A wrong (from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

– 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or

immoral Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to g ...

. Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

of a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and/or

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

. They can be divided into civil wrongs and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

s (or ''criminal offenses'') in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

countries, while civil law countries tend to have some additional categories, such as contraventions. Moral wrong is an underlying concept for legal wrong. Some moral wrongs are punishable by law, for example,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

or murder. Other moral wrongs have nothing to do with law, but are related to unethical behaviours. On the other hand, some legal wrongs, such as many types of parking offences, could hardly be classified as moral wrongs.

Legal wrong

A violation of law is any act (or, less commonly, failure to act) that fails to abide by existing

. Violations generally include both

s and civil wrongs. Some acts, such as fraud, can violate both civil and criminal laws. In law, a wrong can be a legal injury, which is any damage resulting from a violation of a

legal right Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...

. A legal wrong can also imply the state of being contrary to the principles of justice or law. It means that something is contrary to conscience or morality and results in treating others unjustly. If the loss caused by a wrong is minor enough, there is no compensation, which principle is known as '' de minimis non curat lex''. Otherwise, damages apply. The law of England recognised the concept of a "wrong" before it recognised the distinction between civil wrongs (governed by civil law) and

s (defined by criminal law), which distinction was developed during the thirteenth century. Civil law violations usually lead to

civil penalties A civil penalty or civil fine is a financial penalty imposed by a government agency as restitution for wrongdoing. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees. The civil fine is not considered ...

like fines, criminal offenses to more severe punishments. The severity of the punishment should reflect the severity of the violation ( retributive justice). In realistic situations and for minor violations, however,

altruistic punishment Third-party punishment, or altruistic punishment, is punishment of a transgressor (first party) which is administered, not by a victim of the transgression (second party), but rather by a third party not directly affected by the transgression. It ha ...

was shown not 'to fit the crime'. This subdivision is similar to the distinction between misdemeanours, and

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. Other examples of violations of law include: * Infraction, in United States law, minor or petty offenses that do not require

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...

. In common usage, "violations" are treated as synonymous with infraction. * Willful violation, in U.S. law an act with intentional disregard for a regulation, statute and policy * Infringement, various violations of laws or rights, usually used in the context of intellectual property ** e.g.

copyright violation Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

* Breach of contract * Probation violation * against

traffic rules Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

Moving violation A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include violations involving ...

, any violation of law committed by a driver while the vehicle is in motion ** Parking violation, parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or an unauthorized manner

References

Bibliography

*Willis, Hugh. ''Principles of the Law of Damages''. The Keefe-Davidson Co.: St. Paul, 1910.

External links

{{Set index article Criminal law Concepts in ethics Civil law (common law) Legal doctrines and principles

Legal wrong

See also

References

Bibliography

External links