4.3 Mixture?

Morality and the criminal law overlap: one reason for making behaviour a crime is that it is immoral. Most serious crimes are immoral, and most highly immoral acts are also criminal. For example, murder is one of the most serious crimes and is also generally considered immoral.

However, not all immoral acts are criminal, and not all crimes are immoral. In particular, regulatory offences are often minor and may not be moral wrongs. Morality is not the only basis for deciding what should be a crime: for example, the harm principle is also important.

In the next section you will continue to think about criminal offences by considering whether all crimes have a victim.