Illegal Or Unlawful

[nailit]

what's the difference between illegal and unlawful?
Was talking to a friend about tv license's and he said that not having one was unlawful but not illegal.
What's the difference?
thanks

[scooping]

Unlawful is against the law, illegal is a sick bird.

[Zacs-Master]

//For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Various sources describe possible minor differences, such as that illegal acts are criminal acts, whereas unlawful acts may be contrary to some non-criminal law, like tort law or contract law; however, if you check actual usage, I doubt whether you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law"). I believe unlawful is mostly just a more formal or technical synonym. Usage may very well vary in different countries, since each country has its own legal system, even though Anglo-Saxon systems are often much alike.//
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/14436/what-is-the-difference-between-illegal-and-unlawful

[nailit]

LOL Scooping,

[hc4361]

At the moment you get a criminal record for watching tv without a tv licence so it is definitely illegal.

Illegal is against the laws of the land; unlawful is against the rules of an organisation

[nailit]

Thanks zacs, Though they be synonyms I'm sure ive heard that there is definitly a difference in UK law

[Obiter]

None whatsoever. Both words mean contrary to the law. It is a criminal offence not to have a TV Licence when owning a device capable of receiving the necessary signal

[boxtops]

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/14436/what-is-the-difference-between-illegal-and-unlawful

[Zacs-Master]

Snap Boxtops.

[nailit]

// unlawful is against the rules of an organisation//
so watching tv without a license would be unlawful then, not illegal hc?

[Zacs-Master]

Yes it would but as has been pointed out, it would also be illegal.

[jno]

cricket has laws (where other lesser sports merely have rules) so I suppose you can do something unlawful like bowling too many bouncers without it being illegal.

[hc4361]

Nailit, a law has been passed in Parliament re the tv licence. An organisation's rules are made by the organisation and not the State.

[nailit]

OK, thanks guys.
BUT.... without wanting to get in to the rights and wrongs of having, or not having, a tv license, I havnt had one for years. IF it was a criminal offence (and therefore illegal) why havnt I been prosecuted? Ive had the tv license people at my door and ive turned them away, theyve threatened me with allsorts but have never returned with a police officer to arrest me?

[factor-fiction]

You have been lucky and got away with but may get charged eventually

[Jethro77]

There is no difference.

[Retrochic]

Nailit -I was talking about this re parking fines yesterday. Can you be 'illegally' parked when in a private (not council owned) car park? I've had three such tickets which I've completely ignored and apart from letters threatening huge fines and court appearances nothing became of it.

[nailit]

They cant charge me Factor without having seen a tv device capable of picking up live tv, and they cant see that unless I let them in to my home. And they have NO right of way to my personal property. Ive Asked them before to get a warrent first and they never have BECAUSE they cant.

[Zacs-Master]

I think the TV licensing authority would be interested in this thread on a public forum. Might even be seen as proof.

[nailit]

Retrochic, this is why Im trying to find out the difference between unlawful and illegal. Despite whats been said on this thread there clearly is a difference.

[nailit]

zacs, theres loads of youtube vids where the tv licensing came a knocking only to to be sent of with tails between their legs.