advoca
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 422
Location: Beijing
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 Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| What is the difference between a crime and an offense? |
Hi, wojtek1,
That is a very interesting question. Let�s see how it can be answered.
Most countries have laws. These lay down certain things that you must not do (like steal, commit murder, drive your car recklessly, have more than one wife, and so on) and certain things that you must do (like pay taxes, wear a seat belt, and so on). If you do not obey the law you commit a crime and you are liable to punishment. If you commit an infraction of the law, or in other words you commit a crime, then this is an offense. So you can see that there is not a great deal of difference between a crime and an offense. However, it is usual to call your offense a crime if it is a serious breach of the law.
Certain offenses against the law are considered less serious than others. For example to break the law by not wearing your seat belt is considered less serious than committing murder. For very serious offenses, for gross violations, the action is usually considered to be a felony (however, this is mostly in America). A felony is a grave offense. But there are also violations of the law, infractions of the law, and infringements of the law (an infringement is a crime less serious than a felony). And you can commit misdemeanors (also a crime less serious than a felony).
So what all this boils down to is felonies, crimes, offences, misdemeanors, infringements, infractions, are defined by statutes and laws and the definitions vary from place to place. (There are no felonies in Britain, for example.) In other words, all these acts of breaking the law are legally defined locally.
You may take it that for all practical purposes there is no difference between a crime and an offence. A crime is an offence. |
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