Comparative law notes
a "crime" is typically understood to mean an unlawful act or omission punishable by a state or other authority. The term "crime" does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. While a crime in most common law jurisdictions traditionally requires some degree of intent (mens rea) and can therefore be viewed as narrower than the German concept of Straftat, it should be noted that some statutory crimes in the US, for example, also do not require intent or scienter (e.g., AZ DUI cases or statutory rape), much like the German Fahrlässigkeitsdelikte. Thus, it is not a stretch to align these creatures of statutory law - "Straftat" and "crime" - as functionally equivalent concepts.
