A wrong or wrength (from
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
– 'crooked')
is an act that is illegal or
immoral.
Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the
law of a
state or
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
. They can be divided into
civil wrongs and
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
s (or ''criminal offenses'') in
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
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 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
law. Violations generally include both
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
s and
civil wrongs. Some acts, such as
fraud
In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
, can violate 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. A legal wrong can also imply 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 crimes (defined by
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
), which distinction was developed during the thirteenth century.
Civil law violations usually lead to
civil penalties 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 was shown not 'to fit the crime'.
This subdivision is similar to the distinction between
misdemeanours, and
felonies.
Other examples of violations of the law include:
*
Infraction, in United States law, minor or
petty offenses that do not require
jury trial. In common usage, "violations" are treated as synonymous with infractions
*
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
*
Breach of contract
*
Probation violation
* against
traffic rules
**
Moving violation, 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
See also
*
Business ethics
*
Error
An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement.
In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...
*
Evil
Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others.
Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...
*
Goodness and value theory
*
Guilt (law)
*
Illegalism
*
Justice
In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
*
Moral rights
Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions.
The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work p ...
*
Natural and legal rights
*
Rights
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
*
Right to an effective remedy
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