Words / T / Law

transferred malice

noun/trænsˈfɜːd ˈmælɪs/

C2CEFR level
88/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

The doctrine treating intent aimed at one victim as satisfying the mental element for harm actually done to another.

Under transferred malice, aiming at his rival but killing a bystander still founds a murder conviction.

Similar: transferred intent

Topic: Criminal law in Legal English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More law words: Criminal law