For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Various sources describe possible minor differences, such as that illegal acts are criminal acts, whereas unlawful acts may be contrary to some non-criminal law, like tort law or contract law; however, if you check actual usage, I doubt whether you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law").

For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Various sources describe possible minor differences, such as that illegal acts are criminal acts, whereas unlawful acts may be contrary to some non-criminal law, like tort law or contract law; however, if you check actual usage, I doubt whether you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law"). I believe unlawful is mostly just a more formal or technical synonym. Usage may very well vary in different countries, since each country has its own legal system, even though Anglo-Saxon systems are often much alike.

For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Some say that there are minor differences; however, if you check actual usage, I don't believe you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law").

For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Various sources describe possible minor differences, such as that illegal acts are criminal acts, whereas unlawful acts may be contrary to some non-criminal law, like tort law or contract law; however, if you check actual usage, I doubt whether you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law").