A contravention in French criminal law is a minor infraction, as opposed to a délit which is more serious, or a crime which is the most serious.
Any infraction of a law or regulation enforced by the agents of the State executive, that is not punishable by more than a €3000 fine is considered a contravention.
In Brazil, contravention is a sort of penal infraction — not only an administrative offense - which is considered to be less serious than a crime.
Since 1941, Brazilian Law has a dual system which separates penal infractions in two main different acts.
In Brazilian Law System, one who is already convicted for a crime is not considered to be recidivist when committing a contravention for the first time, and vice versa.