Malum Prohibitum and Malum in se are not just made up concepts, they are established legal terms, their meaning is well understood in the legal profession. Of course there is differences of opinions as to which category a law might fall under. Most should be obvious under the 'reasonable person" standard.
Yeah, thanks for that lawyerly "explanation" - you obviously missed the point I was trying to make. I wasn't implying that the terms you referred to were "made up" concepts. I know that these terms aren't something you just made up on the spot. My point was that, while Latin terms of law may sound impressive, they are meaningless to most people outside the legal profession. Know your audience. There aren't that many lawyers here.
Sure, I was able to figure out what you were trying to say in your original post, no problem.
But a lot of people might not be willing or able to invest the time and effort to translate those Latin phrases into English in order to really understand the point you were trying so hard to make.
So, while your point was clear and obvious to your fellow lawyers and legal professionals, what did your use of Latin do for communicating your point to the masses?
Did it persuade anyone? Did it CLEARLY communicate the idea you were trying to get across, in a way that most people would understand (without using Google Translate)?
Nope.
So what did it accomplish? Showing us your command of Latin? Or demonstrating your legal prowess? Making you look smarter than the rest of us?
I can't help but think about another recent thread about engineers and "geekspeak". If what you have to say is total gibberish to the average person, what are your eloquent (Latin words) worth? Not much IMO.
No disrespect intended. I'm just trying to help you broaden your perspective to include those of us outside of the circle of legal scholars and lawyers.
If you speak in lawyer-ese, most people won't get your point.
That's my point. I hope that makes sense?
