An act is considered illegal when it goes against the law. In other words, the legal system of a country establishes a system of norms that allow ordering and regulating human behavior and when there is a transgression of the norms, an illegal act is committed. Thus, in the sphere of law, unlawful acts may be related to criminal law or civil law. In this sense, whoever commits an illegal act is considered responsible for a criminal action.
Keep in mind that the term illicit comes from the Latin word illicitus, which means that something is not allowed by law.
The civil offense
When a civil norm is transgressed, it is spoken of a civil offense. In general, the civil offense refers to the breach of some duty and, therefore, we are talking about a type of infraction. Thus, if a person breaches the agreements of a contract, they will be forced to face some type of sanction or to pay compensation for the damages caused. Another example of a civil unlawful act would be that case in which a member of a couple does not fulfill their conjugal duties.
Illicit enrichment, an example of criminal illicit
One of the crimes that appears most frequently in the media is illicit enrichment. Illicit enrichment is understood to be the unjustified increase in assets by an official, a political authority or a position of trust in the state administration. If an individual linked to some power of the state is significantly enriched and said enrichment is related to his position, he will be committing a crime of illicit enrichment.
Illegal acts and immoral acts
An act is illegal if it is against the law and an act is immoral if it is against moral values. Law and morals may be related, and illicit behavior is often considered equally immoral. However, the law cannot assess immoral acts that are not included in a legal code, so certain behaviors outside of morality can be totally legal. Therefore, we must not think that what is lawful is equivalent to morality and that what is illegal implies immorality.
Morality has a subjective dimension and is related to social values, while the law has an objective character and, consequently, an act will become illegal if it fits with what a legal norm expresses.
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