| a. | 1. | |
| 1. | Open to view; public; apparent; manifest. Opposite of | |
| 2. | (Law) Not covert; open; public; manifest; |
| Adj. | 1. | overt - open and observable; not secret or hidden; "an overt lie"; "overt hostility"; "overt intelligence gathering" Synonyms: open Antonyms: covert - secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; "covert actions by the CIA"; "covert funding for the rebels" |
OVERT. Open. An overt act in treason is proof of the intention of the
traitor, because it opens his designs; without an overt act treason cannot
be committed. 2 Chit: Cr. Law, 40. An overt act then, is one which manifests
the intention of the traitor, to commit treason. Archb. Cr. Pl. 379 4 Bl.
Com. 79.
2. The mere contemplation or intention to commit a crime; although a
sin in the sight of heaven, is not an act amenable to human laws. The were
speculative wantonness of a licentious imagination, however dangerous, or
even sanguinary in its object, can in no case amount to a crime. But the
moment that any overt act is manifest, the offender becomes amenable to the
laws. Vide Attempt; Conspiracy, and Cro. Car. 577.
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