Changes

A '''Criminal Offense''' is a violation of a public [[law]].  The nature of a criminal offense can be described by the jurisdiction of the lawmaking body (international, national, regional or local), and the severity associated with the violation ([[misdemeanor]] or [[felony]]).<ref>http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Criminal+offense</ref>

A '''Criminal Offense''' is a violation of a public [[law]].  The nature of a criminal offense can be described by the jurisdiction of the lawmaking body (international, national, regional or local), and the severity associated with the violation ([[misdemeanor]] or [[felony]]).<ref>http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Criminal+offense</ref>

Offenses are generally considered to be criminal in nature if they involve harm being inflicted on others.  This distinguishes criminal offenses from violations like traffic or parking tickets, where important rules of law are broken but there is not direct victim involved.

Offenses are generally considered to be criminal in nature if they involve harm being inflicted on others.  This distinguishes criminal offenses from violations like traffic or parking tickets, where important [[rule of law|rules of law]] are broken but there is not direct victim involved.

<references/>

<references/>

[[Category:Crime]]

[[Category:Crime]]