Also known as: not in accordance with the law · illegal · unlawful · contrary to law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Conduct or a state that violates applicable legal rules or statutes. The phrase identifies actions or purposes that breach statutory commands, common-law prohibitions, or public policy limits, rendering them subject to legal nullification or sanction.
Norman Nash drove his car at high speed through a residential neighborhood while intoxicated. When he struck and killed a pedestrian, prosecutors charged him with involuntary manslaughter on the ground that the death resulted from commission of an unlawful act. The court accepted the theory because the speeding and drunk driving supplied the required unlawful predicate.
Nexus Financial refused to extend a mortgage to Nia Nkosi solely because of her national origin. The lender's stated policy excluded applicants from certain countries. A court held the refusal violated federal law because the denial occurred in a residential real-estate transaction on a prohibited basis.
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Neville Norton created a trust whose sole purpose was to fund the operation of an illegal gambling enterprise. After the underlying activity was criminalized, the trustee petitioned for termination. The court ended the trust because its purpose had become unlawful.
Nicole Navarro and Neptune Energy signed a supply agreement containing two conflicting price clauses. One reading would have required the buyer to pay an amount that violated price-control regulations. The court adopted the alternative reading that kept both clauses effective and lawful.
The board of Nexus Technologies authorized repeated distributions that violated the solvency test in the state corporation statute. A shareholder sued for dissolution. The court found the directors had acted in an illegal manner and ordered the company dissolved.
Nadia Novak used physical force to bar her former tenant from re-entering leased premises after the lease had expired. She claimed she believed the tenant's attempted re-entry was unlawful. The court held the use of force unjustified because the tenant was the party actually dispossessed.
The phrase denotes conduct that violates a positive legal prohibition or public policy, not merely a private contractual duty. A breach of contract may be remedied by damages, but conduct that is not in accordance with law can trigger criminal liability, nullification of agreements, or dissolution of entities.
No. The phrase describes objective nonconformity with law. In involuntary manslaughter the unlawful act itself supplies the predicate even without separate proof of malice, while in contract interpretation the unlawful meaning is simply disfavored regardless of the parties' intent.
A purpose becomes unlawful when a later statute or public-policy rule renders it illegal, impracticable, or contrary to public welfare. A trust created for lawful ends terminates once its objective is later prohibited, and a corporate distribution that was legal when authorized may later violate solvency statutes.
…by the Constitution consists, in one of its essential dimensions, of the right of the individual not to be injured by the unlawful exercise of governmental power.” Id. , at (slip op., at 15). Thus, when the rights of persons are violated, “the Constitution requires redress by the courts,” notwithstanding the more…