''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught red-handed" and "caught rapid" are English equivalents. Aside from the legal meaning, the Latin term is often used colloquially as a euphemism for someone being caught in the midst of sexual activity.

Etymology

The phrase combines the present active participle '' flagrāns'' (flaming or blazing) with the noun '' dēlictum'' (offence, misdeed, or crime). In this term the Latin preposition ''in'', not indicating motion, takes the

ablative In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; sometimes abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. ...

. The closest literal translation would be "in blazing offence", where " blazing" is a metaphor for vigorous, highly visible action.

Worldwide

Latin America

In many Latin American countries, being caught ''in flagrante'' ( es, link=no, en flagrancia) is a common legal requirement for both detention and

search and seizure Search and seizure is a procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person's property and confisca ...

. Naturally, being caught ''in flagrante'' makes convictions easier to obtain; in some jurisdictions where the police are not adept at investigation and the use of forensic science is not widespread, it may be difficult to get a conviction any other way. On occasion, governments with such constitutional requirements have been accused of stretching the definition of ''in flagrante'' in order to carry out illegal arrests. In Brazil, a member of the National Congress cannot be arrested unless caught ''in flagrante delicto'' of a

non-bailable Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

crime, and whether or not a member's detention should continue is decided by their parliamentary peers.

Japan

In Japan, the phrase's translation, , is used to refer to

citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which ...

, and is listed under Section 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as such.

References

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