From the moment human society began to take shape, a problem arose which we have not been able to get rid of so far. This is an offense. No social system could eliminate them completely. Absolutions include absolutely all guilty acts, that is, in the field of administrative, criminal law and in the field of civil law relations.
The concept
An offense is an antisocial act (inaction) that causes harm to citizens and society, for the infliction of which a certain liability is established, established by applicable law.
In addition to causing private harm, unlawful acts cause irreparable harm to society itself and disorganize the development of relations in society. It is no secret that in any country (as the economic and political situation worsens), the number of socially dangerous acts increases. And this negatively affects the appearance of positive changes in society and the state itself.
Signs
To date, it is customary to distinguish 4 signs of offenses that are interrelated, and if at least one of them is absent, then we will not talk about an antisocial act.
- Socially dangerous character. In simple terms, a certain action or inaction brings harm. At first glance, even an antisocial act may be imperceptible, but the consequences of the act may become apparent after some time. Moreover, acts may cause material or non-material damage.
- Wrongfulness. An offense is a necessary action (inaction), which leads to a violation of applicable laws, for which sanctions or punishments are provided.
- Guilty act. This means that the person committing the act must be aware of what he is doing, he must be responsible for the offense, regardless of whether he knows the rules of the law or not.
- Harm. Not every action or inaction is an offense. An antisocial act that caused harm, but committed when absolutely necessary or as part of self-defense, will not be regarded.
Interesting fact. In some countries (in ancient times) animals were also classified as subjects of law, that is, it was believed that they could commit crimes.
Classification
Types of offenses (table below) are divided according to the degree of their public danger into crimes and misconduct.
The signs of misconduct and crime are the same, but nevertheless, these two socially dangerous acts have significant differences. First of all, they differ in the degree of severity and the measures of responsibility that follow.
The crime
One type of offense (table below) is a crime. This concept is enshrined only in criminal law, in other industries there is no such term. For different types of crimes different responsibility is provided. Some crimes imply liability in the form of a fine, while others in the form of deprivation of responsibility and so on.
For some crimes, even juveniles from the age of 14 can be convicted, and for a number of others only from 16 years of age. The main thing that unites them is that responsibility for a crime can come only after a court decision.
Act
The next type of offense (table below) is misconduct. Its main difference from crime is a lesser degree of social danger. For such acts (inaction), less significant sanctions are provided, expressed in the form of a warning, a fine, compensation for damage or community service.
Acts are divided into three types: disciplinary, administrative and civil law.
Disciplinary
This type of offense (the table is attached) is most often found in the field of labor, military and educational relations. Responsibility measures can be fixed not only in legislative acts, but also in local, departmental ones. For example, military offenses are defined in charters. The Labor Code provides for liability for breaches between the employer and the employee.
Disciplinary liability can be expressed in the form of a warning, reprimand, fine or dismissal. Sanctions against the offender may be imposed no later than 6 months from the date of commission of the act.
Administrative
Such offenses are registered in the Code of Administrative Offenses. They are characterized by the fact that the offender’s acts are related to an encroachment on public or state property or committed against the established law and order in the country. Perhaps this is the most extensive category of antisocial acts for which liability is provided not only for the administrative code of offenses, but also for land legislation, financial, procedural and other industry regulations.
However, law enforcement and other authorized bodies have the right to apply sanctions for administrative offenses no later than two months from the date of their commission (in some cases a longer period of 1 year is provided).
In ordinary life, we most often encounter violations in the form of traffic violations, stowaways in public transport, and petty hooliganism. Enterprises are most often responsible for violating tax laws and fire safety regulations.
Civil law
Such socially dangerous acts are associated with property and non-property relations. This refers to offenses aimed at harming the property of a person or / and himself. The main provisions on civil law violations are enshrined in the Civil Code. It is this legislative act designed to protect the rights of citizens of the country.
Most often, the responsibility for the violation is the requirement to restore the violated right, compensation for harm and damage.
Conclusion
Summarizing the above information, it should be noted that the offense is an unlawful and antisocial behavior, act or omission that is committed by a capable person. It is necessary to clearly distinguish between immoral misconduct and the offense. In the first case, such an act is followed only by public censure and condemnation by society. In the second case, a number of legislative acts provide for liability for offenses. Legal liability is a measure of state coercion that applies to the guilty person who committed a certain unlawful act. Moreover, the implementation of responsibility should be carried out only within the framework of existing normative acts, through the competent authorities of the state.