malum prohibitum

malum prohibitum

(mal-uhm prohibit-uhm) adj. Latin meaning "wrong due to being prohibited," which refers to crimes made so by statute, compared to crimes based on English Common Law and obvious violations of society's standards which are defined as "malum in se." Statutory crimes include criminal violations of regulatory acts, "white collar crimes" such as improper use of insider information, issuance of stocks without a permit which are intentionally not supported by real assets, and tax avoidance. (See: malum in se, white collar crime)