An offense is the actions of a competent person with the will and consciousness that contradict established legal standards and harm society as a whole. Such acts entail a certain liability regulated by laws. The following signs of an offense exist.
Violation of established legal norms may be an action or, conversely, inaction. An event cannot be attributed to this category, because it does not depend on human activity and is not subject to volitional control. For example, epidemics, fires, floods and earthquakes are not offenses.
A person’s actions are contrary to the law if they do not comply with the established norms of the scale of behavior. Inaction entails liability when legal provisions exist that prescribe certain mandatory actions in specific situations. Signs of an offense suggest that a person committed an act that was expressed in the outside world. That is, a violation of legal norms cannot be considered feelings, internal images and thoughts of a person that were not realized in the material world.
Signs of an offense imply acts that are contrary to objective laws. There is also a subjective side. Objective legal norms are applicable only to cases of conscious acts. They do not apply to persons who are legally incompetent. In addition, in civilized developed countries, actions about which nothing is said in the law, a priori, cannot be unlawful.
One of the signs under consideration is the fact of harm and public danger - a set of negative phenomena, the cause of which was the offense. For example, it can be a violation of the existing order, the destruction of goods, trampling on individual freedoms, disorganization, and much more. The harm can be both moral and material.
The following signs of an offense are subjective. That is, such a moment of action as guilt is taken into account. A person can commit an act contrary to legal norms, intentionally. That is, a person foresees that his actions will entail harm. Also, a person can commit an offense by negligence. That is, the person does not realize that his actions will be followed by negative consequences.
The offense involves the presence of a causal relationship. That is, it must be proved that there is a connection between the actions of the person and the onset of negative phenomena.
Consider the concept and signs of an administrative offense. The definition of this phenomenon, which is still relevant, was given in 1980. Administrative violation - these are actions that contradict established legal norms, but at the same time do not belong to the category of crimes. The main features of the considered illegal acts are similar to those that were discussed above. However, this industry also has additional features. In particular, these are:
- the time and place of the administrative unlawful act. This symptom is paramount and mandatory;
- public danger. That is, it is understood that the act entails a violation of the existing order, violation of the freedoms and interests of other people.
Otherwise, the signs of an administrative offense are similar to those of other similar industries. This is not surprising, because legal norms are based on uniform logical laws. Signs of offenses allow you to determine whether this or that act can be considered contrary to current law.