Breaking the law is by definition a criminal act.
Actually,only a tiny minority of laws define violation as a crime. The vast majority of laws are regulatory in nature; you are legally required to obey them, but violating them is not a crime. Take, for example, building codes. At least in the US, If you violate the building codes, you are required to correct the violation, but there is no criminal penalty. Or, for example, the law that requires you to file your tax paperwork by a certain date. If you violate that law, you are required to pay interest and penalties, but violation is not a crime.
So breaking the law is not, in fact, by definition a criminal act.