Not sure how many countries have jaywalking type laws, but in every country I have lived in or or been to, bar the US and (after reading the below link) Singapore, it's just called 'crossing the road http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking
The legal situation isn't particularly relevant so much as whether or not people will decide to cross the street before the light tells them to, and whether that has a higher probability of accident.
