overwidth

en-adj

overwidth (comparative more overwidth, superlative most overwidth)

more overwidth (comparative)
most overwidth (superlative)

Wider than is standard or (transport, law, of a vehicle) wider than is allowed.


overwidth

[…] and shall pay not only the amount of the permit fee for overlength, overheight, overwidth or overweight as might be due, but an additional civil penalty of fifty dollars for the first offense, one hundred dollars for the second offense and one hundred fifty dollars for each additional offense; […]

1976, Acts of the Legislature, volume 1, Louisiana, page 445:

(transport, law, of a vehicle) An excess of width.


security camera

en-noun

security camera (plural security cameras)

A video camera used to protect a building from intruders and to detect crime and other issues.


forjudge

en-verb

forjudge (third-person singular simple present forjudges, present participle forjudging, simple past and past participle forjudged)

forjudges (present singular third-person)
forjudging (participle present)
forjudged (participle past)
forjudged (past)

From Middle English forjugen; in sense 1, from Old French fourjugier (“to judge illegally, dispossess”); in sense 2, from Middle English for- + jugen (“to judge”), equivalent to for- + judge. Compare fordeem.

der

(transitive, dialectal in British) To condemn judicially (to a penalty).


in abatement

(law) Seeking termination of an action by reason of formal deficiency.


administrative law

(law) All the laws that pertain to the administrative agencies of government.


ab inconvenienti

Borrowed from New Latin ab inconvenientī.


court-baron

en-noun

court-baron (plural court-barons or courts-baron)

court-barons (plural)
courts-baron (plural)

(law, historical) An inferior court of civil jurisdiction, attached to a manor, and held by the steward; a baron's court.


bloodlusty

en-adj

bloodlusty (comparative more bloodlusty, superlative most bloodlusty)

more bloodlusty (comparative)
most bloodlusty (superlative)

Exhibiting bloodlust; violently aggressive; bloodthirsty.


reconduction

From reconduct + -ion. Borrowed from Middle French reconduction in the “repeat lease” sense, itself from Medieval Latin recondūctiō from recondūcere already used by classical Roman jurisprudence.

(law, historical) Repeat locatio conductio.


absolute impediment

en-noun

absolute impediment (plural absolute impediments)

(law) A diriment impediment that prevents a person from marrying, but does not require punishment or an annulment.


absolute privilege

absolute privilege (plural absolute privileges)

(law) A privilege given to lawmakers to prevent them from being sued for libel or slander due to statements made on the floor, regardless of whether they were made in good faith.


summary offence

summary offence (plural summary offences)

(law, British, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong) A crime in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment, as required for an indictable offence.

簡易罪

crime that can be proceeded against summarily


ICJ

International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice#English

(international law, UN) Initialism of International Court of Justice.

international law; UN; international law; UN


antispeech

en-adj

antispeech (comparative more antispeech, superlative most antispeech)

more antispeech (comparative)
most antispeech (superlative)

Nevertheless, where the absence of the ability to mount an effective reply coincides with a strong antispeech interest such as the interest in reputation, the resulting balance of interests may properly be weighed against the right to speak.

2000, Melville B. Nimmer, Cases and materials on copyright and other aspects of entertainment litigation:


nonentry

en-noun

nonentry (countable and uncountable, plural nonentries)

(Scots law, historical) The casualty or advantage which formerly fell to the superior when the heir of a deceased vassal failed to renew the investiture, the superior being then entitled to the rent of the feu.


botleas

Learned borrowing from Old English bōtlēas (“unpardonable”). Doublet of bootless.

lbor

Persons guilty of the botleas crimes had no right to any particular punishment. Thus the convicted could not “complain if a foot was taken instead of his eyes, or if he was hanged instead of beheaded”.

1991, Carla Ann Hage Johnson, “Entitled to Clemency: Mercy in the Criminal Law”, in Law and Philosophy, X, № 1 (February 1991), page 112:

(Anglo-Saxon England, law, of a crime) Too grievous to be atoned for by the payment of a bōt or bōte; irredeemable, unpardonable.


egression

This conclusion is an egression from federalism principles.

1982, University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law - Volume 60, page 260:

The tenet, accordingly, has some claim to stand as an egression of "natural" right, even when "natural" is taken in an evolutionary sense.

2023, Niccolò Machiavelli, James Allen, William Walker Atkinson, The Science of Prosperity:

(law) A legitimate implication an existing law.


chirograph

From Middle French chirographe, from Ancient Greek χειρόγραφος (kheirógraphos, “written with the hand”) χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).

der

(law, historical) A kind of medieval document written in duplicate (or more) on a single piece of parchment, then cut across a single word, so that each holder of a portion can prove it matches the others.

(law, Catholicism) A papal decree whose circulation, unlike an encyclical, is limited to the Roman curia.


prisoner of conscience

en-noun

prisoner of conscience (plural prisoners of conscience)

Defined by Peter Benenson in his article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in 1961.

Anyone imprisoned because of his race, religion, or political views.


friborg

From Old English friborh, from fri (“peace”) + borh, borg (“pledge”), akin to English borrow. The first part of the word was confused with free and the last part with borough.

(historical, law, UK) The pledge and tithing, afterwards called by the Normans frankpledge


locus poenitentiae

From Latin, literally "place of repentance".

There was yet within him the means of repentance, could a locus penitentiæ^([sic]) have been supplied to him. He grieved bitterly over his own ill doings, and knew well what changes gentlehood would have demanded from him. Whether or no he had gone too far for all changes—whether the locus penitentiæ was for him still a possibility—that was between him and a higher power.

1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “The Philistines at the Parsonage”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, page 250:

(law) The opportunity to withdraw from an ongoing process of committing oneself to an obligation, before such commitment is finalized; specifically, the opportunity to abstain from committing an intended crime before it is too late.


attaintment

attaintment (countable and uncountable, plural attaintments)

There is that prouokes me to speake against this law of attaintment, they say I am not indifferent.

1553, Hugh Latimer, “The fourth Sermon […]”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, made vppon the lords Prayer […], published 1562, folio 63ᵛ:

For where the party may have an attaintment, there no damages shall be assessed by the Court, if the same be not found by the Jury; and therefore the Court would be advised of it: […]

1613, Cookes Case; republished as John Godbolt, W. Hughes, editors, Reports of […] Severall Courts of Record at Westminster […], 1652, page 207:

The same day brought him intelligence of his wife's desertion, and of his attaintment as a traitor; and, further, that this accusation had been chiefly brought about by the intrigues of his former partner.

1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, Theresa, page 165:

So zealous was he for good morals, that he drew upon himself the imputation of a leaning to the heresy of the Jansenists […] Yet Olier’s catholicity was past attaintment, and in his horror of Jansenists he yielded to the Jesuits alone.

1867 June, “The Founders of Montreal”, in The Atlantic Monthly […], volume 19, number 116, page 724:

Again costly litigation followed, the Crown setting up a prior claim, […] the only legal claimant being Sir Francis Anderton, and he being attainted of high treason was debarred and legally incapable of holding the estates, or of claiming any right as heir by and through such attaintment.

1883, Thomas Hampson, Horwich: Its History, Legends, and Church, page 171:

(archaic, law) Attainder, attainture; conviction.


blue wall

blue + wall.
* (politics): From the representative color of the political party, and the solidity of support for that party in that region.

blue wall of silence
blue wall of silence#English

(law enforcement politics) Alternative form of blue wall of silence


blue wall of silence

blue wall of silence (plural blue walls of silence)

We've all heard of the Blue Wall of Silence, the code under which cops stay mum about rogue cops who poison the barrel.

1985 June 25, Sydney H. Schanberg, “New York: The Concrete Wall of Silence”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-08-12:

When the blue wall of silence broke, it was all over for New York City police officer Justin Volpe. The witnesses for the prosecution had badges, and they had stories to tell.

1999 May 25, Frank Pellegrini, “Too Despicable for the Blue Wall of Silence”, in Time:

The indictment of officer Michael Roberts also highlights another color barrier that can complicate matters of police discipline—that's the so-called blue wall of silence. Former Minneapolis police officer Mike Quinn says that wall is what keeps some cops from turning in their fellow cops.

2008 July 15, Brandt Williams, Elizabeth Stawicki, “Minneapolis cop indicted on corruption charges”, in Minnesota Public Radio, retrieved 2012-08-12:

On the streets it is called "No snitching." In law enforcement it is called "The blue wall of silence".

2009 June 6, Donald Winkfield, “Manhattan DA’s Keystone Verdict”, in Black Star News, retrieved 2012-08-12:

(idiomatic) Strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a police force with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable police actions.


castle-guard

(UK, law, obsolete) A tax or imposition on a dwelling within a certain distance of a castle, for the purpose of maintaining watch and ward in it; castleward.


gainage

From Old French gaignage (“pasturage, crop”), French gaignage (“pasturage”). See gain (verb).

(UK, law, obsolete) The horses, oxen, ploughs, wains or wagons and implements for carrying on tillage.


interversion

interversion (countable and uncountable, plural interversions)

Interversion is effected by a conveyance from the owner of land to his tenant, who thereafter will hold in virtue of the extrinsic cause contemplated by the rule, and also when the land comes to the tenant by descent.

1862, The American Law Register - Volume 10, page 68:

Acts of interversion cannot take place against minors or other persons against whom prescription is not allowed to run.

1865, Code civil du Bas Canada, page 419:

In modern Dutch law the prohibition of interversion is still used to prevent a prescription period from running against an unsuspecting owner.

2000, Lars Peter Wunibald van Vliet, Transfer of Movables in German, French, English and Dutch Law:

(law) The process of changing a subsidiary title, such as that of a tenant, to one that is independently held.


improbative

en-adj

improbative (comparative more improbative, superlative most improbative)

more improbative (comparative)
most improbative (superlative)

an improbative writ

(law, archaic) Implying, or showing, improbation; disapproving.


affeerer

Formed in English as affeer + -er, after the Anglo-Norman afferour, affoerour. Compare affeeror.

They shal be amerced and their amercement shall be affeared by affearers there.

1615, John Manwood, Treatise of the Forest Laws:


eyre

From Middle English eire, from Old French erre (“journey, march, way”), from Latin iter, itineris (“a going, way”), from the root of ire (“to go”). Compare errant, itinerant, issue.

The fact that the Surrey veredicta are uncancelled, and indeed their very survival, can doubtless be explained by the suspension of the eyre in June 1294, when consideration of the crown pleas had barely begun;

1982, Public Record Office Handbooks, page 35:

None of the original veredicta survive for this eyre, but one of the best surviving examples, and the only one so far to be printed, comes from the Wiltshire eyre which began in the southern eyre circuit at Wilton on the same day as the 1281 Derbyshire eyre began at Derb, and which provides a valuable insight into the nature and contents of the lost Derbyshire veredicta.

2000, Aileen Hopkinson, editor, The Rolls of the 1281 Derbyshire Eyre, Derbyshire Record Society, →ISBN, page xvi:

(UK, law, historical) A journey taken by certain Medieval English itinerant judges (justices in eyre)


pak pai

From Cantonese 白牌車／白牌车 (baak⁶ paai⁴⁻² ce¹), literally ‘white numberplate’.

He took pak-pai'''s, knowing they were less under the thumb of the police.

1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 471:

(now historical) A car used as an illegal taxi in Hong Kong.


SOCO

scenes of crime officer
w:Scenes of Crime officer

(UK, law enforcement) Acronym of scenes of crime officer.


rouf

(slang, crime) A prison sentence of four years.

The number four.
A prison sentence of four years.


Crown attorney

(Canada) An attorney who represents the federal or provincial government in a court of law.


wardcorn

And that the aforesaid Abbess and convent and their successors, and all tenants, residents, and non-residents, and other residents aforesaid, […] be quit through our entire realm of England of all pannage, lestage, […] and of treasure to be drawn away, and of wardpeny, wardcorne, averpeny, hundredpeny, […] and of all such custom

1842, George Oliver, Ecclesiastical Antiquities in Devon, page 100:

and from a rent called wardcorn one quarter, three bushels of barley worth fifteen shillings per year, at the value of five pence the bushel.

1989, George Feairheller Deiser, Year Books of Richard II - Volume 12, page 68:

The additional payment of grain as ‘wardcorn’ is a local peculiarity, and refers to some ancient military responsibilty^([sic]) upon the vill[agers].

2002, Mark Bailey, The English manor, c.1200-c.1500, page 226:

(UK, law, obsolete) A payment of corn to be offered in commutation of military service.


broken windows theory

After article propounding the theory by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, “Broken Windows”, Atlantic Monthly (March 1982).

Clark disliked the general state of unshavenness, partly for aesthetic reasons and partly because he was a believer in the broken-windows theory of urban-crime management, the way the appearance of dereliction can pave the way for more serious crimes.

2014, Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven, Picador (2022), page 249:

(criminology) A criminological theory stating that signs of urban decay (e.g. broken windows, graffiti) signal that an area is not monitored, encouraging more destructive criminal behavior.


excambion

(law, Scotland, historical) exchange or barter, especially of lands.


disgavel

en-verb

disgavel (third-person singular simple present disgavels, present participle disgavelling, simple past and past participle disgavelled)

disgavels (present singular third-person)
disgavelling (participle present)
disgavelled (participle past)
disgavelled (past)

(UK, law, transitive) To deprive of that principal quality of gavelkind tenure by which lands descend equally among all the sons of the tenant


moving violation

en-noun

moving violation (plural moving violations)

Under present law, the Department of Public Safety can suspend a license from 30 to 90 days when the holder accumulates three moving violations.

1959 May 20, Taking Violators Off the Road, St Petersburg Times, p. 8A

(US, Canada, Australia, law enforcement) Violation of the law by the driver of a vehicle while in motion.

Verkehrsverstoß

violation of law by the driver of a moving vehicle


native title

native title (usually uncountable, plural native titles)

(law) A legal doctrine that recognises Aboriginal people as rightful owners of land that has been colonised.

原住民土地所有權

alkuperäiskansan omistus- ja hallintaoikeus


way-going

A way-going crop is a crop of grain to which tenants for years are sometimes entitled by custom, despite not ripening until after the termination of the lease.

(law) Of or relating to one who goes away.


juarez

From warez, jocularly respelt by association with Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on that country's border with the United States. The border is often publicly associated with illicit trafficking.

(Internet slang, leetspeak) Alternative form of warez


juarez

en-verb

juarez (third-person singular simple present juarezes, present participle juarezing, simple past and past participle juarezed)

juarezes (present singular third-person)
juarezing (participle present)
juarezed (participle past)
juarezed (past)


Dixonian

From Alfred Dixon, English mathematician.

(mathematics) Of, relating to or formulated by Alfred Dixon.


(UK, Ireland, taxation) The end-of-year tax certificate given to each employee by their employer.


imparl

imparl (third-person singular simple present imparls, present participle imparling, simple past and past participle imparled)

imparls (present singular third-person)
imparling (participle present)
imparled (participle past)
imparled (past)

c. 1767, George Cooke, quoted in William Blackstone, The Oxford Edition of Blackstone - Commentaries on the Laws of England: Book II: Of the right of things, edited by Simon Stern, Oxford University Press (2016), →ISBN, page 368 (appendix).
And the aforesaid Francis thereupon craveth leave to imparl; and he hath it.

(law) To have time before pleading; to have delay for mutual adjustment.


couchant and levant

(law, obsolete) Rising up and lying down; said of animals, indicating that they have been long enough on land, not belonging to their owner, to lie down at night and rise up to feed by day.


scapegallows

From scape (archaic for escape) + gallows.

compound

archaic for <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">escape</i>

[…] And remember this, 'scapegallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more […]

1838–1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:

(colloquial, dated) A criminal who has narrowly escaped being hanged.


ploughbote

(UK, law, historical) wood or timber allowed to a tenant for the repair of instruments of husbandry


member's bill

private member's bill
private member's bill


private member's bill

en-noun

private member's bill (plural private member's bills)

(law, British, Canada, Australia) A proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature who is not acting on behalf of the executive government.

私人條例草案

proposed law introduced by a member who is not acting on behalf of the executive


astriction

astriction (countable and uncountable, plural astrictions)

Payment of dry multures will even imply a title; being exclusive of any other supposition than astriction

1833, George Joseph Bell, Principles of the Law of Scotland:

(law, Scotland, historical) An obligation to have the grain growing on certain lands ground at a certain mill, the owner paying a toll. (The lands were said to be astricted to the mill.)


crim. con.

And then he had good looks;—that point was carried
Nem. con. amongst the women, which I grieve
To say leads oft to crim. con. with the married—
A case which to the juries we may leave.

In fact, it was not unknown for husbands and wives to collude in the wife's adultery, either to collect a large crim. con. settlement or to secure a divorce.

1999, Kirsten Olsen, Daily Life in 18th Century England:

If she was unfaithful, a civil action for ‘crim con’ could be brought by her husband to assert his property rights over her and obtaion financial redress for infringement of them.

2012, Catherine Peters, “Feminist Fatale”, in Literary Review, section 403:

Criminal conversation
criminal conversation

(law, colloquial, now historical) Criminal conversation.


criminal conversation

It then charged the defendant, William Atkinſon, with having ſeduced the plaintiff's wife, and with having had criminal converſation with her.

1789, Adultery: The Trial of Mr. William Atkinson, Linen-Draper, of Cheapside for Criminal Conversation with Mrs. Conner, page 1:

Gentlemen of the Jury, This is an action for a compensation by damages, in consequence of a criminal conversation with the Plaintiff's wife, the circumstances of which are more serious and more painful than any I ever met with.

1809, The Trial of the Right Honorable Lord Paget, for Criminal Conversation with Lady Charlotte Wellesley, page 28:

The main object now was not necessarily to punish or even to prevent immorality, but to improve the law of divorce and to restrict private suits for ‘criminal conversation’.

2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 77:

(law) Unlawful sexual intercourse with a married person; adultery; a common law tort arising from adultery, abolished in many jurisdictions.


sin tax

He has suggested raising “sin taxes” on cigarettes, liquor and arcade games to pay for the 24-percent teacher pay raise he supports.

1963 May 1, Kathryn Baker, “White Facing Realities: Time, Cash”, in Victoria Advocate, Texas, USA, retrieved 2012-09-29, page 16A:

Another form of consumption tax that some foresee is a “sin tax”, which would come in the form of higher excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco.

1988 Dec. 19, Jan M. Rosen, "Tax Watch: The Likely Forms Of New Taxes," New York Times (retrieved 29 Sep 2012)

The sin tax is an established tactic. In the early 1500s, Pope Leo X underwrote his lavish lifestyle in part by taxing licensed prostitutes.

2009 April 2, Alex Altman, “A Brief History Of: Sin Taxes”, in Time:

(idiomatic, politics) A government-imposed tax on a specific good, service, or activity which is legal but widely considered to be unwholesome or socially harmful, such as a tax on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, or gambling.


AAU

The standard allowance, an “assigned amount unit” (AAU), is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions. […] In general, these credits can be purchased, sold, and otherwise transferred by private actors through international markets. Unlike AAUs, they are not allocated by a state but rather are generated through voluntary activities undertaken most commonly by private actors.

2014, John G Sprankling, “Rights in Airspace and Outer Space”, in The International Law of Property, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 174:

assigned amount unit
assigned amount unit#English

(law, climate change) Initialism of assigned amount unit.


signaletic

en-adj

signaletic (comparative more signaletic, superlative most signaletic)

more signaletic (comparative)
most signaletic (superlative)

The wording of the legislation was somewhat open-ended in that it authorized not only the Bertillon signaletic system, but also "any measurements, processes or operations sanctioned by the Governor in Council having the like object in view."

1996, Louis A. Knafla, Criminal Justice History: An International Annual:

(criminology, historical) Related to or involving the Bertillon system of anthropometry.


indictable offence

en-noun

indictable offence (plural indictable offences)

(law, British, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong) An offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury, in contrast to a summary offence.


socome

the Tenants by their Cuſtome, muſt grinde their Corne at no mill , but at the Lords Mill, belonging to the Mannor, and this is commonly called Socome

1588, Valentine Leigh, The moste profitable and commendable science of surveying:

(UK, law, obsolete) A custom of tenants to grind corn at the lord's mill.


e-discovery

(computing, law) Discovery in civil litigation which deals with the exchange of information in electronic format.


breach of the peace

breach of the peace (plural breaches of the peace)

[T]he sheriff turned his eyes again. . . . "What have we here?" he cried; "two men boxing! Has there been a breach of the peace?"

1823, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 32, in The Pioneers:

Short of high treason, the gravest form of breach of the peace known to British law is riot.

1938 May 16, “Jamaica: Riot Act”, in Time:

Four men and a woman were arrested and charged with breaches of the peace after a series of scuffles in which protesters and police received minor injuries.

2003 October 24, Aban Contractor et al., “Why a world leader used the servants' entrance”, in Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 2012-10-06:

(law) The legal offense of engaging in public behavior which is violent, rowdy, or disruptive.


swy

(Australia, slang) A two-year prison sentence.


scire facias

Scire facias against sheriff, who took more money of the vill for the expences of a knight to serve in parliamente than was assessed

1799, John Wentworth, A Complete System of Pleading:

(law) A judicial writ directing the sheriff to make the record known to a specified party, and requiring that defendant to show cause why the party bringing the writ should not be able to cite that record in his own interest, or why, in the case of letters patent and grants, the patent or grant should not be annulled and vacated.


public assistance

Suddenly thrown on the world, with a wife and four children, with but the wages of a week for his and their support, they had travelled thus far on the way to a neighboring parish, where he said he had a right to, and must seek, public assistance.

1820, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 15, in Precaution:

Bush has made public assistance—specifically welfare—a constant target of his campaign rhetoric.

1992 May 25, Thomas Sancton et al., “How to Get America Off the Dole”, in Time:

She also signed up for public assistance, and gets $356 a month and $388 in food stamps.

2012 February 2, John Otis, “The Neediest Cases: Long After Southern Storm, Still Looking for New Home”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-10-14:

(law, public policy) Payment made to disadvantaged persons by government in order to alleviate the burdens of poverty, unemployment, disability, old age, etc.


antiextortion

In response, the federal authorities initiated a nationwide antiextortion program, including a national database to track protection rackets and a promise to protect all willing to formally complain about extortion practices.

2010, Niels A. Uildriks, Mexico's Unrule of Law, page 226:


set-off

(law) A counterclaim; a cross debt or demand; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand.


abjure the realm

en-verb

abjure the realm (third-person singular simple present abjures the realm, present participle abjuring the realm, simple past and past participle abjured the realm)

abjures the realm (present singular third-person)
abjuring the realm (participle present)
abjured the realm (participle past)
abjured the realm (past)

(chiefly historical, England law) To swear to leave the realm as soon as possible and not return without the permission of the sovereign.


residual power

(law) Power that is retained by the government after other powers were distributed to other authorities in the course of elections or by the process of delegation.


ankle monitor

A device that individuals under house arrest or parole are often required to wear to track their location.

踝關節監視器

device individuals under house arrest are often required to wear


wardrobing

(law, business) A form of return fraud where an item is purchased, used, and then returned to the store for a refund.


endorsable

(law, of a driving offence) Leading to endorsement of one's driving licence with penalty points.


escalator clause

en-noun

escalator clause (plural escalator clauses)

(law) A clause in a lease or contract that guarantees a change in the agreement price once a particular factor beyond control of either party affecting the value has been determined.


DOMA

Defense of Marriage Act
w:Defense of Marriage Act

(US politics) Acronym of Defense of Marriage Act.


scotale

(UK, law, obsolete) The keeping of an alehouse by an officer of a forest, and drawing people to spend their money for liquor for fear of his displeasure.


expert witness

expert witness (plural expert witnesses)

October 23 2012, Nicolas Bourcier in Guardian Weekly, Brazil comes to terms with its slave trading past
In a sensational decision this April the 10 supreme court judges unanimously ruled in favour of positive discrimination in higher education, declaring that the racial quotas in Brazilian universities were constitutional and redressed the "social debt of slavery". Dozens of expert witnesses were heard and the ruling was televised live.

(law) A witness that has expertise in a certain field.


ael

Richard de C. brought a writ of Ael against the Prior of Plumtone, and demanded so much &c. ; and counted that William his grandfather was seised &c. ; that from William it descended to William ; and from William to Richard the present demandant.

1864, “Reports of Cases in Trinity Term, 32 Edw. I.”, in Alfred J. Horwood, editor, Year Books of the Reign of King Edward the First. Years XXXII–XXXIII, London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, page 256:

(law, common law, historical) grandfather; forefather, ancestor


neighboring rights

(law) The rights on a work not related to its author's copyright.


esclop

We had not been engaged in our reading very long when at the far end of the arch I noticed a twinkling light. "Kool esclop!" shouted one of the boys, at the same moment doucing the glim and bolting with his companion, leaving me in the dark with my upset beer bottle and my douced candle, forming a spectacle which seemed to arouse suspicion on the part of our friend the policeman, whose light it was that had appeared in the distance.

1903 October 20, Rev. Arthur Tappan Pierson, quoting Hogg, Quintin, “Quintin Hogg and the London Polytechnic”, in Missionary Review of the World, volume 26, number 16, page 734:


money mule

Fraudsters known as “herders” recruit money mules, creating vast webs of linked online accounts. This enables stolen money to pass swiftly through multiple banks, often via different countries, before the criminals cash out the proceeds — making it virtually impossible to trace.

2020 December 8, Claer Barrett, “Could your child be recruited as a money mule?”, in Financial Times:

(crime, finance, slang) A person who transfers stolen or defrauded money or merchandise from one country to another, either in person, through a courier service, or electronically.


meeting of the minds

meeting of the minds (plural meetings of the minds)

consensus ad idem
consensus ad idem#English

(law) Synonym of consensus ad idem (“agreement about the terms and subject matter of a contract between all involved parties”)


chaffwax

(UK, law, historical) A chancery officer who fitted wax for sealing writs and other documents.


right to work

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-right to work.wav

1948, United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 23.1), United Nations
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(public policy, law, ethics) The human right (the right of an individual) to have gainful employment.

工作權

the fundamental human right to have employment

(US, public policy, law) The prohibition of union security agreements or closed shops; the prohibition of the requirement that those who take on work in a unionised shop join the union or pay it for representing them.


spree killer

A murderer who kills two or more victims in a short time in multiple locations.


right of publicity

right of publicity (plural rights of publicity)

(law) The right of an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, or other identifying characteristics.


false light

false light (countable and uncountable, plural false lights)

Dickinson’s lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks unspecified damages on defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims.

2015 May 20, “Model Janice Dickinson Sues Bill Cosby For Defamation”, in CBS Los Angeles, retrieved 2015-05-22:

(law, uncountable) A cause of action arising under the common law where a person is portrayed in a way which, while not technically false, is misleading and likely to cause embarrassment to that person.


body cavity search

body cavity search (plural body cavity searches)

(law) A search performed by law enforcement on a criminal suspect to insure that the suspect is not hiding anything in a body cavity.


statutory authority

statutory authority (plural statutory authorities)

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, law) A body set up by law which is authorised to enforce legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state.

法定機構

(US, law) Legislation authorizing the existence and activity of a government agency.

(US, law) The powers assigned to a government agency by legislation.


FCPA

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
w:Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

(law) Initialism of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.


abwab

From Hindi अबवाब (abvāb), from Persian ابواب (abvâb), from Arabic أَبْوَاب (ʔabwāb, “doors, sources of revenue”), plural of بَاب (bāb, “door”).

der

(India) A tax, or impost, levied by a chief on a landowner.


FGM

I met Leyla Hussein, an FGM survivor and anti-FGM activist, and we hit it off straight away. […] I worried that I didn’t have a right to talk about FGM as I don’t come from an FGM-practising community, but Leyla believes you can talk about whatever you like, regardless of whether you’ve been directly affected.

2015 April 11, Bridget Christie, “We’re a nation of armchair activists – what’s wrong with that?”, in The Guardian:

female genital mutilation
female genital mutilation#English

Initialism of female genital mutilation.


female genital mutilation

en-noun

female genital mutilation (countable and uncountable, plural female genital mutilations)

Any mutilation of the female genitals done for non-medical reasons, such as the infliction of abrasion, burns (chemical or cauterizing), or cuts or slits, or amputation or piercing.


culeus

From Latin culeus (“large leather sack, punishment of drowning within a sack, unit of bulk liquid measure”), from Ancient Greek κολεός (koleós, “sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cullion and cojones.

bor

(historical, law) A Roman punishment—chiefly for parricide—involving blindfolding, beating, confinement to a leather sack, and drowning in a river or sea.


capital murder

en-noun

capital murder (countable and uncountable, plural capital murders)

(law) The crime of murder of a particular quality.


Free Exercise Clause

The free-exercise clause tells us that that religion is especially favored and the establishment clause tells us that it is especially feared (the state should avoid entanglement with that stuff).

2011 October 17, Stanley Fish, “Is Religion Above the Law?”, in The New York Times:

(US, law) A clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.


Establishment Clause

The Lemon test appears to compartmentalize the factors that are dispositive in establishment clause cases and hints at precision in both analysis and outcome.

1989 May, William B. Petersen, ““A Picture Held Us Captive”: Conceptual Confusion and the Lemon Test”, in University of Pennsylvania Law Review, volume 137, number 5, →ISSN, →JSTOR, page 1829:

This Article shows, for the first time, how the Supreme Court transformed the Establishment Clause by gradually developing a new justification for the separation of church and state: guaranteeing the political equality of religious minorities.

2002 May, Noah Feldman, “From Liberty to Equality: The Transformation of the Establishment Clause”, in California Law Review, volume 90, number 3, →ISSN, →JSTOR, page 676:

Ten years ago, Frank Buono, a retired employee of the National Park Service, objected to the cross, saying it violated the establishment clause.

2009 October 7, Adam Liptak, “Religion Largely Absent in Argument About Cross”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.


cosinage

cosinage (countable and uncountable, plural cosinages)

/ˈkʌzɪnɪd͡ʒ/

if the abatement happened upon the death of any collateral relation , other than those before-mentioned , the writ is called a writ of cosinage

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(law, historical or obsolete) A writ to recover possession of an estate in lands, when a stranger has entered, after the death of the grandfather's grandfather, or other distant collateral relation.


doctrine of necessity

duress of circumstances

principle of preservation of greater utilitarian value

1995, Bryan A. Garner, necessity, entry in A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, page 583,
The doctrine of necessity might lead a court to approve a doctor′s decision to perform an illegal, third-trimester abortion in order to save the mother′s life.

It is therefore clear that neither the English court nor Cardozo considered the ethics of the doctrine of necessity. They rejected the doctrine because, in effect, they denied that a state of necessity could ever exist.

2005, Jerome Hall, General Principles Of Criminal Law, page 434:

(law) A principle whereby a normally criminal act is justified by the necessity of preserving something of greater utilitarian value than that lost or sacrificed; not to be confused with self-defence.

So Their Lordships, conceding that the Governor General′s actions were unconstitutional, reasoned that those actions might nonetheless be validated on the doctrine of necessity.

2008, Simeon C. R. McIntosh, Kelsen in the “Grenada Court”: Essays on Revolutionary Legality, page 27:

(politics, law) The principle that, in a situation of emergency or exigent circumstance, a state may legitimately act in ways that would normally be illegal.

According to the doctrine of necessity, civilization cannot exist without the rule of law. Therefore, the courts cannot tolerate a legal vacuum. The doctrine of necessity holds that the laws of an illegal government must be deemed to be effective to the extent that they do not violate the constitution.

1989, Ian Greene, The Charter of Rights, page 197:

(politics, law) The principle that the laws, of governance in action, should be deemed valid insofar as they do not contradict the constitution. Validated on the basis that maintenance of government is of greater utilitarian value than maintenance of the law.

1991, Eduardo Jiménez de Aréchaga, Attila Tanzi, Chapter 17: International State Responsibility, Mohammed Bedjaoui (editor), International Law: Achievements and Prospects, UNESCO, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, page 354,
The enumeration of situations where the doctrine of necessity has been invoked forms either a catalogue of serious breaches of international law or of cases susceptible of being explained without an appeal to the doctrine of necessity.

(politics, international law) The principle that a state in immediate peril to its existence, from a situation not of its own doing, may in extremis be justified in violating a right of another state.


buncher

Often a buncher might come in a little early to have some work ready when rollers arrived.[…]If a buncher ran short of tobacco, the rollers got more for her.

1986, Charles Stephenson, Robert Asher, Life and Labor: Dimensions of American Working-Class History, page 199:

Stranded copper wire and cable are made on machines known as bunchers or stranders. Conventional bunchers are used for stranding small diameter wires (34 to 10 AWG).

1999, Günter Joseph, Konrad J. A. Kundig, Copper: Its Trade, Manufacture, Use and Environmental Status, page 255:

Something that bunches or causes to bunch.

(manufacturing) A machine that twists strands together during the manufacture of metal wire; a strander.

The pulse width can be decreased by means of a buncher, which consists of a longitudinal re-entrant cavity. The first electrons to reach the buncher are accelerated by a weaker longitudinal field than those that reach it at later times.

1998, Ludwig Reimer, Scanning Electron Microscopy: Physics of Image Formation and Microanalysis, page 44:

Amplification has taken place because in the buncher grids the electrons are affected very little, but in the drift space this effect is given time to grow and the bunching becomes much more pronounced.[…]After leaving the buncher field the electrons travel towards the plate, are slowed down, stopped and then reattracted by the buncher.

2000, Andrew Leven, Telecommunication Circuits and Technology, page 364:

A two cavity Klystron amplifier consists of a cathode, focussing electrodes, two buncher grids separated by a very small distance forming a gap of two catcher grids with small gap B followed by a collector.

2009, V.S.Bagad, Microwave & Radar Engineering, pages 5–8:

(electronics, physics) A circuit that causes electrons or other charged particles in a particle beam to group together.

2009, US Congress (editor), Congressional Record, V. 150, Part 6: April 20 2004 to May 4 2004, page 7574,
The undercover investigation of this facility has revealed that its proprietors were aware that some of the companion animals brought to the facility were stolen, and also revealed a list of over 50 “bunchers,” individuals who obtain animals and sell them to “random source” animal dealers. Bunchers have a variety of methods for obtaining companion animals, including responding to newspaper ads offering free animals, trespassing on private property to abduct the animals from yards, and house burglaries.

An illegitimate supplier of laboratory animals who obtains the animals by kidnapping pets or illegally trapping strays.

Each airfield had its own buncher which emitted a particular radio signal. Each plane had a radio compass so that when we flew toward the buncher, the compass would go straight up. When we flew over the buncher, it would point straight down.

2008, W. C. Gibson, “54: Lieutenant W.C. Gibson”, in Alan L. Griggs, editor, Flying Flak Alley: Personal Accounts of World War II Bomber Crew Combat, page 247:

(military, RAF, World War II) A ground-based radio transmitter, configured within a system to guide aircraft to their allocated airfields.


hostageship

hostageship (countable and uncountable, plural hostageships)

English, Norman and French tradition seem all to point to an ancient and extremely rigorous form of suretyship or hostageship which would have rendered the surety liable to suffer the punishment that was hanging over the head of the released prisoner.

1898, Sir Frederick Pollock, Frederic William Maitland, The history of English law before the time of Edward I, 2nd edition, volume 2, The University Press:

(law, historical) A condition of being held as surety for a pledge, as to appear before a magistrate for trial after release from gaol.


feasance

From Anglo-Norman fesance, from Old French faisance (“action, deed, enactment”), from faisant, present participle of faire.

der

(law) the performing of an act, especially out of one's duty.


crimen falsi

(law) A crime involving a falsehood, such as forgery, perjury, or counterfeiting.


doli incapax

Learned borrowing from Latin doli incapax (“incapable of wrongdoing”)

lbor

(law) The principle that a child cannot be held legally responsible for their actions, and so cannot be convicted of a criminal offence.


compear

en-verb

compear (third-person singular simple present compears, present participle compearing, simple past and past participle compeared)

compears (present singular third-person)
compearing (participle present)
compeared (participle past)
compeared (past)

(law, Scotland) To appear before a judge in court personally or by attorney.


post-obit

They were following pretty rapidly, upon the same terms, post obits, payable upon the death of Mrs. Wharton

1827, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery:

[…] he had raised money on post-obits, and encumbered the family estate […]

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

(law) A bond in which the obligor, in consideration of having received a certain sum of money, binds himself to pay a larger sum, on unusual interest, on the death of some specified individual from whom he has expectations.


excamb

excamb (third-person singular simple present excambs, present participle excambing, simple past and past participle excambed)

excambs (present singular third-person)
excambing (participle present)
excambed (participle past)
excambed (past)

(transitive, Scots law) To exchange; used with reference to transfers of land.


post-fine

(UK, law, obsolete) A duty paid to the king by the cognizee in a fine of lands, when the same was fully passed; the king's silver.


chance-medley

en-noun

chance-medley (countable and uncountable, plural chance-medleys)

From Old French chance medlée, literally "mingled chance", with postpositive adjective (often confused because of the fact that medley is also a noun).

Manſlaughter, otherwiſe called Chancemedley, is when two do fight together upon the ſudden, and by meer Chance, without any Malice precedent, and one of them doth kill the other; this alſo is Felony of Death.

1618, Michael Dalton, chapter CXLVI, in The Country Justice, Savoy: Henry Lintot, published 1746, page 333:

(law, historical) The killing of another in self-defence upon a sudden and unpremeditated encounter.


postliminium

postliminium (countable and uncountable, plural postliminia)

Latin postliminium, after + a threshold.

Postliminium […]is a right recognized by the law of nations , and contributes essentially to mitigate the calamities of war

1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law:

(law) The right by virtue of which persons and things taken by an enemy in war are restored to their former state when coming again under the power of the nation to which they belonged.


common of shack

It's no good exception to a Witness that he hath common per cause of Vicinage in the Lands in question, because its but an excuse of Trespass, and no interest[…]The same of common of Shacke

(UK, law) The right of persons occupying lands lying together in the same common field to turn out their cattle to range in it after harvest.


base court

(law) An inferior court of law, not a court of record.


counter-roll

From counter- + roll; compare control and comptroller.

It consists in making a counter roll, […]or transcript of the annual or Great Roll of the Pipe of the preceding year

1830, George Price, A Treatise on the law of the Exchequer:

(UK, law, obsolete) A duplicate roll (record or account) kept by an officer as a check upon another officer's roll.


court of record

court of record (plural courts of record)

(law) A trial court in which a clerk or reporter takes down a record of proceedings, which is preserved at least long enough for all appeals to be exhausted, or for some further period of time provided by law.


besaiel

From Middle French besaieul, besayel, from Old French beseel, from Latin bis (“twice”) + aviolus, diminutive of avus (“grandfather”).

In a Writ of Besayle he shall not have the View.

1598, John Kitchin, Le court leete et court baron:

(law, obsolete) A kind of writ which formerly lay where a great-grandfather died seized of lands in fee simple, and on the day of his death a stranger abated or entered and kept the heir out.


antilegislation

en-adj

antilegislation (comparative more antilegislation, superlative most antilegislation)

more antilegislation (comparative)
most antilegislation (superlative)


antilegislative

antilegislative (comparative more antilegislative, superlative most antilegislative)

more antilegislative (comparative)
most antilegislative (superlative)


antiassignment

(law) Preventing the assignment (of a right, obligation, etc.) from one party to another.


legal advice

(law) The giving of a formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law, usually received from a solicitor, barrister or lawyer, ordinarily for a fee.


teensploitation

From teen + -sploitation (from exploitation film). From 1980s.

We sat down to watch a teensploitation slasher flick.

With 1955's Blackboard Jungle—the first film to traffic heavily in youth rebellion and sex, the twin pillars of any teenager's existence—a brilliant, if obvious, new genre of film was born: teensploitation, movies about teenagers made for teenagers but watched by everybody.

1999 February, Bill Sienkiewicz, “Forever Young”, in SPIN, SPIN Media, page 64:

1999, Edmond Grant, The Motion Picture Guide: 1999 Annual (The Films of 1998), CineBooks, page vii,
Adrian Lyne's LOLITA was more notable for the terror it struck in controversy-shy American distributors than for its content, reducing taboo subject matter to a teensploitation film with a literary pedigree.

The influence of Rebel Without a Cause is difficult to underestimate.^([sic]) Despite what appeared to be just another entry in the burgeoning teensploitation trend, the film distinguished itself for a variety of reasons.

2005, Rob McInnes, Timothy Shary, Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen, Columbia University Press (Wallflower), page 21:

(film) A genre of exploitation films, starring teenage actors with teen-oriented plots involving drugs, sex, alcohol or crime.


spear penny

From spear + penny, a calque translation of the Welsh ceiniog baladr, from ceiniog (“penny”) + paladr (“shaft"; "spear”).

(historical, law) A fine under medieval Welsh law levied on related male landowners when the immediate kin of a murderer proved incapable of paying galanas


piepowder

From the following:
* Late Middle English pe-poudre, pipouder (“(noun) itinerant; travelling merchant, peddler; court of piepowders; (adverb) summarily”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman pepoudrous, pié poudrous (“having dusty feet; an itinerant”) [and other forms] (compare Middle French pyé pouldreux (“travelling merchant”) (Poitou) (modern French pied poudreux (“one who cannot pay”) (obsolete))), from pé, pié (“foot”) + poudrous, poudrus (“dusty”); pié is derived from Old French pié (“foot”) (modern French pied), from Latin pedem, the accusative singular of pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to stumble; to fall”); while poudrous, poudrus (modern French poudreux (“dusty”)) is from Old French poudre (“dust; powder”) (from Latin pulverem, the accusative singular of pulvis (“dust; powder”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust; flour”)) + -ous (a variant of -us (suffix forming adjectives)); and
* Late Middle English pe-poudrus, pypoudrus (“for itinerants or travelling merchants”, adjective), from pe-poudre (see above).
cognates
* Late Latin pede pulvericatus, pede-pulverosus, pes pulverizatus (“itinerant; travelling merchant”)

nb...

pepouderous, pepoudres, pepoudrous, pepowder, pipoudre, pipoudrous, pipowder, pypowder

der

(British, law, historical) In full court of piepowders (also court of piepowder) or piepowder court: an ancient court in England held in conjunction with a fair or a market to administer summary justice over occurrences therein such as disputes between merchants and acts of theft and violence; they were presided over by the mayor and bailiffs of the borough, or by the steward if the fair or market was held by a lord.


committal hearing

en-noun

committal hearing (plural committal hearings)

The extent of HM Custom's intensified anti-gay and -lesbian campaign became increasingly apparent throughout the committal hearings as officials sought to convince Stipendiary Magistrate Burke that there was sufficient evidence to bring the case to court at the Old Bailey.

1985 August 3, Ed Cohen, “Gay's the Word, Crown Clash at Hearings”, in Gay Community News, page 1:

(law) A court case used to determine if a person must stand trial.


righthood

From Middle English *righthod, righthed, equivalent to right + -hood.

'Righthood' is achieved only when sufficient duties or powers are conferred on others that the claim can realistically be realized.

1992, Philip Alston, Stephen Parker (LL.B.), John A. Seymour, Children, Rights, and the Law - Page 227

(law) The state of being a right, or being recognised as a right.


on the books

The ban on interracial marriages remained on the books for nearly a century after its passage.

2004 October 29, Peter Wong, “Interracial-marriage ban used in Measure 36 comparisons”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 2A:

Britain already has heroin on the books as a medication.

2009 September 28, Gaëlle Faure, “Why Doctors Are Giving Heroin to Heroin Addicts”, in Time:

While a majority of states — 33 — still have the death penalty on the books, that number has also been on the decline.

2012 December 20, Ethan Bronner, “Use of Death Sentences Continues to Fall in U.S.”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-03-20:

There are a lot of battlements to breach before a national Human Rights Act is on the books. Nonetheless, there is movement at the station and a relatively unnoticed but important step is in the hands of a multi-party, joint parliamentary committee looking at combatting slavery.

2017 November 17, Richard Ackland, “Erasing modern slavery is a slow process, but it catches on in Australia”, in The Guardian:

Recorded or registered, especially in an official or definitive manner.

(law) Officially recorded in the lawbooks; having the force of enacted law.


Magna Charta

en-proper noun

Magna Charta (countable and uncountable, plural Magna Chartas or Magnae Chartae)

Magna Chartas (plural)
Magnae Chartae (plural)

/ˌmæɡnə ˈkɑːtə/

/ˌmæɡnə ˈkɑːɹtə/

My Lord Coke ſayes, It had not its name of GREAT CHARTER, from the Greatneſs of it in Quantity; for there were ſeveral Voluminous Charters, longer than this: But it was ſo called, in reſpect of the Great Importance, and Weightyneſs of the Matter; as Charta de Foresta, is called, Magna Charta de Foresta, for the ſame Cauſe; and both of them are called, Magnæ Chartæ Libertatum Angliæ; i.e. The Great Charters of the Liberties of England; and upon great Reaſon too, Quia liberos faciunt, becauſe they make us Free.

[1680, Edward Cooke, transl., Magna Charta, Made in the Ninth Year of K. Henry the Third, and Confirmed by K. Edward the First, in the Twenty-Eighth Year of His Reign. With Some Short, but Necessary Observations From The L. Chief Just. Coke’s Comments upon It. […], London: Printed by the Assignees of Richard and Edward Atkins, Esquires, for Thomas Simmons, […], →OCLC, preface, pages ii–iii:

MAGNA CHARTA. The GREAT CHARTER, Made in the Ninth Year of King Henry the Third, and Confirmed by King Edward the Firſt in the Five and twentieth Year of his Reign.

1762, Danby Pickering, The Statutes at Large, from Magna Charta to the End of the Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761. […], volume I (from Magna Charta to the 14th Year of K. Edward III. inclusive), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Printed by Joseph Bentham, printer to the University; for Charles Bathurst, […], →OCLC, page 1:

In witch-trials the conflict was officially defined as between the accused and God, or between the accused and the Catholic (later Protestant) church, as God's earthly representative. There was no attempt to make this an even match. The distribution of power between accuser and accused mirrored the relations between king and serf—one had all the power and the other none of it. Once again, we encounter the theme of domination and submission. Significantly, only in England—where, beginning in the thirteenth century with the granting of the Magna Charta, there gradually developed an appreciation of the rights and dignities of those less powerful than the king—was the fury of witch hunting mitigated by legal safe-guards and social sensibilities.

1974, Thomas S[tephen] Szasz, chapter 11, in The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 192:

(law, historical) Alternative spelling of Magna Carta

Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage


bind over

en-verb

bind over (third-person singular simple present binds over, present participle binding over, simple past and past participle bound over)

binds over (present singular third-person)
binding over (participle present)
bound over (participle past)
bound over (past)

In Middlesex, instead of being tried by jury, hundreds of suspected adulterers were instead bound over by magistrates – in other words, forced to end their alleged relationships, find respectable citizens to post bail for their good behviour, and appear in court to answer for their future conduct.

2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 48:

(law) To compel someone to do, or abstain from, a particular act.


red ball

* ("high-profile high-priority" sense) From a routing system on the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 1900s. Fast freight trains which were to receive priority routing were marked with placards depicting a red disc, and were called "red ball" trains.

A police-involved shooting is by definition a red ball and, by definition, a red ball requires every warm body.

1991, David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, →OL:

The only exception to that edict was the Eighth, the French Quarter district, since any homicide at the core of the tourist area was such a potential red ball.

2005, Eileen Dreyer, Sinners and Saints, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, →OL:

(law enforcement, slang, US) A high-profile high-priority case which draws political or media attention.


multiplepoinding

Mr. Wildgoose, Mr. Peebles's eighth agent, recommended a Multiplepoinding to bring all parties concerned into the field.

The multiplepoinding makes the fund litigious, to the effect of preventing the common debtor, to whom the fund originally belonged, from granting any voluntary conveyances of it while the action is in dependance.

1826, George Joseph Bell, Commentaries on the laws of Scotland, and on the principles of mercantile jurisprudence, Volume 2, page 299:

For tax purposes, and for them alone, the English law of charity is to be regarded as part of the law of Scotland. Lord Jauncey's decision in the action of multiplepoinding proceeded on the general law of Scotland as regards charities, and, as the Glasgow Police Athletic case shows, the decision under the corresponding English common law rules would have been different.

2007, Gary Watt, Todd and Watt's Cases and Materials on Equity and Trusts, →ISBN, page 223:

(Scotand, law) A legal action taken when there are several claimants to the same fund or property.


REA

(US, law) Initialism of request for an equitable adjustment. In contracting with government entities in the United States, used to indicate that compensation is sought for unexpected costs arising in the fulfillment of a contract.


WOSB

(US, law) Initialism of women-owned small business, a category of businesses in the law of government contracting in the United States.


outkill

outkill (third-person singular simple present outkills, present participle outkilling, simple past and past participle outkilled)

outkills (present singular third-person)
outkilling (participle present)
outkilled (participle past)
outkilled (past)

Southerners do not outkill northerners in homicides carried out during robberies, they found, only in those sparked by quarrels.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 119:

(transitive, stative) To kill more than.


unsurvived

He died unsurvived by issue.

(law) Not survived; not outlived by children.


equitable tolling

(law) A legal doctrine under which the failure of one party to meet a deadline may be excused because they were prevented from so doing by circumstances outside their control.


comprint

comprint (third-person singular simple present comprints, present participle comprinting, simple past and past participle comprinted)

comprints (present singular third-person)
comprinting (participle present)
comprinted (participle past)
comprinted (past)

After the wars, the University Printers did, for some time, continue to comprint privileged books at Oxford, as well as those at London, but soon after came to their former agreement, but for lower payments.

1781, John Gutch, Collectanea Curiosa, page 280:

Aug. 24 [1671, letter of] Dr. Thomas Yates to Sir Leoline Jenkyns. [...] My endeavour is to place our power of printing here on the same foot that the late King's great charter doth; that is, upon our prescription and usage, which if we can, then we have a right before all patents of restraint and reservation of the sole printing of some books, and then we shall not be restrained by the patents granted to the King's printers, the Stationers, and others, but shall be at liberty to comprint with them all their books, which is all we shall desire, for we are resolved to print better and with more care than those that now print, and to sell cheaper, which is the proper and best use we can make of such a privilege.

1895, Mary Anne Everett Green, Francis Henry Blackburne Daniell, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles II, Volume 11, page 445:

Proclaiming himself the trade's equivalent to Luther, he [Elizabethan printer John Wolfe] and a band of colleagues began systematically to comprint patented books.

2009, Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making, page 256:

And in 1685, the Bishop of Oxford, John Fell, similarly noted that authors granted copyrights to booksellers. Writing to John Bellinger, one of the Wardens of the Company, the Bishop stated that the University of Oxford would not 'comprint the Books that the Company have in their Patents, or belong by way of Coppyright from the Authors of Books'.

2017, Jose Bellido, Landmark Cases in Intellectual Property Law, page 52:

(UK, law, obsolete) To reprint without permission a work belonging to another.


female genital cutting

Female genital cutting (FGC) is an ancient practice that affects girls and young women around the world, defining the identity of women in cultures where it is practised.

2007 May 9, Jean-Roger Kaseki, The Guardian:

Tolerance may run out, however, when a violation breaches a sacred value, as when immigrants to Western countries practice female genital cutting, honor killings, or the sale of underage brides […].

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 764:

Female genital mutilation
female genital mutilation


doctor shopping

(medicine, crime) The illegal practice of a patient requesting treatment from multiple physicians in order to obtain prescription drugs, either to feed an addiction or resell them.


tax authority

A government organization responsible for collecting taxes.

agència tributària

government organization responsible for tax collection


thrill kill

"It was a thrill kill. Robbery was an afterthought. This is one of the most senseless murders we've had down there in years."

1988 March 9, Sheridan R. Hansen, “Police arrest 2 Utah Count teenagers for questioning in Las Vegas shooting”, in Deseret News, retrieved 2013-05-17, page B3:

"[T]his essentially was a killing for no reason, a thrill kill. . . ," said Attorney Donald Macomber.

2012 April 12, “Supreme Court Hears Appeal of Colin Koehler's Life Sentence”, in WABI TV, retrieved 2013-05-17:

(idiomatic) An act of murder motivated solely by the murderer's desire to have a very exciting experience.


heads of the bill

Mr. Monck Mason then a young barrister, on a motion that the heads of the bill should be committed, displayed great talents, liberality and thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of political economy, in a luminous speech.

1813, Mathew O'Conor, The History of the Irish Catholics from the Settlement in 1691: With a View of the State of Ireland from the Invasion by Henry II, to the Revolution:

(Ireland, law) Early draft of a bill usually agreed at cabinet but not yet published.


hold court

hold court (third-person singular simple present holds court, present participle holding court, simple past and past participle held court)

holds court (present singular third-person)
holding court (participle present)
held court (participle past)
held court (past)

Bean held court in an outhouse, the prisoner seated on a bale of flint hides. Bean was not only judge but prosecutor, as well as counsel for the defense.

1906, Andy Adams, “Rangering”, in Cattle Brands: A Collection of Western Camp-Fire Stories:

California's Acting Secretary of State . . . asked the judge in the case not to hold court on Election Day, Nov. 8, and the day before.

1994 August 14, Michael Janofsky, “Simpson Trial's Allure Puts State Politicians on the Spot”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-05-30:

(law, of a judge or equivalent official) To convene or preside over a trial or other legal proceeding in a court of law.


radar trap

In Rochester, after Kenneth Butters complained about fast driving along Woodbine Avenue, police set up a radar trap and nabbed five speeders, including Butters.

1956 September 10, “Miscellany”, in Time:

He had been allegedly clocked by a mobile radar trap on the M2 at Winston Hills at 120kmh in a 100kmh zone.

2006 December 27, Dylan Welch, “Shots fired at bus and police”, in Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, retrieved 2013-06-03:

A roadside location, manned by police or similar officials, where a device that emits a radar beam is used to monitor the speeds of motor vehicles in order to apprehend motorists in violation of the speed limit.


legislative session

en-noun

legislative session (plural legislative sessions)

(law) The period of time in which a group of legislators elected together in a general election are able to enact legislation; usually one year if general elections are conducted annually, or two years if general elections are conducted biennially.


session laws

(law) The published set of all laws passed during a specific legislative session, including those that will not be incorporated into the statutes of the jurisdiction.


parallel citation

parallel citation (plural parallel citations)

(law) In legal writing, a portion of a citation indicating an additional publication of the document cited.


Cl. Ct.

(law) Claims Court, as used in case citation.


Det.

(law, law enforcement) Abbreviation of detective.


Nat'l

(on a traffic sign) Yellowstone Nat'l Park


Telecomm.

(law) Abbreviation of telecommunication.


aff'd mem.

(law) Abbreviation of affirmed by a memorandum opinion.


S.S.

The Military Manoeuvres Enactment of the Federated Malay States [F.M.S. Cap. 43], the Military Manoeuvres Ordinance of the Straits Settlements [S.S. Cap. 103], the Military Manoeuvres Ordinance 1959 of Sabah [Sabah Ord. 26 of 1959] and the Military Manoeuvres Ordinance of Sarawak [Sarawak Ord. Cap. 23] are repealed.

1972, Parliament of Malaysia, “Section 14”, in Military Manoeuvres Act 1983 [Act 295], page 11:

Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements#English

(Malaysia, law citation) Initialism of Straits Settlements.


memorandum opinion

memorandum opinion (plural memorandum opinions)

(law, US) A judicial opinion that does not create precedent.


B.C.A.

Board of Contract Appeals
w:Board of Contract Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Board of Contract Appeals.


B.T.A.

Board of Tax Appeals
w:Board of Tax Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Board of Tax Appeals.


J.P.M.L.

w:Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

(law) Abbreviation of Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.


B.I.A.

Board of Immigration Appeals
w:Board of Immigration Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Board of Immigration Appeals.


C.M.A.

Court of Military Appeals
w:Court of Military Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Court of Military Appeals.


P.U.C.

Public Utilities Commission
w:Public Utilities Commission

(law) Abbreviation of Public Utilities Commission.


C.C.P.A.

Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
w:Court of Customs and Patent Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.


B.P.A.I.

w:Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

(law) Abbreviation of Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.


N.

Borrowed from Latin N., or an abbreviation of name.

Which in the first place, we offer up to Thee for Thy holy Catholic Church, that it may please Thee to grant her peace, to protect, unite and govern her throughout the world, together with Thy servant N. our Pope, N. our Bishop, and all true believers and professors of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith.
Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy servants and handmaids N. and N. (the priest calls to mind the living he wants to pray for) and for all here present, whose faith and devotion are known to Thee, for whom we offer, or who offer up to Thee this sacrifice of praise for themselves and all those dear to them, for the redemption of their souls, the hope of their safety and salvation : who now pay their vows to Thee, the eternal, living and true God.

1945, The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, page 972:

℣. The continuation (or beginning) of the holy Gospel according to N.
℟. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.

1962, Roman Catholic Sunday Missal Booklet, Angelus Press, page 15:

(Christianity, liturgical, law) placeholder for a particular name to be specified


ASBCA

w:Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals

(law) Abbreviation of Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.


H.D.

House of Delegates
House of Delegates#English

(law) Abbreviation of House of Delegates.


H.R.

House of Representatives
House of Representatives#English

(law) Abbreviation of House of Representatives.


Bosn. & Herz.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina#English

(law) Abbreviation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


Geor.

(law) Abbreviation of Georgia. (The country; the U.S. state is Ga.).


Dom. Rep.

Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic#English

(law) Abbreviation of Dominican Republic.


Cent. Afr. Rep.

Central African Republic
Central African Republic#English

(law) Abbreviation of Central African Republic.


Ant. & Barb.

Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda#English

(law) Abbreviation of Antigua and Barbuda.


Falk. Is.

Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands#English


subdiv.

(law) Abbreviation of subdivision. (referring to a publication)


Eq. Guinea

Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea#English

(law) Abbreviation of Equatorial Guinea.


C.M.R.

Court of Military Review
w:Court of Military Review

(law) Abbreviation of Court of Military Review.


N.S.W.

(law) Abbreviation of New South Wales. (Alternative form of NSW).


app.

(law) Abbreviation of appendix (text added to the end of a book or an article).


N. Mar. I.

Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands#English

(law) Abbreviation of Northern Mariana Islands.


Magis.

Mag.

when referring to the title of an individual officeholder


Pitcairn Is.

Pitcairn Islands
Pitcairn Islands#English


N. Ir.

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland#English


Papua N.G.

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea#English


St. Kitts & Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis#English

(law) Abbreviation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.


St. Vincent

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines#English

(law) Abbreviation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.


Trin. & Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago#English

(law) Abbreviation of Trinidad and Tobago.


Turks & Caicos Is.

Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands#English

(law) Abbreviation of Turks and Caicos Islands.


Nfld.

Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador#English

(law) Abbreviation of Newfoundland and Labrador.


U.A.E.

United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates#English

(law) Abbreviation of United Arab Emirates.


P.E.I.

Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island#English

(law) Abbreviation of Prince Edward Island.


supp.

(law, marketing) Abbreviation of supplement.


N.W.T.

Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories#English

(law) Abbreviation of Northwest Territories.


cheat the hangman

en-verb

cheat the hangman (third-person singular simple present cheats the hangman, present participle cheating the hangman, simple past and past participle cheated the hangman)

cheats the hangman (present singular third-person)
cheating the hangman (participle present)
cheated the hangman (participle past)
cheated the hangman (past)

In full "cheat the hangman of his fee", since a hangman would not be paid if there was nobody to hang.

I sincerely hope, for your sake, that Don Beltran may expiate his treason, on the old Spanish gibbet in the Recoveco, as soon as Caraccas is a little more quiet; unless, indeed, the earthquake has already cheated the hangman of his fee, as is most probable.

1831, Richard Longeville Vowell, William D. Mahoney, Campaigns and Cruises, in Venezuela and New Grenada, and in the Pacific Ocean, Longman, page 69:

Twelve were condemned to death by hanging, among them Göring, who cheated the hangman by swallowing a cyanide tablet in his cell.

2007, Bernard Wasserstein, Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in our Time, →ISBN:

To die, especially by suicide, while under sentence of death, or while guilty of a capital crime; also, to kill someone else who is in such a state.


Cust.

(law) Abbreviation of customs. (government department or agency authorized to collect the taxes imposed on imported goods)


Vict.

(law) Abbreviation of Victoria. (state of Australia)


N. Terr.

Northern Territory
Northern Territory#English

(law) Abbreviation of Northern Territory.


W. Aust.

Western Australia
Western Australia#English

(law) Abbreviation of Western Australia.


Austl. Cap. Terr.

Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory#English

(law) Abbreviation of Australian Capital Territory.


J.

(law, postnominal) Alternative form of J (“abbreviation of judge or justice”).


A.L.J.

administrative law judge
w:administrative law judge

(law) Abbreviation of administrative law judge.


V.C.

(law) Abbreviation of vi coactus (“forced by force”).


JJ.

(law, postnominal) Alternative form of JJ (“abbreviation of judges or justices”); plural of J.


Att'y Gen.

attorney general
attorney general#English


M.R.

Master of the Rolls
w:Master of the Rolls

(law) Abbreviation of Master of the Rolls.


death chamber

The room in which capital punishment is carried out.


character witness

en-noun

character witness (plural character witnesses)

(law) A witness called to provide evidence with respect to the reputation, conduct or moral standing of a party.


community property

(law) Property acquired during a marriage, excluding gifts and inheritances, that is owned jointly by both spouses and is divided upon divorce, annulment or death (in the United States: marital property as divided equally in California and some other states, as opposed to equitable distribution, the practice in most states).


all-points bulletin

all-points bulletin (plural all-points bulletins)

(law enforcement) A broadcast issued from one law enforcement agency to another, typically containing information about a wanted suspect or a person of interest.


iron triangle

Together, agribusiness, shipping companies and NGOs form what some have called the “iron triangle” of special interests, blocking reform of the controversial in-kind system.

2012 July 19, Claire Provost, “US food aid: the special interests blocking reform”, in The Guardian:

(by extension) Any self-reinforcing power structure, whether intentional or accidental, formal or informal.


anticonversion

en-adj

anticonversion (comparative more anticonversion, superlative most anticonversion)

more anticonversion (comparative)
most anticonversion (superlative)

anticonversion laws in India

(law, religion) Opposing or preventing conversion from one religion to another.

anticonversão

opposing or preventing religious conversion


material witness

en-noun

material witness (plural material witnesses)

(law) A person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding, and who therefore may be detained to insure their participation in such a proceeding.


data controller

data controller (plural data controllers)

(UK, law) A nominated person who determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data is to be processed. (under the Data Protection Act)


OFC

(military, law enforcement) Abbreviation of officer.


ignorantia juris non excusat

Borrowed from Latin ignōrantia factī excūsat, ignōrantia jūris nōn excūsat (“ignorance of fact excuses, ignorance of law does not excuse”).

bor

[…] it is an offence against the duty of his place, and a forfeiture of his office; though I do believe Dr. Bury did not intend upon this to affront the bishop, but ignorantia juris non excusat; if the law be so, we cannot alter it.

1908, “Term. Trin. 6 Will. & Mar. R. B.”, in The English Reports, volume XC: King’s Bench Division (XIX), Edinburgh: William Green & Sons, page 219:

Dr Killen noted that while ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance of the low is no excuse) may apply the advice showed that his father, the late Mr G. L. Killen, who was chairman and managing director of Marra at the time, was entitled to believe he was acting lawfully and properly.

1979 December 29, Greg Bright, “Pressure off the Stock Exchange”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, number 44,318, page 28:

I pleaded no contest to a $15 parking ticket and Judge Pro Tem Noel Grefenson, probably eager to get lunch after a long morning, took mercy and discharged my fine with an admonishment of ignorantia juris non excusat. ¶ Actually, he didn’t scold me in Latin, but I got his drift nonetheless: “Ignorance of the law does not excuse” abiding by it.

2004 October 29, Carol McAlice Currie, “Unposted laws make downtown seem unwelcoming”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 1C:

Ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse.


AUSA

assistant United States attorney
assistant United States attorney

(US, law) initialism of assistant United States attorney

assistant United States district attorney


EADA

executive assistant district attorney#English

(US, law) Initialism of executive assistant district attorney.


law firm

(law) A business formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law.


suspensively

en-adv

suspensively (comparative more suspensively, superlative most suspensively)

more suspensively (comparative)
most suspensively (superlative)


Insp

(law enforcement) Abbreviation of inspector.


co-decision

(law) A procedure, in the European Union, that requires consensus to be reached between the Council and the Parliament for legislation to be adopted


nomophylactic

en-adj

nomophylactic (comparative more nomophylactic, superlative most nomophylactic)

more nomophylactic (comparative)
most nomophylactic (superlative)

(law) That upholds or protects the law, especially its uniform interpretation


kito

This type of blackmail, where an LGBT person is entrapped, is known in Nigeria's gay community as "kito" - the exact origin of the term is unclear. BBC Africa Eye interviewed 21 people in all about their experiences of being "kito'd".

2023 May 15, Ian Wafula, Tamasin Ford, “The Nigerians lured into a trap and blackmailed for being gay”, in BBC News:

One LGBTQ+ advocacy group that works with Nigerians told BBC Africa Eye that, each week, 15 to 20 people reach out to them with similar stories of entrapment and extortion. The scheme is known in Nigeria's gay community as "kito."

2023 May 16, Dylan Reber, “Gay Men in Nigeria Targeted in Dating App Extortion Scheme”, in Advocate:

(Nigeria, LGBT) A type of blackmail on LGBT people


stop-and-search

Adding to the department's problems is a long-running controversy over a stop-and-search policy that includes random searches of young black men.

1990 January 18, Constance L. Hays, “3 Cases Raise Questions on Boston Police Methods”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-08-20:

The high court renewed its decision to throw out evidence in a 1992 Montgomery County traffic stop-and-search case that uncovered a small amount of marijuana and a methamphetamine pill.

1997 November 13, Rob Modic, “Motorist Must Know "Free to Go"”, in Dayton Daily News, USA, retrieved 2013-08-20:

Both parties support ‘stop and search’ – also known as ‘sus’ laws. Under these laws, the police can stop anyone under ‘reasonable’ suspicion that they could commit a crime.

2008, Simon Assaf, “London mayor elections: Ken and Boris launch a war on young people”, in Socialist Worker, UK, retrieved 2013-08-20:

A U.S. judge has ruled the New York Police Department has violated the rights of tens of thousands of people by intentionally discriminating against racial minorities with its controversial "stop-and-search" policy.

2013 August 12, “US Court says NYPD ‘Stop-and-Search’ Violates Rights”, in Voice of America, retrieved 2013-08-20:

(law, law enforcement) Of or pertaining to laws or policing practices, found in some jurisdictions, which permit a law enforcement officer to temporarily detain and search a member of the public based on the officer's suspicions.


tax dodger

The idea of a British warship supposedly menacing Spain is ludicrous. Is it meant to bomb Cadiz? Will its guns lift a rush-hour tailback in a colony that most Britons regard as awash with tax dodgers, drug dealers and right-wing whingers? The Gibraltarians have rights, but why British taxpayers should send warships to enforce them, even if just "on exercise", is a mystery.

2013 August 14, Simon Jenkins, The Guardian:

(informal) Someone who commits tax avoidance or tax evasion.


prime suspect

The police had found the getaway car in the field. The rain had washed most of the yellow paint off the Mini to reveal the Union Jack underneath. There was no doubt that the car was Queenie. This led the police to their prime suspect, the car’s owner, Gilbert Goodie.

2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(law) A person who is considered by the law enforcement agency investigating a crime to be the most likely suspect.


lock someone up and throw away the key

en-verb

lock<> someone up and throw<,,threw,thrown> away the key

lock someone up and throw away the key (third-person singular simple present locks someone up and throws away the key, present participle locking someone up and throwing away the key, simple past locked someone up and threw away the key, past participle locked someone up and thrown away the key)

(idiomatic, informal) To lock someone up in prison indefinitely.


share and share alike

"And your father and mine have purchased all this land in company, you say—share and share alike, as the lawyers call it."

1845, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 4, in Satanstoe:

[O]n his decease, the principal to be equally divided between Peggotty, little Emily, and me, or the survivor or survivors of us, share and share alike.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 31, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

[T]he husband, ordered by the court to divide his property share and share alike, sawed the family piano in half, together with the tables, chairs, pictures, rugs and draperies, and loading these on a truck had the halves carted to the new home of his wife.

2000 September 27, “In Our Pages 75 Years Ago”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-04:

(law) Equal rights to or equal portions of profits, assets, bequests, or other valuable items legally owed to investors, partners, beneficiaries, or other named associates. If one beneficiary is unable to benefit (for instance, if they have died), their share is divided among the others.


J.P.

Mr. John Smith, J.P.

Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace

(law, abbreviation) Abbreviation of Justice of the Peace, usually used after the name of a person who holds this office.


Bl. Com.

As well the existence of private customs must be shewn, as that the thing in dispute is within the custom alledged. 1 Bl. Com. 76.

1787, Charles Durnford, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Kings' Bench, Parts 5-7, page 469:

A manor could not legally exist without a court baron.⁽¹⁾
⁽¹⁾ 2 Bl. Com. 90. 3 Bl. Com. 33. 4 Bl. Com. 273.

1838, Thomas Sergeant, View of Land Laws of Pennsylvania, page 195:

Fealty. Belongs to copyhold, as to all feudal tenures, except estates at will. (1 Th. Co. Lit. 675 ; 2 Bl. Com. 97.) 2e.

1877, John Barbee Minor, Institutes of Common and Statute Law, volume 2, page 70:

Feudum antiquum ; an ancient feud or fief ; a fief descended to the vassal from his ancestors. 2 Bl. Com. 212, 221.

1987, Alexander M. Burrill, A Law Dictionary and Glossary, page 620:

He saw necessity as amounting to a 'defect of the will' which renders one incapable of committing a crime, 4 Bl. Com. 27.

2011, Eimear Spain, The Role of Emotions in Criminal Law Defences, page 117:

(law) Abbreviation of Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England.

Commentaries on the Laws of England
William Blackstone


racial profiling

en-noun

racial profiling (usually uncountable, plural racial profilings)

This legislation represents a substantial step toward ending an insidious form of discrimination that is plaguing African-American and Hispanic drivers on our roadways — racial profiling.

1999, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 106th Congress, First Session, vol. 145, part 5, p. 6720 (Google preview)

A recent report on the Ontario government's safe schools policy in the Toronto district school board addressed the issue of racial profilings in the educational system, especially with regard to the disproportionate impact of suspensions and expulsions on racialized students.

2006, Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Canada's Economic Apartheid, →ISBN, page 192:

A special unit of the TSA at Newark Liberty International Airport, trained to detect suspicious behavior, reportedly earned the nickname "Mexican hunters" for racial profiling.

2011 June 15, “Quotes of the Day”, in Time, retrieved 2013-09-10:

A recent campaign by Stockholm police to crack down on illegal immigrants by racial profiling at the city's subway turnstiles has formed the backdrop to a reignited debate about racism.

2013 April 2, Sven Hultberg Carlsson, “Does Sweden have a racial profiling problem?”, in Christian Science Monitor, retrieved 2013-09-10:

Racial profiling is emerging as a flashpoint in Japan as increasing numbers of migrant workers, foreign residents and mixed-race Japanese change the country’s traditionally homogenous society and test deep-seated suspicion toward outsiders.

2024 March 4, Victoria Kim, Hisako Ueno, “Racial Profiling in Japan Is Prevalent but Unseen, Some Residents Say”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(public policy, law enforcement) The practice (usually considered discreditable), by some police and other officials, of treating members of certain racial groups as more likely to be involved in criminal or other antisocial behavior than members of other racial groups.


Carib.

For criticism of the decision see R. Bacchus, "The Development of the Law of Wrongful Dismissal in the Commonwealth Caribbean" [1991] 1 Carib. L.R. 13.

1992, Journal of Individual Employment Rights: IER, volume 1, page 175:

'Fundamental Rights and Democratic Governance in the Commonwealth Caribbean.' (1996) 6 Carib. L. Rev.1 (1996).

1997, Simeon C. R. McIntosh, Fundamental Rights and Democratic Governance: Essays in Caribbean Jurisprudence, page 330:

Winston Anderson, 'Treaty making in Caribbean law and practice: The question of parliamentary participation" (1998) 8 Carib. LR 75.

1998, Caribbean Law Bulletin, volume 3, page 159:

Glomeropitcairnia Mez. Bromeliaceae (2). 2 Carib. R: FN 14(1977)1388.

2008, D. J. Mabberley, Mabberley's Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, Their Classification and Uses, page 362:

Chapman, V. J. 1962. Respiration in mangrove seedlings. Bull. Mar. Sci. Gulf and Carib. 12:137-167.

2012, Robert J. Mold, Ecology of Halophytes, page 389:

(law, sciences) Abbreviation of Caribbean.


hempie

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A criminal; someone who deserves to be, or is likely to be, hanged.


arrha

(law, historical) Money or some other valuable item given to evidence a contract; a pledge or earnest.

arrhes

money or valuables given to evidence a contract


ITO

(law enforcement) Initialism of information to obtain order.; A search warrant


youth detention centre

youth detention centre (plural youth detention centres)

juvenile delinquents
juvenile delinquent

A secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs.


isegoria

equality of all citizen in freedom of speech, specially in public assemblies.


judicial review

judicial review (plural judicial reviews)

Since it appears that judicial review is here to stay, some who remain troubled by it urge that at the very least the enterprise of judges deciding constitutional questions should be limited to discovering the intent of the Framers.

1987 January 2, Irving R. Kaufman, “Opinion: No Way to Interpret the Constitution”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-10-24:

(law, uncountable) The doctrine, implemented in varying ways in differing jurisdictions, that authorities within the judicial branch of government may examine and make rulings on the legal validity of decisions and actions of the legislative and executive branches of government and, in some jurisdictions, of others within the judicial branch itself.

[T]he senate committee on interstate commerce adjourned until next Thursday without having taken a vote on the bill or considered an amendment for a judicial review of the orders of the interstate commerce commission.

1906 February 17, “Senate Shied at Rate Vote”, in Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho, USA, retrieved 2013-10-24, page 1:

After one of Britain's most politically sensitive judicial reviews, a three-judge court today upheld the convictions of six men for the murder of 21 people in the bombing of a Birmingham pub in 1974.

1988 January 29, Steve Lohr, “British Back Guilt of 6, Upsetting Irish”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-10-24:

"The Obama Administration continues to shield Bush-era torturers from accountability in civil proceedings by blocking judicial review of their illegal behavior," said Steven Watt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

2010 November 18, Nick Assinder, “Gitmo Inmates Settlement: Why Britain Decided to Pay”, in Time, retrieved 2013-10-24:

(law, countable) A judicial process undertaken under this doctrine.


arraignable

[…] if a Parliament be triable and arraignable before the King himselfe: Then hath the King an unlimited declarative power of Law above all Courts, in his own breast;

1642, anonymous author, Reasons Why This Kingdome Ought to Adhere to the Parliament, London, page 11:

[…] however I may be arraignable for any Error in my Judgment, I am perfectly free from aught of Sinister in my Intention with regard to the present Matter.

1755, anonymous author, Serious Reflections on the Manifold Dangers Attending the Use of Copper Vessels, London: M. Cooper, page 32:

1881, T. W. Rolleston, letter dated 29 January, 1881, in Whitman and Rolleston: A Correspondence, Dublin: Browne and Nolan, 1952, p. 22,
Their words may not have been arraignable by law, (though in many cases they were so) but they were such as their hearers could give but one interpretation to.

A number of Cook County vice cops scattered through the room with notebooks and tape machines, sucking up every arraignable word.

1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld, New York: Scribner, Part 5, Chapter 5, p. 583:

(law) For which a person is liable to be arraigned.


statutory law

(law, countable) A law enacted by a legislative body.

(law, uncountable) The complete corpus of laws enacted by legislation and currently in effect within a jurisdiction.

säädösoikeus

complete corpus of legislatively-enacted laws

statute law

the complete corpus of laws enacted by legislation and current in effect within a jurisdiction


geo-blocking

From geo- + blocking or geo-block + -ing.

(computing, Internet) The use of geolocation software to deny access to content to users from certain regions or countries.


clean chit

clean chit (countable and uncountable, plural clean chits)

(India) A (usually oral) exoneration given by law enforcement agencies to suspects in a crime, likely to be flawed.


UNCLOS

International law recognizes similar avigation rights over the global commons. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)⁸ provides that all states—and, by extension, their nationals—may enjoy the freedom of the high seas, which includes the right to fly aircraft over the high seas and the exclusive economic zones.⁹

2014, John G Sprankling, “Rights in Airspace and Outer Space”, in The International Law of Property, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 173:

(UN) Acronym of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.


law of the land

Besides it must be remembered that precedents in some cases will not excuse a judge, even where they are according to the undoubted law of the land.

1724, The Drapier's Letters, Jonathan Swift, Appendix 4:

Hackney-coaches are part and parcel of the law of the land; they were settled by the Legislature; plated and numbered by the wisdom of Parliament.

1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “chapter-7”, in Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC:

He confessed that neither he nor any citizen had a right to consult his own feelings or conscience in a case where a law of the land had been violated before his own eyes.

1873, Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, chapter 29, in The Gilded Age:

I am on the side of the established authorities. I am in the cast-iron position of the man who falls into line with the law of the land.

1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 14, in An Amiable Charlatan:

"I'm dressed as a woman, but I am still technically a man. I believe that to comply with the law of the land I ought to continue to use the Gents', but in order not to look out place I intend to use the Ladies' from now on. I trust none of you will grass on me..."

2004, David Nobbs, Sex and Other Changes, page 95:

"A lot of other people don’t like it. But what’s law is law and you abide by the law of the land."

2013 September 24, Manny Fernandez, “In Corner of Arkansas, Frustration but No Panic Over Possible Shutdown”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-11-17:

So why not rob these red cloaks? Serves em right for letting their guard down. Isn’t that the unwritten law of the land? If someone gets one up on you, you deserve it for letting them?

2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

(law) A particular law or the complete set of laws currently in effect within a jurisdiction, especially with emphasis on the official and authoritative nature of such law.


Penglai City

A translation of Mandarin Chinese 蓬莱市 (pénglái).

(law) Synonym of Penglai, a city in China.


Tainan City

Calque from Chinese 臺南市 (literally “Tainan city”), the formal name of Tainan

Chungshe is one of eleven villages in Liuchia township, Tainan county (see Maps 2 and 3). It lies about 30 kilometers northeast of Tainan city.

1972, Burton Pasternak, Kinship & Community in Two Chinese Villages, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 10:


Universal Credit

So now Mahmood was in debt and his existing benefits were stopped because the DWP computer thought he was receiving universal credit.

2019 October 14, Robert Booth, “Computer says no: the people trapped in universal credit's 'black hole'”, in The Guardian:

(taxation) A welfare benefit in the United Kingdom, replacing previous benefits and tax credits, gradually rolled out from 2013 and expected to cover the whole country by the end of 2024.


hybristophilia

From Ancient Greek ὑβρίζειν (hubrízein, “to commit an outrage against someone”), + -philia.

bor

A paraphilia involving attraction to somebody who has committed a crime or outrage.


residuary clause

en-noun

residuary clause (plural residuary clauses)

(law) The part of the testator's will in which the residue of the estate is disposed of.


residuary devise

residuary devise (plural residuary devises)

(law) The person to whom the residue of real estate is devised by a will.


residuary legatee

residuary legatee (plural residuary legatees)

(law) The person to whom the residue of personal estate is bequeathed.


privileged debt

privileged debt (plural privileged debts)

(law, finance) A debt to which a preference in payment is given out of the estate of a deceased or insolvent person.


ouster le main

he had to pay half - a - year's profits as a fine for suing out his ouster le main , or livery

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(law) A delivery of lands out of the hands of a guardian, or out of the king's hands, or a judgement given for that purpose.