A wrong or wrength (from Old English wrang – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral.Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state or jurisdiction. They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes (or criminal offenses) in common law 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 crimes and civil wrongs. Some acts, such as fraud, 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), 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
- Evil
- Goodness and value theory
- Guilt (law)
- Illegalism
- Justice
- Moral rights
- Natural and legal rights
- Rights
References
- "crime". Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009.
- Elizabeth A. Martin (2003). Oxford Dictionary of Law (7 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198607563.
- Krystallis, Ilias; Locatelli, Giorgio (2022-09-01). "Normalizing White-Collar Wrongdoing in Professional Service Firms". Journal of Management in Engineering. 38 (5): 04022049. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0001079. hdl:11311/1228318. ISSN 1943-5479. S2CID 250326876.
- O. Hood Phillips, A First Book of English Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 4th ed., 1960, pp. 207, 208, 213
- "Violation of the Law and Punishment | Ísland.is".
- Balafoutas, Loukas; Nikiforakis, Nikos; Rockenbach, Bettina (2016-11-01). "Altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of norm violations in the field". Nature Communications. 7: 13327. Bibcode:2016NatCo...713327B. doi:10.1038/ncomms13327. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 5097122. PMID 27802261.
- "Crime - Classification of crimes". 17 August 2024.
Bibliography
- Willis, Hugh. Principles of the Law of Damages. The Keefe-Davidson Co.: St. Paul, 1910.
External links
If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
A wrong or wrength from Old English wrang crooked is an act that is illegal or immoral Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state or jurisdiction They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes or criminal offenses in common law 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 wrongA violation of law is any act or less commonly failure to act that fails to abide by existing law Violations generally include both crimes and civil wrongs Some acts such as fraud 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 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 mannerSee alsoWikiquote has quotations related to Wrongs Business ethics Error Evil Goodness and value theory Guilt law Illegalism Justice Moral rights Natural and legal rights RightsReferences crime Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD ROM Oxford Oxford University Press 2009 Elizabeth A Martin 2003 Oxford Dictionary of Law 7 ed Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0198607563 Krystallis Ilias Locatelli Giorgio 2022 09 01 Normalizing White Collar Wrongdoing in Professional Service Firms Journal of Management in Engineering 38 5 04022049 doi 10 1061 ASCE ME 1943 5479 0001079 hdl 11311 1228318 ISSN 1943 5479 S2CID 250326876 O Hood Phillips A First Book of English Law Sweet and Maxwell 4th ed 1960 pp 207 208 213 Violation of the Law and Punishment Island is Balafoutas Loukas Nikiforakis Nikos Rockenbach Bettina 2016 11 01 Altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of norm violations in the field Nature Communications 7 13327 Bibcode 2016NatCo 713327B doi 10 1038 ncomms13327 ISSN 2041 1723 PMC 5097122 PMID 27802261 Crime Classification of crimes 17 August 2024 BibliographyWillis Hugh Principles of the Law of Damages The Keefe Davidson Co St Paul 1910 External linksLook up wrongdoing in Wiktionary the free dictionary Look up violation in Wiktionary the free dictionary This set index article includes a list of related items that share the same name or similar names If an internal link incorrectly led you here you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article
