Contrary to law; unlawful. 2. It is a general rule, that the law will never give its aid to a party who has entered into an illegal contract, whether the same be in direct violation of a statute, against public policy, or opposed to public morals. .Nor to a contract which is fraudulent, which affects the defendant or a third person. 3. A contract in violation of a statute is absolutely void, and, however disguised, it will be set aside, for no form of expression can remove the substantial defect inherent in the nature of the transaction; the courts will investigate the real object of the contracting parties, and if that be repugnant to the law, it will vitiate the transaction. 4. Contracts against the public policy of the law, are equally void as if they were in violation of a public statute; a contract not to marry any one, is therefore illegal and void. See Void. 5. A contract against the purity of manners is also illegal; as, for example, a agreement to cohabit unlawfully with another, is therefore void; but a bond given for past cohabitation, being considered as remuneration for past injury, is binding. 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 3853. 6. All contracts which have for their object, or which may in their consequences, be injurious to third persons, altogether unconnected with them, are in general illegal and void. Of the first, an example may be found in the case where a sheriff’s officer received a sum of money from a defendant for admitting to bail, and agreed to pay the bail, part of the money which was so exacted. 2 Burr. 924. The case of a wager between two persons, as to the character of a third, is an example of the second class. Cowp. 729; 4 Camp. 152; 1 Rawle, 42; 1 B. & A. 683. Vide illicit; Unlawful.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
Not authorized by law; Illicit; unlawful; contrary to law.
Sometimes this term means merely that which lacks authority of or support from law; but more frequently it imports a violation. Etymological ly, the word seems to convey the negative meaning only. But in ordinary use it has a severer, stronger signification; the idea of censure or condemnation for breaking law is usually presented. But the law implied in illegal is not necessarily an express statute. Things are called “illegal” for a violation of common law principles. And the term does not imply that the act spoken of is immoral or wicked; it implies only a breach of the law. See State v. Haynorth, 3 Sneed (Tenn.) 65; Tiedt v. Carstensen, 61 Iowa, 334, 16 N. W. 214; Chadbourne v. Newcastle, 48 N. H. 199: People v. Kelly, 1 Abb. Prac N. S., (N. Y.) 437; Ex parte Scwartz, 2 Tex. App. 80. Illegal conditions. All those that are impossible, or contrary to law, immoral, or repugnant to the nature of the transaction. Illegal contract. An agreement to do any act forbidden by the law, or to omit to do any act enjoined by the law. Billingsley v. Clelland, 41 W. Va. 243, 23 S. EX. 810 Illegal interest. Usury; interest at a higher rate than the law allows. Parsons v. Babcock, 40 Neb. 119, 58 N. W. 726. Illegal trade. Such traffic or commerce as is carried on in violation of the municipal law, or contrary to the law of nations. See ILLICIT.