malum in se

(from Latin. translates to evil in itself) a classification for criminal acts that are fundamentally immoral - rape for example. The term, malum in se, makes an important distinction about the status or nature of the act, i.e., it is inherently evil. It helps to think of malum in se in comparison to malum prohibitum, a classification of crime which are considered wrong because they violate the law - distilling alcohol during a period prohibition for example.