In
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
, a regulatory offence or quasi-criminal offence is a class of crime in which the standard for proving
culpability has been lowered so a (
Law Latin for "guilty mind") element is not required. Such offences are used to deter potential offenders from dangerous behaviour rather than to impose
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...
for moral wrongdoing.
Absolute liability offences
An absolute liability offence is a type of
criminal
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 Can ...
offence that does not require any
fault elements (''
mens rea
In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action (or lack of action) would cause a crime to be committed. It is considered a necessary element ...
'') to be proved in order to establish guilt. The prosecution only needs to show that the accused performed the
prohibited act (''actus reus''). As such, absolute liability offences do not allow for a defense of
mistake of fact.
Due to the ease in which the offence can be proven, only select offences are of this type. In most legal systems,
absolute liability offences must be clearly labeled as such in the
criminal code or criminal
legislation.
Public welfare offences
A public welfare offence is a crime for which "a reasonable person should know
hat the proscribed activity
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
is subject to stringent public regulation and may seriously threaten the community's health or safety".
See also
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Infraction
A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence).
Canada
In Canada, summary offen ...
*''
Malum prohibitum''
*
Quasi-criminal
*
Status offense
References
Criminal law
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