What Is 'Misconduct In Public Office' Charge Against Ex-British Royal Andrew

Ex-royal Prince Andrew has been arrested from the family's estate in Sandringham on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to the Epstein Files, British media reports said Thursday afternoon.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was reportedly celebrating his 66th birthday when eight police personnel - arriving in unmarked cars, photographs shared by the BBC showed - took him into custody.

The BBC said the police also searched addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk counties.

READ | Former UK Royal Andrew Arrested Amid Probe Into Epstein Ties

Details of the allegations against Andrew have not been released yet, but they are reportedly connected to his name and photograph appearing in a tranche of redacted files and documents linked to disgraced American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Dubbed the Epstein Files, there were photographs of him on his hands and knees, and crouched over a woman whose face was redacted to maintain privacy.Two other photographs showed him touching the woman's stomach, while he looks directly into the camera in another.

Andrew has consistenly denied any wrongdoing on any matter related to the Epstein Files.

What is 'misconduct in public office'?

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, it refers to "serious wilful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of the public office held" by the individual in question.

Four factors need to be considered when applying this charge:

• a public officer, acting as such
• wilfully neglects to perform their duty and/or wilfully misconducts themselves
• to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder
• without reasonable excuse or justification

In the event of a conviction, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

Cases involving abuse of position for a sexual purpose

In cases of alleged sexual abuse, the CPS notes that "members of the public expect to be able to trust persons who hold positions of power to act professionally and not to use their position to instigate (or attempt to instigate) sexual or otherwise inappropriate relationships".

Photos of Andrew were released by the US as part of the Epstein Files.

A legal expert, Joshua Rozenberg, told Sky News the choice of charges to arrest Andrew was unusual "because it (the charge) is one created by the judges (and) laid down by the courts over many years". For this reason, he said Parliament has never set a 'maximum' punishment.

The British government is in the process of replacing the charge of 'misconduct in public office' with a new law, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, which is going through Parliament.

The British parliament's website said, the bill, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, 'imposes a duty on public authorities and public officials to act with candour, transparency and frankness' and makes it an offence for such individuals to mislead or act unethically with the public.