Virtually all legal systems do categorize illegal offences in two or three degrees of seriousness. We propose a distinction between two classes of offences: crimes and contraventions.

Contraventions are light offences, i.e. things we do not want people to do but also we do not deem as serious as we feel it necessary to punish them severely. Think about littering or walking your dog unleashed in urban areas. Continue reading Crimes and contraventions →