Deliktische

Deliktische is an adjectival form derived from the German noun Delikt, meaning a legal wrong or offense. In legal and criminological language, deliktisch (and its inflected form deliktische) describes things that relate to delicts, wrongdoing, or the liability arising from such acts. It can modify nouns such as Handlungen (deliktische Handlungen), Schuld (deliktische Schuld), or Haftung (deliktische Haftung).

In criminal law, the ordinary term for a punishable act is Straftat, but Delikt remains in use in criminology and in older or more technical texts to denote a wrongful act or category of offenses. Consequently, deliktische as a descriptor may characterize actions as delictive, rather than making a statement about criminal classification alone.

In civil law, the notion of deliktische Haftung (delictual liability) or Deliktsrecht refers to liability arising from wrongful acts that infringe a protected legal interest, such as bodily integrity or property. The classic elements typically include fault (Verschulden), illegality, causation, and damage. In German law, deliktische Haftung is distinguished from contract-based liability, with statutes like §823 BGB serving as a central reference point for delictual claims in many civil-law systems.

Examples of deliktische Handlungen include bodily harm, property damage, or other unlawful interferences resulting in damages. The term is common in German-speaking jurisdictions such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, though in formal contexts criminal offenses are more often described as Straftaten, and civil liability as unerlaubte Handlungen or Deliktsrecht.