delit

Delit, or delit (with the accent delit = délit in French), is a legal term used in several civil-law jurisdictions to denote an offense that is less serious than a crime but more serious than a mere contravention. The word comes from Latin delictum, meaning an offense or wrong. In many legal systems, offenses are organized into three broad categories: contraventions (minor offenses), délits, and crimes (serious offenses). Délits are offenses against persons or property that carry penalties such as imprisonment and fines but are not as grave as crimes.

In France and many other civil-law countries, the penal code explicitly distinguishes these categories. Délits are typically prosecuted by public authorities and tried in intermediate courts such as a tribunal correctionnel, depending on the jurisdiction. Examples of délits commonly include theft, fraud, certain assaults, and a range of violations that fall between minor infractions and serious crimes. Crimes, by contrast, are punished more severely and are usually tried by a higher court, such as a cour d’assises in France. Contraventions remain the least serious offenses and are generally punishable by fines or short penalties and handled by lower courts.

The term delit is also used in other jurisdictions with civil-law traditions, including parts of Belgium and Quebec, though local terminology and procedures may differ. In everyday language, delit is often translated as offense, illicit act, or crime, depending on the legal context and country.

Overall, delit occupies a middle ground in the legal classification of wrongdoing, reflecting a balance between severity of punishment and the procedural framework for prosecution.