Felony

The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. It is principally used in criminal law in the United States legal system.

The distinction between a felony and misdemeanor has been abolished by most common law jurisdictions (e.g. Crimes Act 1958 (Vic., Australia) s. 332B(1), Crimes Act 1900 (NSW., Australia) s. 580E(1)); less reformed jurisdictions, notably those of the United States, maintain the distinction. Those jurisdictions which have abolished the distinction generally adopt some other classification, e.g. in Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences.