English-French translations for illegal

• illégal
  Ce qui est illégal est illégal, nous ne pouvons pas faire beaucoup plus. Illegal is illegal - we cannot do much more than that.
  Inversement, tout ce qui est illégal n' est pas forcément illégitime. Not everything that is illegal is also illegitimate.
  Quelle approche allez-vous adopter concernant l'abattage illégal? How are you going to deal with illegal felling?
• illégale
  Elle a maintenant rendu légale une situation illégale. It has now legalised an illegal situation.
  Elle a légalisé une situation illégale. It has made an illegal situation legal.
  L'immigration illégale ne saurait être tolérée. Illegal immigration cannot be tolerated.
• sans-papiers
  Nous nous devons de réagir contre cet amalgame qui assimile «sans-papiers» et clandestins, immigration et illégalité. We have a duty to react against this generalizing tendency which treats people without papers as illegal, equates immigration and illegality.
  En France, des sans-papiers chinois sont ainsi contraints de travailler pendant des années dans des ateliers de confection, pour payer leur voyage. As a result, in France, Chinese illegal immigrants are forced to work for years in sweat-shops to pay for their journey.
  Quelques pays décident de verrouiller leurs frontières et adoptent des mesures musclées, tandis que d’autres régularisent des milliers de sans-papiers. Some countries decide to seal their borders and adopt tough measures, while others regularise thousands of illegal immigrants.

Definition of illegal

• Contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law
• Forbidden by established rules
• Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country
• Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally
• An illegal act or technique
• Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs
• An illegal immigrant

Examples

• This is illegal, you know!
• Nearly 40 million people live in UK areas with illegal air pollution
• their illegal mining operations in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, are protected by officials and police paid to look the other way – and powerful customers in the construction industry who prefer not to ask too many questions
• Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess
• illegal immigrant;  illegal logger;  illegal pilot

Related words

• illegality
• illegally
• illegalize
• illegalization
• illegalism
• illegal combatant
• illegal alien
• illegal immigration
• illegal immigrant