Malice (law)

Common card · No. 332203

Malice is a legal term that refers to a party's intention to do injury to another party. Malice is either expressed or implied. For example, malice is expressed when there is a manifested and deliberate intention to unlawfully take away the life of a human being. Malice is implied when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart. Malice, in a legal sense, may be inferred from the evidence and imputed to the defendant, depending on the nature of the case. In many kinds of cases, malice must be found to exist in order to convict. (For example, malice is an element of the crime of arson in many jurisdictions.) In civil law cases, a finding of malice allows for the award of greater damages, or for punitive damages. The legal concept of malice is most common in Anglo-American law, and in other legal systems derived from the English common law system. In English civil law (being the law of England and Wales), relevant...

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