1.
circumventing the law, exploiting legal loopholes
The act of technically staying within the law while violating its intent, or finding ways around legal restrictions. The actions are not strictly illegal but are designed to avoid legal obligations or prohibitions through technicalities.
Common collocations
- 脱法行為: act of circumventing the law
- 脱法ドラッグ: legal-loophole drugs (substances designed to evade drug laws)
- 脱法ハーブ: legal-loophole herbs (an earlier term for the same)
- 脱法ビジネス: business exploiting legal loopholes
Usage
脱法ドラッグ was a major news topic in Japan in the 2010s, referring to synthetic substances designed to mimic illegal drugs while technically not being covered by existing drug laws. The term was later officially replaced by 危険ドラッグ (dangerous drugs) by the government to remove any implication that they were safe or legal. The prefix 脱 means 'escape from,' giving the word its sense of evading legal constraints.