Illecito

Illecito is a term used in several Romance-language legal traditions to denote an action or omission that is not permitted by law or that breaches a legal duty. It is a broad concept that can apply to civil, criminal, and administrative contexts, and it may lead to different forms of sanction or liability depending on the regime involved.

In civil law, a non-contractual wrongful act is often referred to as a fatto illecito or illecito extracontrattuale. Such acts cause damage to another person and can trigger civil liability for damages. Typical elements include unlawfulness, fault (intent or negligence), causation, and actual harm. The remedy is usually compensation to restore the injured party to the position they would have occupied absent the wrongful act.

In criminal law, an illecito can describe conduct that constitutes a crime or offense. Here the focus is on public wrongdoing and a prescribed penal sanction. Criminal liability generally requires a violation of a criminal statute, proof of the offender’s culpable mental state, and a causal link to the prohibited harm. A single act can be both an illecito civil and an illecito penale, giving rise to separate civil damages and criminal penalties.

Administrative illicits refer to violations of regulatory rules, which can result in penalties such as fines, license suspensions, or other sanctions imposed by authorities. These do not necessarily involve civil or criminal liability but are enforceable under administrative law.

Etymologically, illecito derives from a prefix meaning “not permitted” and is contrasted with licito, meaning lawful. The term emphasizes unlawfulness or contravention of duties, rather than a single formal category of wrongdoing.