Okuzeka
Criminal Law & Justice vocabulary · Elements of Crime & Liability

Criminal liability

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/ˌkrɪmɪnl ˌlaɪəˈbɪləti/nounCommon term

In criminal law & justice, criminal liability means: Legal responsibility for a crime, which means that a person can be prosecuted and punished for it.

In Turkish: ceza sorumluluğu, cezai sorumluluk

How it is used

Common in statutes and legal analysis: 'incur criminal liability', 'exempt from criminal liability', 'corporate criminal liability' (for companies). The related phrase 'age of criminal responsibility' is the age below which children cannot be prosecuted: 10 in England and Wales, 12 in Turkey.

Example sentences

  1. Directors can face criminal liability if safety rules are ignored.

  2. Children under the age of twelve have no criminal liability in Turkey.

Common collocations

  • criminal liability for
  • incur criminal liability
  • corporate criminal liability
  • age of criminal responsibility
  • mens reaA Latin term meaning 'guilty mind': the mental element of a crime, such as intention, knowledge or recklessness, which the prosecution must prove.
  • actus reusA Latin term meaning 'guilty act': the physical part of a crime, such as an action, a failure to act or a result that the law forbids.
  • self-defenceThe legal right to use reasonable force to protect yourself or another person from an attack; it can be a complete defence to a criminal charge.
  • criminalConnected with crime or with the part of the law that deals with crime; as a noun, a person who has committed a crime.

More terms: Elements of Crime & Liability

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.