plain disclosure of the facts needed for the informed decision being sought;
a man has not given the full factual account merely because most facts were disclosed: if the fact withheld changes the apparent meaning, risk, price, interest, evidence, or available choice, the omission may control the interaction;
omission alone does not prove knowledge, deceit, fraud, or a criminal offence; the source of the duty, the fact in question, the man's knowledge, his purpose, reliance, and the result must each be established;
source copies checked
kjv 1611: image facsimile checked with a searchable companion; scan record;
legal sources: current section text and official judgments linked beside each proposition; legal record last checked 6 august 2026;