what is a crime

What is a crime?  

There is no universally accepted definition of crime. Various scholars have attempted to define the term based on their philosophical perspectives and the societal contexts they come from. Some criminologists, such as Michael J. and Mortimer J., describe crime as "a behavior prohibited by the criminal code… the only valid definition of crime." (Crime Law and Social Science, New York, 1933, p.2). 

Another perspective, grounded in legal principles, defines crimes as "wrongs deemed by judges or prescribed by parliament as sufficiently harmful to the public to justify the use of criminal procedures to address them" (Smith, J.C. and Hogan, Criminal Law, 6th Ed.). 

Osborn, in his Concise Law Dictionary, 5th Ed., explains crime as "an act, omission, or behavior harmful to the community, for which the law holds an individual liable to punishment through fines or imprisonment in specific legal proceedings." 

In Kenny’s *Outlines of Criminal Law*, 17th Ed., p.5, three key characteristics of crime are highlighted: 

1) It is harm caused by human actions, which the state seeks to prevent.

2) One method of prevention is the imposition of punishment.

3) Special legal proceedings are required to establish guilt before punishment is imposed.