Malum in se offenses are wrong by their nature, while malum prohibitum offenses are wrong because a statute forbids them. The distinction affects negligence per se application and certain defenses.
Regulatory violations are typically malum prohibitum.
Alternative Names:
Wrong in Itself|Inherently Wrong
Why it Matters?
The distinction affects negligence per se, since courts more readily adopt a statutory standard as the duty of care where the conduct is inherently wrongful than where the statute addresses a regulatory technicality. Licensing and permitting violations are typically malum prohibitum and support negligence per se less reliably. Arguing that a violated statute was regulatory rather than safety-directed is the response to a per se theory.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does the distinction affect negligence per se?
What is the response to a per se theory?
