Delict

In civil law, a delict is an intentional or negligent act which gives rise to a legal obligation between parties even though there has been no contract between them. Due to the large number of civil law systems in the world, it is hard to state any generalities about the concept. Moreover in some civil law countries (e.g.: Italy, Spain) delicts are most serious crimes, similar to felonies in common law countries, whereas in other states (e.g.: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark), they are crimes of intermediate seriousness (less serious than those termed crimes).