mandamus

mandamus (countable and uncountable, plural mandamuses)

I admit to all my learned friends that a Mandamus does not issue where there is another course of proceeding by which the thing can be effected; but I again state to your Lordships, that if in this case a Mandamus must not issue, there is no other proceeding that can be adopted.

1833 January 21, “Proceedings in the Court of King's Bench, on Monday 21st January 1833”, in Proceedings Connected with the Writ of Mandamus Issued by His Majesty's Court of King's Bench Against the Court of Directors of the East-India Company, […], London: J. L. Cox and Son, →OCLC, page 94:

And then it was moved that the court would grant a mandamus to the delegates to admit the bishop's allegations: and it was compared to the cases where they grant mandamuses to compel the granting of probates of wills or letters of administration.

1849, Richard Jebb, “Cause Shown against the Rule [Regina v. The Archbishop of Canterbury]”, in A Report of the Case of the Right Rev. R[enn] D[ickson] Hampden, D.D., […], London: Richard Benning and Co., →OCLC, page 311:

A mandamus is a writ commanding the execution of an act, where otherwise justice would be obstructed, or the king's charter neglected, issuing regularly only in cases relating to the public and the government; and is therefore termed […] a prerogative writ.

1856, Mathew Bacon with Joseph Sayer, Owen Ruffhead, Henry Gwyllim, Charles Edward Dodd, Bird Wilson, and John Bouvier, A New Abridgment of the Law, volume VI, Philadelphia, Pa.: T. & J. W. Johnson & Co., →OCLC, page 419:

The lord is compellable by mandamus to admit the surrenderee, that is, the person to whose use the surrender is made.

1876, Herbert Newman Mozley, George Crispe Whiteley, A Concise Law Dictionary, page 435:

(law) A common law prerogative writ that compels a court or government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly.


dispone

en-verb

dispone (third-person singular simple present dispones, present participle disponing, simple past and past participle disponed)

dispones (present singular third-person)
disponing (participle present)
disponed (participle past)
disponed (past)

From French, from Latin disponĕre (“to arrange”).

The said William Aitken, being of new solemnly sworn, &c., depones he is a Burgess of Hawick, and had the property of a house which he now liferents, the fee being disponed to his son-in-law, Bailie Robert Scot, for the use of his son William, his daughter, Bailie Scot's wife, having paid the price of the house; depones sixty years ago Gilbert Elliot was tenant in Nether Southfield, who broke Hawick Common by plowing a part of it, which the Deponent saw at the Common-Riding when the Magistrates and other persons at the Common-Riding potched the ground he had plowed, and was then sown that he might not reap the crop of this.

1898, R. S. Craig, Adam Laing, The Hawick Tradition of 1514: The Town's Common Flag and Seal, page 240:

(transitive, law) To convey legal authority to another.


null and void

(idiomatic, law) invalid, cancelled, unenforceable


lustration

en-noun

lustration (countable and uncountable, plural lustrations)

(politics, law) The restoration of credibility to a government by the purging of perpetrators of crimes committed under an earlier regime.

люстра́цыя

restoration of credibility to a government by the purging earlier perpetrators


lienholder

registered owner
registered owner#English

(law) Used in instances of title of property (such as a vehicle) to refer to the person who has right of property, as opposed to the party that merely has right of possession. The party that only has right of possession is referred to as a registered owner, and in the event the registered owner fails to pay off the lien according to the agreed-to terms, the lienholder has the right to invoke repossession of the property (vehicle).


discoverable

en-adj

discoverable (comparative more discoverable, superlative most discoverable)

more discoverable (comparative)
most discoverable (superlative)

/dɪsˈkʌvɹəbəɫ/

/dɪsˈkʊvɹəbəɫ/

(law) Subject to legal discovery; able to be requested by an opposing party through a legal process such as a subpoena.


stirpes

From Latin stirpēs, a plural and a collateral form of stirps (“rootstock”).

(law) branches, lines of descent, used in the legal expression per stirpes.


per stirpes

From Latin per (“by, through”) and stirpēs (“rootstock”).

(law) A method of distributing an estate to the descendants or heirs of a deceased legatee in which the estate is divided equally among the branches of a family or designated heirs, without regard to differing numbers of people in different branches.

por estirpe

method of distributing an estate to the descendants of a deceased legatee in which the estate is divided equally among the branches of a family, without regard to differing numbers of people in different branches


muckraker

John Bunyan
The Pilgrim's Progress
Theodore Roosevelt
muckraker

From muck + raker. Believed to have been coined following a 1906 speech by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, in which he likened the investigative journalist to ‘the Man with the Muck-rake’, a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

The paper gave a start to the theater critic Hilton Als and the novelist Colson Whitehead, both recipients of the Pulitzer Prize. Its resident muckraker, Wayne Barrett, took aim at New York developers and politicians for nearly 40 years, and his obsessive work on Donald J. Trump has become a resource for reporters covering the president today.

2018 August 31, Tyler Pager, Jaclyn Peiser, “The Village Voice, a New York Icon, Closes”, in The New York Times:

en:principled justice-seeking type of investigative journalist

(US) One who investigates and exposes issues of corruption that often violate widely held values; e.g. one who exposes political corruption or the poor conditions in prisons.


orphan drug

(US, law) A drug as defined under the Orphan Drug Act (1983).


necktie party

"I expect I'll have an invite to a necktie-party some day. . . . I'm always afraid the wrong necktie will be mine. Were you ever lynched?"

1904, B. M. Bower, “The Lamb”, in The Lonesome Trail and Other Stories:

I made my jail break just in time to keep from being invited as chief guest to a necktie party.

1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in A Texas Ranger:

One peasant threw a grass rope over a hook high on the pole. Said Shupe: "It sure looked like a necktie party was being organized. I had no doubt they were going to hang me."

1958 July 21, “Foreign Relations: Back from Russia”, in Time:

Last week, my 17-year-old son and I went to see the movie True Grit. . . . A triple hanging kicks the thing off with a snap as three corpses jerk violently from the gallows. The necktie party is followed by shootings, stabbings and a smorgasbord of violence.

2011 January 17, Paul Andersen, “Cultural necrophilia”, in Aspen Times, USA, retrieved 2011-06-30:

(US, idiomatic, dated) An execution by hanging, especially a lynching.


noyance

From Middle English noyaunce, partly an aphetic form of anoyaunce, partly directly from Anglo-Norman noyaunce.


drunk and disorderly

(law, of conduct) Illegal because of public intoxication


public intoxication

[…] they urged State governments to adopt new comprehensive legislation in which alcoholism would be viewed as an illness and public intoxication would no longer be handled as a criminal offense.

1973, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Uniform Alcoholism and Intoxication Treatment Act, page 3:

(law) The criminal offence of being drunk in a public place.


criminal offence

en-noun

criminal offence (plural criminal offences)

Wearing a face covering also remains a requirement on all Transport for London services, where it has become a Condition of Carriage. This means that while non-compliance is no longer a criminal offence and punishable with a fine, passengers can still be asked to leave or prevented from boarding.

2022 February 9, “Network News: Regulations on face coverings risk leaving passengers confused”, in RAIL, number 950, page 6:


admeasure

en-verb

admeasure (third-person singular simple present admeasures, present participle admeasuring, simple past and past participle admeasured)

admeasures (present singular third-person)
admeasuring (participle present)
admeasured (participle past)
admeasured (past)

From Middle English amesure, from Anglo-Norman amesurer, admesurer, from Medieval Latin admēnsūrō. Compare Classical Latin admētior (“measure out to”).

ncog

(transitive, law) To survey and lay off a due portion to, as of dower in real estate or of pasture held in common.


vicinage

From Old French visnage, respelled to more closer match its Latin source vīcīnus (“neighbor”).

(British, US, law) The area where a crime was committed, a trial is being held, or the community from which jurors are drawn.

(New Jersey, law) A geographical division of the New Jersey Superior Court, covering one or more counties, for judicial administration and the assignment of venue to an action within the Superior Court


juvie

en-noun

juvie (countable and uncountable, plural juvies)

From juvenile + -ie with elision; morphologically analogous to bougie = bourgeoisie + -ie/-y.

youth detention centre
youth detention centre#English

(colloquial) Synonym of juvenile hall (youth detention centre).

établissement pénitentiaire pour mineurs


empanel

The verb is from Middle English empanellen, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empaneller.

When the Maior of the Citie, the two Dukes, and the two chiefe Juſtices, were ſet in Guyldhall for the performance of their commiſſion, and began to call the empanels for the enquirie, as the vſe and other is, diuers light witted, and leſſe brayned perſons of the citie, priuely armed them, and by the ringing of Bow bell, thought to aſſemble together a great multitude of their minde and opinion, and ſo by force and might to take from the kepers all ſuch priſoners, as were before apprehended, for the late committed robbery and riot, as they were goyng to their triall or arreignment.

1569, Richard Grafton, “Henrye the Sixt”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 630:


notwithstanding clause

notwithstanding clause (plural notwithstanding clauses)

Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Secretary of State Lucien Bouchard is standing firm on his defence of Quebec's use of the constitutional "notwithstanding" clause to safeguard the French language in that province.

1989 January 12, Ross Howard, “Bouchard stands firm in defending Quebec on language move”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, page A4:

Literary critic William Empson identified seven kinds of ambiguity. Had he looked further, he might have discerned an eighth—Canada's constitutional debate, complete with notwithstanding clauses, devolutions and non-derogations, asymmetries and distinct identities.

1990, Keith Henderson, "Creative ambiguity" (Review of A Canadian Challenge by Christian Dufour), The Globe and Mail, Toronto, 15 Dec, p. C24

The struggle for gay rights took a historic leap forward yesterday with a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision. . . . Alberta Premier Ralph Klein suggested his province might use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to override any similar decision affecting Alberta.

1999 May 21, Kirk Makin, “Gay couples win rights”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, page A1:

(Canada, law) Section 33 of Part I (Charter of Rights and Freedoms) of the Canadian Constitution Act (1982), which permits the creation of laws without regard for certain constitutional rights. Specifically, under section 33 the federal and provincial governments may enact laws "notwithstanding" section 2 (Fundamental Freedoms) and sections 7 through 15 (Legal and Equality Rights) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Such laws may be in effect for up to five years and are renewable.

The emergency legislation stopped short of leaving the convention and does not include “notwithstanding clauses” which would allow ministers to ignore the ECHR and other international treaties in the area of asylum.

2023, Rajeev Syal, “Sunak's bill aims to block UK human rights law to save Rwanda scheme”, in The Guardian, London:

(law) A clause within a legal instrument that occurs in spite of any other clause that forbids it.


fenya

A Russian cant language used among criminals.


continuando

(UK, law, obsolete) The situation where a plaintiff recovered damages for several trespasses in the same action.


prestate

en-verb

prestate (third-person singular simple present prestates, present participle prestating, simple past and past participle prestated)

prestates (present singular third-person)
prestating (participle present)
prestated (participle past)
prestated (past)

From Latin praestatus, from Latin praestō (“I provide, show, vouch for”). Compare also prest, imprest, prestation, prestable.

der

assume responsibility
take responsibility

(transitive, law, otherwise archaic) To assume responsibility for, undertake.

(transitive, law, otherwise archaic) To indemnify, guarantee, secure (against loss or legal liability).

(transitive, law, otherwise archaic) To vouch for, support.


excise tax

en-noun

excise tax (usually uncountable, plural excise taxes)

Any of various taxes levied on the production or sale of certain goods, especially on luxuries, tobacco, alcohol etc.

akcizë

any of various taxes levied on the production or sale of certain goods, especially on luxuries, tobacco, alcohol etc.


phonogram

/ˈfəʊ.nə.ɡɹæm/

/ˈfɑ.nəˌɡɹæm/

(law) An audio recording, regardless of physical format.


send up

en-verb

send up (third-person singular simple present sends up, present participle sending up, simple past and past participle sent up)

sends up (present singular third-person)
sending up (participle present)
sent up (participle past)
sent up (past)

The judge sent him up for three years.

"I guess you're a wise one, all right, but what's the use? I tell you we've got enough on you already to send you up. You might as well talk straight."

1913, Rex Stout, Her Forbidden Knight, Carroll & Graf, published 1997, →ISBN, page 161:

(transitive, US, slang) To put in prison.


solatium

en-noun

solatium (countable and uncountable, plural solatia)

(law) A form of compensation for emotional rather than physical or financial harm.


after-acquired title

after-acquired title (plural after-acquired titles)

(law) Legal ownership of a piece of real property obtained by a party after that party has already purported to sell a falsely claimed present interest in the property to another.


abuse of discretion

abuse of discretion (plural abuses of discretion)

(law) The rendering of a decision by a court that is so unreasonable in light of the facts of the case or is such an unreasonable deviation from legal precedent that it must be reversed.

(law) Any action by a government official by which that official renders decisions for a clearly improper purpose.


estoppel by deed

(law) A legal doctrine under which a first party who purports to sell real property that the first party does not actually own to a second party must actually convey that property to the second party if the first party later acquires title to that property.

(law, archaic) The doctrine that a party is bound to a claim which that party made in order to induce another party to act.


constitutional law

(law) The area of law which deals with the interpretation and application of a constitution, particularly that of a national government.


public law

(law) A category of law governing the relationship between the state on the one hand and persons (citizens or legal persons including corporations) on the other. Constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are some of the major subdivisions of public law.


decime

From Latin decima (“a tenth; a tithing”). Doublet of decima and dime.

(historical, law, obsolete) Synonym of tithing (a division of the hundreds of medieval England)


cognati

with the consent of her cognati

1858, George Long, M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes:


dummy bid

(business) A bid made at an auction, by a dummy bidder acting in collusion with the auctioneer or vendor, designed to deceive genuine bidders into paying more.


framer

(historical, capitalized, US, law) Any of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.


tutorship

(law) legal and financial guardianship under which the ward is a minor


renter

(law) One who owns or controls property and rents that property to another.

наемател

One who owns or controls property and allows others to use it for a fee


abandoned property

abandoned property (countable and uncountable, plural abandoned properties)

(law) Property that is found in such a state as to make it likely that the original owner has intentionally given up all dominion and control over the property, with no intent of returning to or recovering the property.


tax free

Of an item being sold with the proprietor paying the taxes on behalf of the consumer, or of an item that exploits a particular loophole (or an intentional temporary waiver of a particular tax by the government.)


death penalty

And if you would like one more fact about this worthy, he was responsible for an Act on the statute book abolishing the death penalty for cattle rustling.

2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 71:

Joe Biden deserves the death penalty and Jonald Trump bad.

2024 June 4, very tall bart, 0:09 from the start, in [YTP] Jordan Peterson confesses, spoken by Joe Biden (Joe Biden):

(law) A punishment in which the offender is put to death by the state.

dënim me vdekje

state punishment of death — see also capital punishment


at Her Majesty's pleasure

The Governor serves at Her Majesty's pleasure.

The murderer was imprisoned at Her Majesty's pleasure.

(law, of a position notionally granted or imposed by a queen) indefinitely; for an arbitrary period determined by the monarch or her government (especially for indefinite tenure or imprisonment)


duplicando

(Scots law) Alternative form of duplicand


in terrorem clause

in terrorem clause (plural in terrorem clauses)

(law) A provision in a will that disinherits any beneficiary who raises a challenge against the will.


disallowance

disallowance (countable and uncountable, plural disallowances)

From dis- + allowance and disallow + -ance; may be analyzed as dis- + allow + -ance.

Coordinate term: reservation

(law, politics) A power a higher level authority has to disallow particular legislation of the lower level jurisdiction; such as a federal government disallowing state/provincial legislation, or the British monarch disallowing colonial legislation.


mislaid property

(law) Property that is found in such a state as to make it likely that the original owner intentionally placed it somewhere, but then forgot to retrieve it from that place, and would be able to locate the property.


lost property

lost property (usually uncountable, plural lost properties)

lost and found
lost, mislaid, and abandoned property

(law) Property that is found in such a state as to make it likely that the original owner unintentionally ceased to be in possession of the property, and would be unable to locate the property.


disponer

(law, Scotland, historical) Someone who legally transfers their own property to another.


overage

overage (countable and uncountable, plural overages)

/ˈəʊvəɹɪd͡ʒ/

(property law) Any additional sums payable following the purchase of land, calculated on a prearranged basis, on the occurrence of certain specified events that are deemed to increase the value of that land; usually in the context of the development and further sale of that land.


competence

competence (countable and uncountable, plural competences)

Borrowed from French compétence, from Late Latin competentia.

আহলিয়াত

the quality or state of being competent for a general role.

আহলিয়াত

the quality or state of being competent for a particular task.

K C Wheare's definition of federalism requires that two governments be independent and co-ordinate within their own spheres, generally set out by the division of competences codified in a constitution, which is supreme.

2016, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, “Division of competences in the European Union”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Also, the Constitutional Court has tried to reduce impunity in cases of human rights abuses by narrowly interpreting the legal competence of military justice to investigate military and police officers.

2003, Rodrigo Uprimny, “The constitutional court and control of presidential extraordinary powers in Colombia”, in Democratization, archived from the original on 2021-05-09:

(countable, law, politics) the legal authority to deal with a matter.


re-examination

(law) Subsequent questioning of a witness after cross-examination.

(law, US) In United States patent law, a procedure under which an issued patent is returned to the examiner to determine if it remains valid in light of newly discovered prior art.


publicly held

(law) Of a corporation or other business entity: owned by shareholders who may buy or sell their shares to anyone through a stock exchange.

listattu

with shares traded through a stock exchange


defaulter

[dɪˈfɔːɫtə(ɹ)]

one who fails to fulfill an obligation or perform a task, especially a legal or financial one.


limited-liability

(law) Of a business entity, having liability for legal claims that is limited to the assets of the entity itself, and which therefore does not reach the assets of the individual owners/investors of the company.


demurral

demurral (countable and uncountable, plural demurrals)


prison-bound

en-adj

prison-bound (comparative more prison-bound, superlative most prison-bound)

more prison-bound (comparative)
most prison-bound (superlative)


determinable

determinable (comparative more determinable, superlative most determinable)

more determinable (comparative)
most determinable (superlative)

(law) able to be decided or settled by law

(law, postpositive) Of a tenure or estate in land, able to be determined on the occurrence of some event.


go bad

en-verb

go bad (third-person singular simple present goes bad, present participle going bad, simple past went bad, past participle gone bad)

goes bad (present singular third-person)
going bad (participle present)
went bad (past)
gone bad (participle past)

(of a person or entity) to cease to be reputable and instead become delinquent, criminal, immoral, corrupt or poorly behaved.


querent

From Latin querens, present participle of queror (“I complain”).

(law, historical) A complainant; a plaintiff.


prison chaser

A "prison chaser" is a soldier assigned to the task of guarding military prisoners who have been assigned and are performing fatigue detail.

1943, John Riley Craf, Army Selectee's Handbook for Those Men who Will be Called for Duty Under the Selective Training ..., page 50:

When that training was complete, I was given temporary assignment as a prison chaser (guard in a Brig).

2003, Frank Murphy, Wia, Corpsman Up, page 154:

My first experience as a prison chaser wasn't all that pleasant. One burly, bald headed prisoner had given me a hard time.

2004, Joseph Quitman Johnson, Baby of Bataan: Memoir of a 14 Year Old Soldier in World War II, page 107:

According to Ronal Branson's website, he joined the U.S. military in 1963 and was assigned to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he became a "prison chaser", an individual who oversaw prison work detail.

2006, Issue Brief - A Public Policy Paper of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies March 2006:

(military) A prison guard; particularly one who guards military prisoners on fatigue duty.


non-compete

You will need to sign a non-compete agreement, of course.

(law) Describing a contractual clause that prevents a person or company from competing with another, especially with a former employer or partner


genuine issue of material fact

en-noun

genuine issue of material fact (plural genuine issues of material fact)

genuine issues of material fact (plural)

We think there is nothing in these three asserted facts which has a direct bearing upon, or casts doubt as to, the particular and detailed circumstances presented by the Ambassador. They are inadequate to show a genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of the original documents.

1940 Banco De Espana v. Federal Reserve Bank, 114 F.2d 438, 447 (2d Cir. 1940)

The mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.

The principles of law applicable to a motion for summary judgment are well settled. To grant such a motion, the trial court must determine that the evidence does not create a genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P. When the movant makes a prima facie showing that those two conditions are satisfied, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present "substantial evidence" creating a genuine issue of material fact.

1989, Scrushy v. Tucker, 955 So. 2d 988, 1006 (Ala. 2006) quoting Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So. 2d 794, 797-98 (Ala. 1989)

Once the moving party has demonstrated the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the party opposing the motion must then "set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial."

1999, Adam L. Brookman, Trademark Law: Protection, Enforcement and Licensing, s. 9.04H:

Summary judgment is granted if a judge finds that there is no "genuine issue of material fact" for decision by a jury.

2004, Alan L. Durham, Patent Law Essentials: A Concise Guide, page 180:

The main question in this appeal is whether Harrold raised any genuine issues of material fact requiring a trial.

Beyoncé successfully moved for summary judgment, contending that Armour had not established any genuine issues of material fact.

(law) A dispute over a material fact upon which the outcome of a legal case may rely, and which therefore must be decided by a judge or jury; a dispute which precludes summary judgment.


material fact

(law) A fact essential to make a case or a defense, or the absence of which negates a case or defense.

實質性事實

(law, property law) A fact that might alter a person's decision to buy a property or change the terms and price a buyer is willing to accept.

(law, insurance law) A fact that might alter an insurer's decision to agree to provide insurance to a person or alter the terms and conditions or the rate of premium on a policy.


accept service

en-verb

accept service (third-person singular simple present accepts service, present participle accepting service, simple past and past participle accepted service)

accepts service (present singular third-person)
accepting service (participle present)
accepted service (participle past)
accepted service (past)

(law) To receive and acknowledge receipt of service of process.


dying declaration

en-noun

dying declaration (plural dying declarations)

(law) A statement that would normally be deemed inadmissible as evidence in a court of law as hearsay, but is deemed admissible because it was made by a person who believed himself to be dying, is about the circumstances of that person's death, and (in some cases) was followed by that person's actual death.


chapiter

From Middle English chapitre, from Old French chapitre, from Latin capitulum, diminutive of caput (“head”). Doublet of chapter and capitulum.

and when the time commeth , the shyrecue shall certifie the chapiters before the Justices in Eire, how many writs he hath and what & c.

And at this day chapiters are called articles, for the most part, and are delivered as well by the mouth of the justice in his charge, as by the clerks in writing, to the inquest, where in ancient time they were (after an exhortation given by the justices, for the good observation of the laws and of the king's peace) first read distinctly and openly in the full court, and then delivered in writing to the grand inquest.

1812, John Rastell, William Rastell, Les Termes de la Ley: Or, Certain Difficult and Obscure Words and Terms of the Common and Statute Laws of England, Now in Use, Expounded and Explained, page 78:

To these twelve knights, when returned and sworn, the chapiters or articles of their charge were read, and one part in writing, indented, was delivered to them, and the other part remained with the justices, who gave commandment to the knights, that to every chapiter or article they should answer, in their verdict, severally and by itself, sufficiently, distinctly, and openly.

1822, James Lowe, Observations on Fees in Courts of Justice, page v:

(UK, law, obsolete) A written summary of matters to be inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, or justices of assize, or of the peace, in their sessions; articles.


overtax

en-verb

overtax (third-person singular simple present overtaxes, present participle overtaxing, simple past and past participle overtaxed)

overtaxes (present singular third-person)
overtaxing (participle present)
overtaxed (participle past)
overtaxed (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overtax.wav

The overtaxed shaft snapped.

Again, that lonely taper, how often is it the companion and sign of studies for which the day is too short—studies that steal the gloss from the sunny hair, and the light from the over-taxed eye!

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 160:

The 310-mile Tokaido line is being built from Tokyo to Osaka, through the most densely populated and heavily industrialised area of the country, to relieve the existing 340-mile 3ft 6in gauge line, which is overtaxed by continually increasing traffic.

1963 January, “New in Japan: Tokaido line trials”, in Modern Railways, page 44:


organic law

(law) A law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state.


tax-deductible

That is exempt from payment of income tax.


estate for life

en-noun

estate for life (plural estates for life)


life estate

(law) An estate in land which is owned by a party only for the duration of the life of that party, and for which ownership will revert to another upon the death of that party.


custodiam

(law, historical) A kind of lease in which property seized by the Crown is put into the custody of some agent.


unclean hands

(law) A doctrine of equity under which a court of law will not provide equitable relief to a party whose own conduct has been improper.


hung jury

The prosecution re-filed charges after a mistrial was declared due to a hung jury.

(law) A jury in a legal trial that is unable to reach or come to a verdict because the jurors cannot agree on a decision.

express verbally like die Geschworenen wurden sich nicht einig / konnten kein gemeinsames Urteil fällen

prisjážnyje, nesumevšije prijti k jedinomu rešéniju

прися́жные, несумевшие прийти к единому реше́нию


special resolution

special resolution (plural special resolutions)

(law) A resolution that requires a large majority vote of members present, usually two thirds or three quarters, at a general meeting of a company.


articled clerk

You'd better go to Edward Dawson on the other side of the river; he that was articled clerk with me two years ago, you know.

1863, Elizabeth Gaskell, “chapter XXV”, in Sylvia's Lovers:


ordinary resolution

ordinary resolution (plural ordinary resolutions)

(law) A resolution that requires a majority vote of members present at a general meeting of a company.


Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws (plural Bachelors of Laws)

(law) An undergraduate degree in the study of law.


chief constable

chief constable (plural chief constables)

(British) The chief of police of most territorial UK police forces, except the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police.


serjeanty

serjeanty (countable and uncountable, plural serjeanties)

From Middle English sergeauntie, serjaunte, from Old French serjantie, sergantie and Medieval Latin serjantia, sergantia. Compare sergeancy.

The manor of Scrivelsby in England, has since the Middle Ages, been held by the Marmion family in grand serjeanty in exchange for their service as King's or Queen's Champion.

(law, historical) A kind of land tenure requiring some service to the land's chief lord—other than military service—as an obligation to maintain possession.


restrictive covenant

restrictive covenant (plural restrictive covenants)

(law) An agreement between parties limiting or restricting the use of land owned by one of the parties.

2019, Paul Greco, "How To Make Sure Restrictive Covenants Survive A Restructuring", Life Science Leader, VertMarkets.
Careful to protect the goodwill it is developing with these providers, the life sciences company decides to use restrictive covenants — i.e., noncompetes, in the popular vernacular — to ensure the sales reps cannot compete for a period of time after changing jobs and potentially transfer the value of burgeoning customer relationships to some new employer.


yellow dog contract

yellow dog contract (plural yellow dog contracts)

So called because such agreements were thought to reduce employees to the status of yellow dogs (“worthless things”).

(law) An agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to be a member of a labor union whilst employed.

contrato que prohíbe afiliación con un gremio


condition precedent

condition precedent (plural conditions precedent)

(law) a condition imposed on an agreement that must be satisfied before property is transferred between parties.

(law) a condition depending upon an uncertain event which must be fulfilled before an obligation arises or a legal transaction takes effect.


astricted

en-adj

astricted (comparative more astricted, superlative most astricted)

more astricted (comparative)
most astricted (superlative)

(Scots law, historical, of land) From which corn must be sent to a particular mill, paying multure or thirlage on it.


joint will

(law) A single document executed by two people, so that their property is disposed of identically upon the death of either or both.


chattel paper

(law) A document that demonstrates both a monetary obligation and a security interest either in certain goods, or in a lease on certain goods

Verkehrspapier

document showing both monetary obligation and security interest


negotiable instrument

en-noun

negotiable instrument (plural negotiable instruments)

(law, banking, business) a legal document, as a cheque or bill of exchange, that is freely negotiable.


resi

(real estate, property law) Clipping of residential.


resi

(real estate, property law) Clipping of residential real estate.


mump

en-verb

mump (third-person singular simple present mumps, present participle mumping, simple past and past participle mumped)

mumps (present singular third-person)
mumping (participle present)
mumped (participle past)
mumped (past)

Perhaps borrowed through obsolete Dutch mompen (“to cheat, swindle, deceive”), according to Kroonen, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *mump- (“to stain”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mm̥bʰ-neh₂- Also akin to German mimpfeln (“to mumble”), Icelandic mumpa (“to take into the mouth”). See also English mum.
While Kroonen claims Ancient Greek μέμφομαι (mémphomai, “I blame, accuse”) and the Germanic forms are reconcilable and related, Beekes rejects this, stating that Germanic -p- cannot here correspond to Greek -φ- and that this etymological connection is not widely considered reliable.

cog

(Of a police officer) to accept a small gift or bribe in exchange for services.


factfinder

(law) In a legal proceeding, the person or persons given the task of weighing all evidence presented and determining the facts of the case in light of that evidence; the jury, or where there is no jury, the judge.


muniment

From Anglo-Norman muniment, Middle French muniment, and their source, Latin mūnīmentum (“fortification, defence”), from mūnīre (“to fortify”).

der

hauing the said deedes, euidences, muniments, terriers, and writinges in their hands[…]

1594, William West, Symboleography […] :

Then, on the order of King Darius, a search was made in Babylonia in the muniment rooms where the archives were kept […]

1966, Jerusalem Bible, Ezra 6:1, London: Darton, Longman & Todd

(chiefly law) A deed, or other official document kept as proof of ownership or rights or privileges; an archived document.


Miranda right

From Miranda v. Arizona, the usual name for a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of certain rights.

(US law) A constitutional right outlined in the Miranda warning.


Miranda warning

en-noun

Miranda warning (plural Miranda warnings)

From Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the usual name for a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of certain rights.

(US law) A warning given by a law enforcement officer to criminal suspects in his custody advising them of certain constitutional rights, called their Miranda rights.


any and all

Used in legal documents for emphasis and exactness. For further etymology, see any and all.

1847 December 22, Abraham Lincoln, "Spot Resolutions" on Mexican War (resolutions offered in the United States House of Representatives), reproduced in 1907, Marion Mills Miller (editor), Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 3,
Resolved, By the House of Representatives, that the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform this House—
[…] Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on the south and west, and by wide uninhabited regions on the north and east.

I, Howard P. Lovecraft of the city of Providence in the State of Rhode Island, being of sound mind and memory, make, execute and declare this instrument as my last will, hereby revoking any and all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

1912 August 12, H. P. Lovecraft, Last Will and Testament of H.P. Lovecraft:

2009 February 24, Ron Paul, bill # H.R.1146, American Sovereignty Restoration Act,
As of the date of the enactment of this Act, the United States will end any and all participation in any and all conventions and/or agreements with the United Nations and any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations. Any remaining functions of such conventions and/or agreements shall not be carried out.


DAG

DAG (countable and uncountable, plural DAGs)

(US, law) Initialism of defense acquisition guide.


murder-suicide

Pladl, pictured, ended up killing his daughter, his baby and himself in a triple murder-suicide[.]

2018 November 26, Emma Parry, “Woman who fell in love with her brother tells how she’s on a mission to legalise INCEST, allow family members to marry and even have babies together”, in The Sun:

(criminology) A murder in which the killer subsequently commits suicide.


cornage

cornage (countable and uncountable, plural cornages)

(law) An ancient tenure of land, which obliged the tenant to give notice of an invasion by blowing a horn.


heritor

Compare Latin herator, from Latin heres (“an heir”).

The printed statement reads (abridged in parts):—
"To the Interested HERITORS in the Counties of Mid-Lothian, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Berwick. […]

1951 February, Michael Robbins, “Sir Walter Scott and Two Early Railway Schemes”, in Railway Magazine, page 87:

(Scots law) A proprietor or landholder in a parish.


ex parte

From Latin ex parte ("from [one] part").

The judge issued a temporary ex parte injunction.

She was dismissive of an ex parte application for an order excluding a husband from the matrimonial home.

2014, Ian McEwan, The Children Act, Penguin Random House (2018), page 54:

The judge on an ex parte basis, granted Mr McGlinchey permission to bring both of his actions against the respondents.

2023 August 1, “Son of slain republicans brings actions”, in The Irish Times, page 4:

(law) Of, relating to, or characteristic of a proceeding where one of the involved parties is not present.


ex parte

Grand juries are conducted ex parte; neither the suspect nor his attorney may attend.

(law) In the manner of a proceeding where one of the involved parties is not (or sometimes may not be) present.


all rights reserved

(idiomatic, law) The copyright holder of a creative work reserves all copyright-related rights, typically including the right to publish the work, to make derivative works of it, to distribute it, to make profit from it, to license a number of these rights to other people, and to forbid these uses by any unauthorized people, thus being entitled to take legal action against infringement.


civil partnership

civil partnership (countable and uncountable, plural civil partnerships)

A union similar to marriage which same-sex couples, and in some jurisdictions opposite-sex couples, may form, which affords rights and responsibilities similar or identical to those afforded by civil marriage.

civil union

similar arrangements in various jurisdictions


genericization

genericization (countable and uncountable, plural genericizations)

/dʒəˌnɛɹɪsaɪˈzeɪʃən/

/dʒəˌnɛɹɪsɪˈzeɪʃən/

(law) With respect to a trademark, the act or process of becoming so widely identified as a reference for a type of product as to cease representing a particular brand or manufacturer of that type of product.


TIC

TIC (countable and uncountable, plural TICs)

tenancy in common
tenancy in common#English

TICs must be admitted by a defendant in addition to the crimes for which they have been convicted.

offence to be taken into consideration#English

(countable, UK, criminal law, law enforcement) Initialism of offence to be taken into consideration.


recross

(law) An examination of a witness, following redirect, by the opposing party.


case-in-chief

(law) The stage during trial in which the party with the burden of proof presents supporting evidence.


incumbrance

incumbrance (countable and uncountable, plural incumbrances)

(property law) An interest, right, burden, or liability attached to a title of land, such as a lien or mortgage.

a widow without incumbrances (i.e. without children)


m'lord

1986, Ben Elton et al., Blackadder II, 3: "Money"
There's a priest wants t'see you, m'lord.
Well, tell him I'm Jewish.

2012, David Benioff et al., A Game of Thrones, 2.3: "A Man without Honor"
And, girl.
My lord.
Lowborn girls say "m'lord", not "my lord". If you're going to pose as a commoner, you should do it properly.

(British, now often historical or humorous, also law, in India) My Lord (used to address peers temporal, judges, etc).


terce

terce (countable and uncountable, plural terces)

Late Middle English, from Old French terce, from Latin tertia (“third; the third hour”).

(Scots law) A widow's right, where she has no conventional provision, to a liferent of a third of the husband's heritable property.


tax shelter

(economics, finance) A legal structure that reduces tax liability for a person or that person's assets.


suppletive

en-adj

suppletive (comparative more suppletive, superlative most suppletive)

more suppletive (comparative)
most suppletive (superlative)

Article 11 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides the legal framework for the doctrinal distinction between imperative, or mandatory, and suppletive laws. Although neither term is included in the article, traditional civilian doctrine characterizes as imperative those legal precepts rooted in public policy which may not be set aside by private agreement. Suppletive laws, on the other hand, are those legal norms designed to supplement the parties' will in cases wherein its application is not excluded.

1981, Alejandro M. Garro, “Codification Technique and the Problem of Imperative and Suppletive Laws”, in Louisiana Law Review, volume 41, page 1008:

...I deem little short of frivolous the contention that the Equal Protection Clause prohibits enforcement of marital obligations, in either the mandatory or the suppletive form.

Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. 532 (1971), Harlan, J., concurring

(law) Relating to laws which can apply in a contract if the parties choose to agree to this.


trusteeship

en-noun

trusteeship (countable and uncountable, plural trusteeships)

(international law) The administrative control of a territory granted to a country by the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations.

信託統治

administrative control of territory granted by United Nations Trusteeship Council


ultrahazardous activity

ultrahazardous activity (plural ultrahazardous activities)

(law) An activity that is so dangerous that any person engaging in it will be held strictly liable for harm caused by engaging in the activity, no matter what precautions were taken to prevent harm; common examples include using explosives, radiation, and poisonous chemicals, and handling wild animals.


high court

But if the eyes of people could be opened in regard to the evils and delusions of war, would it not be easy to form a confederacy of nations, and organize a high court of equity, to decide national controversies?

1833, Noah Worcester, A solemn review of the custom of war, page 7:

The judicial power is vested in three high courts consisting of four judges each, and having concurrent jurisdiction in all civil matters; and in a great number of inferior municipal courts.

1840, Samuel Perkins, The World as it is: Containing a View of the Present Condition of Its Principal Nations:

Compared with most Latin American courts, on paper the Argentine judiciary is among the most insulated high courts in the region.

2004, Gretchen Helmke, Courts under Constraints: Judges, Generals, and Presidents in Argentina:

The prince was appearing at the high court to give evidence against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People tabloids.

2023 June 6, Jim Waterson, Kiran Stacey, “Britain’s government and press at rock bottom, Prince Harry tells court”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

At the High Court in Aberdeen in September, NR pleaded guilty to a series of failings, including failing to tell the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at the 75mph line speed.

2023 October 18, “Network News: Carmont: NR pays nearly £1m in out-of-court settlements”, in RAIL, number 994, page 15:

(common law) A supreme court; a court to which final appeals may be taken.


supreme court

Many observers believed that the tribunal will consciously or unconsciously be influenced by the November elections. It is an old saying that the supreme court watches the polls.

1934 October 13, “Is the U.S. Supreme Court Swayed by Politics?”, in The China Weekly Review, volume 70, number 7, →OCLC, page 216, column 1:

A court of law which represents the highest legal authority within a jurisdiction.

hooggeregshof

court of law representing the highest legal authority within a jurisdiction

A superior court; a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases.

(Canada) In certain provinces, a superior court of original jurisdiction, which however is inferior to the province's court of appeals.


malice aforethought

Calque of Anglo-Norman malice prepensé (literally “forethought malice”).

calque

(law) The criminal intent which precedes a crime, especially murder.


common area

(law) In a condominium or other cooperative residential facility, an area owned by the organization that oversees the facility, but is not owned by any specific resident.


disbarment

en-noun

disbarment (countable and uncountable, plural disbarments)

(law) The disqualification of a lawyer from membership in a bar association, usually as punishment for wrongdoing; the result of being disbarred.


plea bargain

(US, law) An agreement in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of not guilty to a greater one

сделка с прокуратурата

an agreement in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of not guilty to a greater one


plainclothesman

Coordinate term: plainclotheswoman

A police officer (especially a detective) who wears civilian clothes when on duty.


plea-bargain

(US, law) Alternative form of plea bargain (“an agreement between a defendant and the prosecution in which the defendant agrees to a plea such as guilty or nolo contendere to a lesser charge rather than contesting a greater charge”).


plea-bargain

en-verb

plea-bargain (third-person singular simple present plea-bargains, present participle plea-bargaining, simple past and past participle plea-bargained)

plea-bargains (present singular third-person)
plea-bargaining (participle present)
plea-bargained (participle past)
plea-bargained (past)

[…] former District Attorney, Butters said "[…] I think the fact that so many plead guilty proves that these cases should have been prosecuted." One of those who plea-bargained disagrees. Ed Mede last week pleaded guilty to one count of sex with a minor under 16. "This does not prove my gilt ^([sic])," he insists. "It proves the injustice of the whole system. I could not go on paying for my attorney through a long trial. […] I did not want to face life in prison because of the whim of a biased judge or juror."

1979 April 28, Tom Reeves, “Revere Sex Cases Resolved”, in Gay Community News, page 1:

(US, law) To make an agreement in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of not guilty to a greater one.

vádalkut köt

to make an agreement in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of not guilty to a greater one


double indemnity

(law) A clause in an insurance policy in which the insurance company agrees to pay out double the normal coverage in certain specified circumstances, most often in case of accidental death

雙倍賠償

law: a clause in an insurance policy in which the insurance company agrees to pay out double the normal coverage


simpliciter

From the Latin simpliciter (“simply”, “plainly”), from simplex (“simple”).

The charge was reduced from aggravated assault to assault simpliciter.

Paragraph 68, Public Prosecutor v CJH ([2022] SGHC 303)
Leaving aside this report, I make the general observation firstly that the CA has pointed out in PP v UI [2008] 4 SLR(R) 500 […] that rape simpliciter "is already ‘an inherently odious and reprehensible act’… that exacts ‘irretrievable physical, emotional and psychological scars on [the] victim’”[…]

(philosophy, law, originally chiefly Scots law, Canadian law) Simply, absolutely; without any qualification or condition.


criminal procedure

en-noun

criminal procedure (plural criminal procedures)

(law) The legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated criminal law.


pleader

Partly from Middle English pleder, pledere, equivalent to plead + -er; and partly from Middle English pledour, plaidour, from Anglo-Norman plaidur, pledour, Old French plaidëor, pledëor.

‘Soon after I came out I asked one of the pleaders to have a smoke with me – only a cigarette, mind.’

1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 25:

(law) a person who pleads in court; an advocate


appraising

(Scots law, historical) Alternative form of apprising


papering

(law) A technique of boycotting a judge by the Public Defender's Office by filing a request for a different judge in every case assigned to this judge.


missprision

[I]f any persone were perceiued to be absent, or were sene to laughe at the folye of the emperour [Nero], he was forthe with accused, as it were, of missprision: whereby the emperour founde occasion to committe him to prison or to put hym to tortures.

1531, Thomas Elyot, “In what Wise Musike may be to a Noble Man Necessarie: And what Modestie ought to be therin”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC, 1st book, pages 26–27:

(law, rare) Obsolete spelling of misprision.


apprising

(Scots law, historical) The appraisal of the value of goods, land, etc., often in order to pay the debts of a deceased person.


titling

People took possession of the tenantless cottages to which their only titling is the holding of the key : a few of these still remain.

1888, A Handbook for Travelers in Surrey, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, page 217:

Where shifting cultivation or bush fallowing are widely practised, it is unlikely that strong pressure for titling will emerge from within the area concerned. The primary momentum for titling will probably be exogenously generated,

1976, Diana Hunt, The Social and Economic Impacts of Individual Land Titling in Mbeere, Eastern Kenya, page 12:

(law) A legal right to a property; holding a title.


Camorra

From Italian camorra, from a Neapolitan word supposedly from Spanish camorra (“dispute, quarrel”).

A secret crime organization from Naples, Italy, equivalent to the Mafia of Sicily.


lust murder

lust murder (countable and uncountable, plural lust murders)

Despite the serial aspect of these killings, lust murder still remains a distinct subcategory of both sexual and serial murder. It is also referred to as erotophonophilia, one of the most extreme forms of paraphilia.

2003, Eric Hickey, Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime, SAGE, →ISBN, page 281:

Murder for sexual gratification, often involving mutilation.


transfer tax

(law) A transaction fee (often relatively small in relation to the value of property) imposed on the transfer of title to property.

轉讓稅

a transaction fee imposed on the transfer of title to property


federale

[fɛdəˈɹɑːli]

Back-formation from the plural, from Mexican Spanish federales, from federal.

(informal, chiefly California, also MLE slang and Hispanic slang) A federal law enforcement officer, usually belonging to the United States government.


impalement

impalement (countable and uncountable, plural impalements)

From Middle French empalement; equivalent to impale + -ment.

The parts of fructification are seven in number... The First part is the calyx, impalement, or flower cup.

1823, Charles Mead, The School Exercise:

(botany, obsolete) In the sense of an enclosure, the calyx of a flower. (In still older works, also spelt empalement.)


misdirection

misdirection (countable and uncountable, plural misdirections)

(UK, law) An error of law within a judgement committed by a judge or judges of a lower court, particularly as found by an appeals court


unliquidated damages

(law) An amount owed to a plaintiff in a lawsuit by the defendant that can not be determined by operation of law, such as the value of pain and suffering in a tort case.


operation of law

(law) An application of a legal rule that automatically brings about a legal consequence.


unliquidated

en-adj

unliquidated (comparative more unliquidated, superlative most unliquidated)

more unliquidated (comparative)
most unliquidated (superlative)


liquidated

liquidated (comparative more liquidated, superlative most liquidated)

more liquidated (comparative)
most liquidated (superlative)

(law) Set; ascertained; made certain by operation of law.


liquidated damages

(law) An amount owed to a plaintiff in a lawsuit by the defendant that is determined by operation of law, such as the unpaid amount in a breach of contract.


status conference

en-noun

status conference (plural status conferences)

(law) A meeting that a court may require to be held between parties to a case to determine whether those parties are prepared to go to trial.


case citation

(law) A combination of numbers and abbreviations used in common law countries to identify an opinion of a court, including the names of the parties, case reporter, name of the court, and year of the decision, and sometimes the page of the opinion that is cited.


aff.

(law, archaic) In case citations, Abbreviation of affirmed.


rev.

(law) In case citations, Abbreviation of reversed.


fnc

forum non conveniens
forum non conveniens#English

(law) Initialism of forum non conveniens.


forum non conveniens

Latin forum+non+conveniens (“inappropriate forum”)

uder

(law) A doctrine of law holding that a court should decline to hear a case if another court—especially one in a foreign jurisdiction—would provide a more appropriate forum for the parties and evidence.

derecho del tribunal de rehusar jurisdicción


self-determination

(ethics, law) The ability or human right to make one's own decisions without interference from others

samostanowienie

ability or right to make one's own decisions without interference from others

(international law) self-determination of peoples: the collective right to determine its own destiny in the international order, to choose its own political status and to determine its own form of economic, cultural and social development, the right to establish a state


bilinguis

Unadapted borrowing from Latin bilinguis (“double-tongued”).

ubor

(law, historical) A jury made up partly of natives and partly of foreigners.


suicide by cop

(informal) A suicide in which a person points a firearm at an armed police officer to provoke them to shoot.


incontestability

en-noun

incontestability (countable and uncountable, plural incontestabilities)

conclusively presumed
conclusively presumed

(law) In United States trademark law, the state of having been registered as a trademark for more than five consecutive years without a challenge, and therefore conclusively presumed not to cause confusion with any other trademark, and to have acquired distinctiveness.


conclusive presumption

conclusive presumption (plural conclusive presumptions)

(law) A matter that is deemed by law to be true, and therefore provides no opportunity for evidence to the contrary to be presented.


conclusively presumed

en-adj

conclusively presumed (comparative more conclusively presumed, superlative most conclusively presumed)

more conclusively presumed (comparative)
most conclusively presumed (superlative)

A child under seven years of age is conclusively presumed to be incapable of either murder or manslaughter (presumptio juris et de jure), no evidence of capacity being admissible.

1906, Richard Henslowe Wellington, The King's Coroner, page 61:

(law) Presumed by law to be true, and therefore providing no opportunity for evidence to the contrary to be presented.


inculpate

en-verb

inculpate (third-person singular simple present inculpates, present participle inculpating, simple past and past participle inculpated)

inculpates (present singular third-person)
inculpating (participle present)
inculpated (participle past)
inculpated (past)

(law) To imply the guilt of; to blame or incriminate.


inquisitorial

en-adj

inquisitorial (comparative more inquisitorial, superlative most inquisitorial)

more inquisitorial (comparative)
most inquisitorial (superlative)

(law) Describing a trial system in which the prosecutor also acts as judge.

inkvisitorinen

describing a trial system in which the prosecutor also acts as judge


novate

en-verb

novate (third-person singular simple present novates, present participle novating, simple past and past participle novated)

novates (present singular third-person)
novating (participle present)
novated (participle past)
novated (past)

(law) To replace a contract (especially a financial contract) with one or more new contracts.


ISTEA

(US, law) Initialism of Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.


annate

(Scots law) The half-year's stipend payable for the vacant half-year after the death of a parish minister, to which his family or nearest of kin have right under an act of 1672.


ingenui

(law) In civil law, a class of freemen who were born free. They were distinguished from the class known as liberti or libertini who, born slaves, had afterwards legally obtained their freedom.


reviser

(law, US) In several states, an official charged with the responsibility for making new statutes technically consistent with the existing body of law.


inurement

en-noun

inurement (countable and uncountable, plural inurements)

(law) In patent law, the doctrine that the work done by a person hired by an inventor to test a conception supports the right of that inventor to the resulting invention.


procedendo

(law) A prerogative writ that sends a case from an appellate court to a lower court with an order to proceed to judgment.

But Ingersoll, on behalf of the defendant, now moved for a Procedendo; alledging that in a case of Pigot v. Young, it had been decided, that a cause could not be removed after the arbitrators, or referces, had entered[…]

1798, Alexander James Dallas, Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States […] :

Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace

(law) A writ by which the commission of the Justice of the Peace is revived, after having been suspended.


yield to maturity

yield to maturity (plural yields to maturity)

(law) A calculation of yield on a bond that takes into account the capital gain or loss on a discount bond or capital loss on a premium bond. In the case of a discount bond, the yield-to-maturity, YTM, is higher than the current yield, or the coupon yield. The reverse is true for a premium bond with YTM lower than both current yield and coupon yield.


bonded debt

bonded debt (countable and uncountable, plural bonded debts)

(law) That part of the entire indebtedness of a corporation or state that is represented by bonds it has issued; a debt contracted under the obligation of a bond.


bond issue

(law) The offering of bonds for sale to investors.


bond for deed

(law) A document given by the owner of real estate to convey the property upon being paid money; an agreement to convey title in the future that, so long as it remains executory, allows title to remain vested in the original owner.


bond for general purposes

bond for general purposes (plural bonds for general purposes)

(law) A kind of government bond that is a charge against the taxpayers generally, as distinguished from bonds for improvements, the cost of which is charged to the property specially benefited.


surety bond

(law) A bond issued by one party, the surety, guaranteeing that he will perform certain acts promised by another or pay a stipulated sum, up to the bond limit, in lieu of performance, should the principle fail to perform.

(law) In a criminal case, the surety (or bail) bond assures the appearance of the defendant or the repayment of bail forfeited upon the defendant's failure to appear in court.


performance bond

performance bond (plural performance bonds)

(law) A contractor's bond, guaranteeing that the contractor will perform the contract and providing that, in the event of default, the surety may complete the contract or pay damages up to the bond limit.


bearer bond

(law) A negotiable loan instrument payable to its holder (bearer) by the issuer according to preset conditions. The owner must safeguard bearer bonds to prevent loss; interest is usually paid by coupon redemptions.


serial bond

(law) Bonds issued in a series by a public entity that are payable at different times.


bond discount

(law) A reduction from the face amount of a bond that occurs where bonds are sold on the market for cash at a price less than the face amount. Since bonds mature years after issue, they are discounted to reflect present value.


registered bond

registered bond (plural registered bonds)

(law) A bond that is recorded on the books of the issuer by the trustee, with interest paid by mail to the holder of record.


phonorecord

(US, law) A physical object that contains a permanent record of a sound.


conveyancing

conveyancing (countable and uncountable, plural conveyancings)

(law) The drawing of deeds etc. concerning transfer of property, and the legal execution of such transfers.


hanging offence

hanging offence (plural hanging offences)

Word reached the ear of the prosecuting attorney of the only testimony that could establish a motive and make the crime a hanging offence.

1908, John Fox Jr., chapter 26, in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine:

Since when is it a hanging offense to criticize someone who's not doing the job he's paid generously to do?

1999 June 18, Rod Beaton, “Astros winning despite obstacles”, in USA Today:

(idiomatic) A crime so serious that it is punishable by means of death by hanging.


democide

democide (countable and uncountable, plural democides)

Based on Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos, “people”) + -cide.

(Mass) murder of people by a government which has power over them.


receivership

receivership (countable and uncountable, plural receiverships)

(law) The office and duties of a receiver.

The capital cost in 1915-1927 of equipping 924 miles of track put the Milwaukee into a receivership from which it took a long time to recover; and in view of the length of line electrified it is surprising that a current of 1,500V d.c. was chosen rather than the Pennsylvania 11,000V a.c.

1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 84:

(law) The state of being under the control of a receiver.

selvitystila

(law, business) A form trusteeship of bankruptcy administration in which a receiver is appointed to run the company for the benefit of the creditors.


copyrightability

(copyright law) The condition of being copyrightable.


civil society

civil society (countable and uncountable, plural civil societies)

From the archaic sense of civil, “peaceful and well-ordered”. Later senses of civil society reflect 19th-century Hegelian influence, as well as the earlier argument that tyrannical governments exist in the state of nature in relation to their subjects.

Those things expected of a democratic society, such as free speech and human rights.


nonrepudiation

(law) Assurance that a contract cannot later be denied by either of the parties involved.


retrial

He maintains his innocence and has lodged an appeal - which means a retrial and the conviction being set aside in the meantime

2020 October 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-1 Denmark: 'Harry Maguire looked devoid of confidence in Nations League loss'”, in BBC Sport:

The six activists will now face a retrial at Highbury Magistrates' Court, in front of a new judge.

2023 January 11, “Network News: Court decision overturned: Six HS2 activists face retrial”, in RAIL, number 974, page 9:

(law) A second trial, by the original court, if the original trial was found to be improper or unfair


water police

The police department charged with patrolling harbours and waterways by boat.


precedential

/ˌpɹɛsəˈdɛnʃəl/


statutory declaration

statutory declaration (plural statutory declarations)

(law) A legal document that is affirmed rather than being sworn under oath.


snatch and run

/ˈsnætʃ ən ˈɹʌn/

Your snatch-and-run Reader, your miserable compiler of 'Beauties' is a mere chattering ape.

1870, Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, “Essay Critical and Elucidatory on the Poetry of Lord Brooke”, in Alexander B. Grosart, editor, The Works in Verse and Prose Complete of the Right Honourable Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke: […] In Four Volumes, volume II, [s.l.]: Printed for private circulation, →OCLC, page xiv:

[I]t was doubtful if even the 50% discount that has prevailed for several years could be continued in view of the increasing number of so-called “snatch and run” losses on grade floor premises—few, if any, of which are prevented by burglar alarm systems.

1922 November 17, Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, volume 9, number 19, New York, N.Y.: Casualty Actuarial Society, →OCLC:

One commonplace theft was the snatch-and-run perpetrated around the central business area by boys or young men. They stole newspapers, boots, pants, coats, shirts, and caps. The shops of the era were cluttered with goods and many had outdoor displays and items hanging from doorways.

1995, John C. Weaver, “The Enduring Circumstances of Violence and Theft”, in Crimes, Constables, and Courts: Order and Transgression in a Canadian City, 1816–1970, Montreal, Que., Kingston, Ont.: McGill-Queen's University Press, →ISBN, page 242:

A fine example of this type of situation can be drawn from the US experience in Somalia were locals had perfected the "snatch and run." Crowds of up to 300 thieves would swarm military vehicles, slowed by strategically placed roadblocks, and snatch both personal gear and weapons before disappearing into the crowd.

1996, Peacekeeping & International Relations, Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9, column 1:

Till tap […] While store employee has cash drawer open, money is grabbed and the thief flees (snatch and run).

2012, Kären Matison Hess, Christine Hess Orthmann, Henry Lim Cho, “Crime in the United States: Offenses, Offenders, Victims”, in Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, 10th edition, Clifton Park, N.Y.: Delmar/Cengage Learning, →ISBN, section I (The Evolution of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice), table 3.4 (Forms of Taking and Types of Theft), page 86:

(often attributively or figuratively) An unsophisticated method of committing robbery by grabbing someone's property and attempting to flee with it.


pupillary

Borrowed from Latin pūpillāris, as if the form were *pūpillārius.

(law) Of or pertaining to person below a certain legal age, or to a ward.


second-degree murder

second-degree murder (countable and uncountable, plural second-degree murders)

tappo

act or crime of murder with intent, but without premeditation

roughly equivalent concept in Finnish law

szándékos, de nem előre megfontolt szándékkal elkövetett emberölés

(law, chiefly US, Canada) The criminal offence of murder in a form defined as less serious than first-degree murder; the precise distinction may vary by jurisdiction but typically involves second-degree murder being intentional but not premeditated.

(law, chiefly US, Canada) An act that constitutes the crime of second-degree murder.


constat

(law, religion, sciences) It is clearly evident; It is certain, without a doubt.


constat

(law) A certificate for a court discharge.


vic

(Ryotaro Dojima): We haven't found the cause of death for the first vic, and now we've got a second one just like it […]

2008, Atlus Co., Ltd., Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (04/16, Evening)

We did find some black fibers stuck between the victim's teeth, presumably from a glove, and lastly, seeing as the vic was found completely naked, we can't process her clothes for any potential evidence.

“The vic was found by some birdwatchers at the Theler Wetlands,” he began.

(law enforcement, slang) A victim of a homicide.


cess

en-verb

cess (third-person singular simple present cesses, present participle cessing, simple past and past participle cessed)

cesses (present singular third-person)
cessing (participle present)
cessed (participle past)
cessed (past)

And therefore, if there be lord, mesne, and tenant, and the tenant doth cess, and the mesne takes a wife and dies, his wife shall not have dower of the tenancy...

1827, John Perkins, A Profitable Book, Treating of the Laws of England:


respondeat superior

From Medieval Latin respondeat superior (“let the superior respond or meet a charge”).

bor

(law) A legal doctrine which holds that an employer, officer, manager, supervisor, or other individual or group superior to an employee or subordinate may be legally liable for the acts of that employee or subordinate.


blagging

en-noun

blagging (countable and uncountable, plural blaggings)

Usual petty-theft beginnings. Graduated to the bigger stuff—jump-ups, blaggings. Eventually controlled a few similar types down east somewhere.

1980, Anthony Heal, Man in the Middle, page 64:

(uncountable, criminal slang) Robbery; (countable) an instance of this.


rehearing

The Supreme Court is still considering a request for a rehearing of that case and may modify their decision.

1980 April 12, “Dan White To Serve Only Four Years?”, in Gay Community News, page 6:

(law) A second or subsequent hearing of a case.


make off with

en-verb

make off with (third-person singular simple present makes off with, present participle making off with, simple past and past participle made off with)

makes off with (present singular third-person)
making off with (participle present)
made off with (participle past)
made off with (past)


subletting

[…] there are sublettings, overcrowdings of lands, clearances, and emigrations going on; and want of employment, with consequent destitution and wretchedness is the complaint of the majority of the inhabitants.

1846, Thomas Campbell Foster, Letters on the Condition of the People of Ireland, page 270:

(property law, real estate) Synonym of sublease.


RUC

Whereas the R.U.C. was highly militarized and overwhelmingly Protestant, the current force has tried to be more representative of the community it polices — although because of a “substantial” terrorist threat from paramilitary groups opposed to the peace process, it is the only police force in the United Kingdom whose members regularly carry firearms.

2023 September 5, Megan Specia, “Northern Ireland Police Chief Resigns Amid Mounting Scandals”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Royal Ulster Constabulary
w:Royal Ulster Constabulary

(Northern Ireland, historical, law enforcement) Initialism of Royal Ulster Constabulary (now known as the PSNI)


ECC

en-noun

ECC (countable and uncountable, plural ECCs)

(law) Initialism of export control and customs.


select agent

(US, law) A pathogen or biological toxin which has been declared to have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety.


conflict of interest

conflict of interest (countable and uncountable, plural conflicts of interest)

Grassley continues to probe Abedin’s potential conflicts of interest when she was getting four different paychecks at once. “We know she set up dinners for Secretary Clinton and her private-sector employers and e-mailed private-sector employees from government accounts,” he says.

2016 January 31, “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 2016-01-21:

Rishi Sunak is facing questions over a potential conflict of interest after it emerged a childcare firm part owned by his wife is to benefit from major changes in the budget.

2023 March 29, Rowena Mason, “Rishi Sunak’s childcare policy risks conflict of interest with wife’s firm”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(law) A situation in which an individual or legal entity in a position of trust (such as an attorney, investment advisor, broker, politician, executive, director, scientist or physician) has competing professional or personal interests.

صراع مصالح

conflicting interest in position of trust


chain of custody

chain of custody (plural chains of custody)

(law, chemistry) The documentation showing the full process of acquisition, transfer, handling and disposition of physical or electronic materials.

سلسلة الحيازة

the documentation showing the full process of acquisition, transfer, handling and disposition of physical or electronic materials


non compos mentis

From Latin non (“not”) + compos (“in control, having mastery”) + mentis (“of mind”).

(law, but also seeing wider use) Insane; not of sound mind; not in control of oneself.


executive order

executive order (plural executive orders)

(law, chiefly US) An ordinance issued on the authority of the head of the executive branch of government.

أَمْرٌ تَنْفِيذِيٌّ

decree issued on the authority of the executive branch of government


obtention

obtention (usually uncountable, plural obtentions)

(rare, sciences, law) The act of obtaining.


remanet

(British, law, Parliament) A bill that has been postponed or deferred to another session.


allodial title

(property law) Ultimate ownership of real property that is not granted out of a superior interest in land and therefore not inherently subject to any encumbrance; almost always held by the state; the title out of which freehold title is granted.


right of first refusal

right of first refusal (plural rights of first refusal)

"Well," said the publisher, "does our last contract with whoever it is that represents Shar give us the right of first refusal on his next book?"

1985, Richard Lourie, First Loyalty, →ISBN, page 258:

(law) A provision in a contract that permits a party to that contract or another named party to have an opportunity to purchase, use, or otherwise obtain a specified object before it is offered to any other party.


black bag

A pouch or case containing burglary tools.


bagnio

From Italian bagno, from Latin balneum (“bath”). Doublet of bain, balaneion, and banya.

an old woman who has charge of a bagnio

1883, Adele Marion Fielde, “婆 (phûa)”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 458:


snavel

en-verb

snavel (third-person singular simple present snavels, present participle snavelling, simple past and past participle snavelled)

snavels (present singular third-person)
snavelling (participle present)
snavelled (participle past)
snavelled (past)

Probably related to snaffle, which may be from Dutch snavel.

1902, Barbara Baynton, Bush Studies, 2009, Sydney University Press, page 59,
Then he missed his silk handkerchief. “Ghost!” he said, breathing heavily. “Mag′s snavelled it! […] ”

Billy May said he made his first electric guitars after talking to an American named Paul Bigsley, who claimed to be the inventor of the Tremolo Lever, which idea, according to Billy, was “snavelled” by Fender and improved upon.

1996, Lorene Ruymar, The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians, page 42:


certiorari

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɛɹaɪ/

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɛɹi/

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɑɹi/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɛəɹaɪ/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɛəɹi/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɑːɹi/

From the present passive infinitive of Latin certiōrō (“to make certain”), from the words used at the beginning of these writs when they were written in Latin: certiorārī volumus (“[we] wish to be made certain”).

(US, law) A grant of the right of an appeal to be heard by an appellate court where that court has discretion to choose which appeals it will hear.

(British, law) A grant of review of a government action by a court with discretion to make such a review.


deadbeat dad

If the '90s offer one villain by consensus, it is the deadbeat dad, that selfish fugitive condemned by liberals and conservatives alike for his irresponsible behavior and generous contributions to the cycle of welfare dependency.

1995 April 3, David Van Biema, “Dunning Deadbeats”, in Time:

(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic, derogatory) A man, especially one who is divorced or estranged from his partner, who fails to provide monetary child support when he is legally required to do so.


RAND

(law) Initialism of reasonable and nondiscriminatory: a standard used with respect to licensing.


criminalist

A person who specializes in criminal law.


crime scene

The Police may declare a crime scene so nobody is allowed near, and the idea of allowing trains to pass on an adjacent line would horrify the increasing crowd of bystanders.

2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 43:

The location of a crime, especially one at which forensic evidence is collected in a controlled manner.


nonenforceable

(law or rare) Not enforceable; not able to be enforced; unenforcible.


nudum pactum

From Latin nūdum, the neuter form of nūdus (“nude, bare”) + pāctum (“bargain, agreement”).

(law) In common law, a promise that is not legally enforceable due to lack of consideration.


shotgun pleading

en-noun

shotgun pleading (plural shotgun pleadings)

(law) A legal complaint or an answer to a complaint which sets forth an excessive number of facts with no clear organization, and then asserts that those facts describe a cause of action or a defense.


summary judgment

summary judgment (countable and uncountable, plural summary judgments)

(law) The determination by a court that no factual issues are in dispute, and that the legal issues require the case to be decided in favor of one party or the other.


willful ignorance

(idiomatic, law) A decision in bad faith to avoid becoming informed about something so as to avoid having to make undesirable decisions that such information might prompt.

tarkoituksellinen tietämättömyys

a decision in bad faith to avoid becoming informed


negligent entrustment

(law) A tort cause of action that arises where a party is injured because the other party entrusted a dangerous instrumentality (such as a vehicle or a weapon) to a person whom the other party knew or reasonably should have known should not be trusted with that instrumentality.


international law

Set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations, serving as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations.

قَانُون دُوَلِيّ

set of rules applied to the relations between nations


safecracker

His fingers were slender and delicate, an evolutionary advantage for a safecracker.

2023, Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto, Fleet, page 281:

касоразбивач

translation one who practices safecracking


bunching

bunching (countable and uncountable, plural bunchings)

(uncountable) The illegitimate supplying of laboratory animals that are actually kidnapped pets or illegally trapped strays.


evergreening

(patent law, pharmaceuticals) The practice of slightly altering a drug to extend patent protections.


coverture

coverture (countable and uncountable, plural covertures)

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French coverture, from covrir (“to cover”) or from Late Latin coopertura. Doublet of couverture.

Note that voting by widows did not raise some of the concerns that might have arisen from voting by wives subject to common-law coverture servitude to their husbands.

2006, Akhil Reed Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography:

(law, historical) A common law doctrine developed in England during the Middle Ages, whereby a woman's legal existence, upon marriage, was subsumed by that of her husband, particularly with regard to ownership of property and protection.


law enforcement

Law enforcement is the duty of police, sheriffs and other government officials.

The task of ensuring obedience to the law.


sharp practice

sharp practice (countable and uncountable, plural sharp practices)

(law) A lawyer's unfairly taking advantage of an opposing party's missteps or inexperience to gain an advantage.


pentito

Borrowed from Italian pentito (“repentant”).

According to a pentito in the 2004 DDA investigation, 50 percent of the shops in Naples alone are actually run by the Camorra.

2007, Roberto Saviano, translated by Virginia Jewiss, Gomorrah, Pan, published 2017, page 50:

A criminal who cooperates with police or government authorities and testifies against or provides harmful information on fellow criminals; a turncoat or informant, usually a former Mafioso.


ex nunc

(law) “from now on”. Used to describe certain legal effects which are applicable solely from this point (in time) on and therefore do not affect past actions.


PGDipLP

(law) Acronym of postgraduate diploma in legal practice. Often used after the names of those who have studied and passed the Legal Practice Course, and who have not yet attained solicitor status.


ex tunc

(law) from the beginning, from the outset. Used to describe certain legal effects that can affect situations prior to this point in time and therefore can affect past actions.

ex tunc

law: from the beginning, from the outset


manucaptor

Later in the same day, however, he was taken to the manor of Cippenham, Buckinghamshire, the property of Richard, earl of Cornwall, and there, under duress (as he later pleaded) and in the presence of John Chishall, the chancellor, he made over all his lands to eleven ‘manucaptors’, all notable royalists, as a security for the payment of his £50,000 debt.

a'''. 1279, J. R. Maddicott, Ferrers, Robert de, sixth earl of Derby (c. 1239–1279), in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

(law, obsolete) In English common law, a person empowered to take bail and capture a person who forfeits it.


jugging

jugging (countable and uncountable, plural juggings)

(slang, criminology) A crime where a suspect observes a customer at a bank or high-end store and then follows the customer after they leave the establishment in order to steal their money or valuables.


Good Samaritan law

Good Samaritan law (plural Good Samaritan laws)

(law) A law that exempts from legal liability a person who attempts to give reasonable aid to another person who is injured, ill, or otherwise imperiled.

It was not immediately clear what those charges could be, and Mr. Bernhardt said he did not want to speculate. He added that Pennsylvania does not have a good Samaritan law and said it would be “very difficult to bring charges against those” who witnessed the attack but did not intervene.

2021 October 17, Eduardo Medina, “As a Woman Was Raped, Train Riders Failed to Intervene, Police Say”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(law) A law that requires able persons, without putting themselves at risk, to provide reasonable aid to persons who are injured, ill, or otherwise imperiled.

loi du bon Samaritain

law that requires to provide aid to persons

obligation d'assistance à personne en danger


carnet

From French carnet (“notebook”), from Middle French quernet (“group of four sheets”).

der

If you plan to sell your car, of course, a carnet is the last thing you need: if the vehicle isn't correctly stamped in and out of each country you'll lose your deposit.

2003, Jim Hudgens et al., The Rough Guide to West Africa, →ISBN, page 20:

(law) A customs document that allows the temporary duty-free importation of a particular article


noncriminal

The police department was enjoined from conducting any surveillance of non-criminal activity of gay people, from maintaining files dealing with non-criminal activity, and from harassing the plaintiffs or other gay people in the absence of any actual criminal activity.

1978 April 8, “Gay Victory in Texas”, in Gay Community News, page 3:


LLM

(education, law) Alternative form of LL.M. (“Master of Laws”)


majorat

en-noun

majorat (countable and uncountable, plural majorats)

(law) property that descends with a title


nonexempt

(law) Subject to taxation; not within any category of income to which taxes are not applied.


appropriable

en-adj

appropriable (comparative more appropriable, superlative most appropriable)

more appropriable (comparative)
most appropriable (superlative)


en-noun

12 (countable and uncountable, plural 12s)

(slang, US, derogatory) Collectively, police or law enforcement.

Collectively, police or law enforcement.
See also: fuck 12


RICO

w:Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations

(law) Acronym of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Act).


high seas

I was out on the high seas yesterday and got myself a new mathematics book.

copyright infringement
copyright infringement

(slang) Regions of the Internet in which piracy (i.e. copyright infringement) is prevalent.


will contest

(law) A legal action brought to dispute the validity of a will.


mass murderer

殺戮眾多的人

someone who commits a mass murder — see also serial killer


mass murder

The killing of a large number of people over a short period of time.


reintegrative shaming

(criminal law) The bringing together of the offending party and the victim(s) so that the offender can see the harm and suffering they have inflicted on the victim or the victim’s family. The offender has the opportunity to apologise to the victim and make amends.


scaphism

A form of execution, among the ancient Persians, in which the victim is fastened into a hollow boat, force-fed and slathered in honey and milk and exposed to insects until the victim's death.


breaking wheel

(historical) A wheel used to break a restrained victim's limbs and body in an ancient European form of execution.


Catherine wheel

Catherine wheel (plural Catherine wheels)

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was said to have been sentenced to execution on such a wheel, which shattered at her touch.

Sorcerers are too common; cunning men, wizards, and white witches […] have commonly St. Catherine's wheel printed in the roof of their mouth, or in some other part about them […]

[…] her tortures consisted of being broken on a wheel (later called Catherine wheel), but the machine broke down injuring bystanders; Catherine was beheaded.

1992, David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 3rd edition, page 88:

She only lied to the boy to keep him from hurt, and for her sin her intestines were pulled from her on a Catherine wheel.

2008, Peter Carey, His Illegal Self, page 181:

(historical or heraldry) A breaking wheel, or wheel with spikes on it.


LLLP

(business, law) Initialism of limited liability limited partnership.


LLP

limited liability
limited liability#English

(business, law) Initialism of limited liability partnership.


employment at will

(law) A traditional principle of law, recognized in some jurisdictions, which holds that, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, an employment relationship can be terminated at any time by the employer or employee, for any reason or for no reason whatever.


anti-lapse

(law) Of or relating to a statute that abrogates the common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective.


rivage

rivage (countable and uncountable, plural rivages)

From Anglo-Norman rivage, Middle French rivage, from Late Latin rīpāticum.

(law, UK, historical) A duty paid to the crown for the passage of vessels on certain rivers.


ss.

Abbreviation of scilicet (“namely, to wit”), especially (law) indicating that a legal document was executed in the appropriate place within a jurisdiction for the act recorded.


sc.

Abbreviation of scilicet: namely, to wit, (law) done and recorded in the appropriate place within a jurisdiction.


plea of the crown

plea of the crown (plural pleas of the crown)

(British law) A legal action against a criminal.


unearned income

unearned income (countable and uncountable, plural unearned incomes)

(taxation) Income that is not a wage, such as interest, dividends or realized capital gains from investments, rent from land or property ownership, and any other income that does not derive from work.


head tax

A tax determined as a uniform, fixed amount per individual; a poll tax.


estate tax

estate tax (countable and uncountable, plural estate taxes)

A tax based on the value of the property of a deceased person, and charged on the personal representatives of the deceased.


death duty

death duty (countable and uncountable, plural death duties)

Hardly a working day passes but we are asked if we can help the proprietors of a private company to dispose part of their holdings so as to prepare for or to pay death duties.

2008, Wolfgang Schön, editor, Tax and Corporate Governance, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 133:


goods and services tax

goods and services tax (plural goods and services taxes)

A tax very similar to the value added tax, levied, for example, in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore.

impuesto a la venta de los bienes y servicios


inheritance tax

inheritance tax (countable and uncountable, plural inheritance taxes)

A tax based on the value of the property of a deceased person, and charged on the beneficiaries of the estate.


poll tax

From sense poll (“head”) for “uniform tax per individual”; from sense poll (“voting place”) for “tax required to vote”.

A tax determined as a uniform, fixed amount per individual.


nonuser

An office may be forfeited by mis-user or non-user.

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

The subject of the forfeiture of corporate franchises by nonuser or misuser , was fully discussed in the case of The King v . Amery

1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law:

(law) Neglect or omission to use an easement or franchise or to assert a right.


redargue

en-verb

redargue (third-person singular simple present redargues, present participle redarguing, simple past and past participle redargued)

redargues (present singular third-person)
redarguing (participle present)
redargued (participle past)
redargued (past)

/ɹɪˈdɑːɡjuː/

From Late Middle English redarguen, redargue (“to defeat (someone) in an argument; to rebuke, reprove”), from Middle French redarguer and Old French redargüer (“to disprove, refute; to accuse, blame; to rebuke, reprove”) (modern French rédarguer), and from their etymon Latin redarguere (“to disprove, refute”) (compare Late Latin redarguere (“to rebuke, reprove”)), the present active infinitive of redarguō (“to disprove, refute; to contradict”), from red- (a variant of re- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + arguō (“to assert, declare; to clarify, make plain; to prove, show; to accuse, charge with; to censure, rebuke, reprove; to blame; to denounce as false”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- (“argent, white; glittering”), in the sense of casting light on something to make it clear). Doublet of argue.
cognates
* Catalan redargüir
* Italian redarguire
* Old Occitan redarguir
* Portuguese redargüir
* Spanish redargüir

der

Dia[ph Silkworm]. Sir, Ile redargue you, / By diſputation. / Com[passe]. O let's heare this! / I long to heare a man diſpute in his ſhirt / Of valour, and his ſvvord dravvne in his hand.

1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, Act III, scene vi, page 39:

To disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.

Nathaniel Carpenter [i.e., Nathanael Carpenter] late Fellow of Exceter Colledge in Oxford, in the ſecond booke and ſeventh chapter of his learned Geographicall concluſions, thus fully redargues that forgerie.

1635, George Hakewill, “Touching Grammar, Rhetorique, Logicke, the Mathematiques, Philosophy, Architecture, the Arts of Painting and Navigation”, in An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God in the Government of the World. […], 3rd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] William Turner […], →OCLC, book III, section 4 (Of the Art of Navigation, […]), page 310:

[T]he objections you mention, I humbly conceive, are ſuch as may be redargued, if not entirely removed— […]

1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Mr. Henry Davis, Bookseller, in London”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume I, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, pages v–vi:

To rebut or refute (an argument, a proposition, etc.).


nonrecognition

(taxation) Not involving recognition of gain or loss.


nonresident

From Middle English non-resident, nounresident, equivalent to non- + resident.

(law) A person living in a country who is no legal permanent resident.


emptor

“The point at issue seems to be now a mere difference of opinion as to the definition of the word ‘payment’ between the vendor and emptor.[…]”

1923 April, Emeric Hulme Beaman, “A Matter of Principle”, in The Windsor Magazine, number 340, page 560:

Nolte […] is of the following opinion: As a rule, the emptor cannot waive his claim for delivery of documents and demand delivery of the discharged goods […]

1940 August, William L. Smyser, “Delivery of Possession Under Straight Bills of Lading in Germany”, in Comparative Law Series, volume 3, number 8, page 446:

This was treacherous territory for both the emptor and the vendor, made even riskier by the sheer size of the market.

2016, M. R. Griffiths, J. R. Lucas, Value Economics: The Ethical Implications of Value for New Economic Thinking, →ISBN, page 204:


thereatop

/ˌðɛəɹəˈtɒp/

/ˌðɛəɹəˈtɒp/

For quotations using this term, see Citations:thereatop.


DCA

(law) Initialism of district court of appeal or appeals, in various jurisdictions.


Cir.

(law) Abbreviation of circuit, with respect to a circuit court.


slayer rule

(law) A legal doctrine that prevents a murderer from realizing any inheritance from their victim, in effect in most jurisdictions.


prosecutorial

en-adj

prosecutorial (comparative more prosecutorial, superlative most prosecutorial)

more prosecutorial (comparative)
most prosecutorial (superlative)

Prosecutorial misconduct can lead to the lawyer's disbarment.

Chief Justice Lynch owes his current job to the exercise of prosecutorial abuse which followed in the wake of exposés about the "Sex Ring" indictments. Lynch's predecessor, Robert Bonin, was driven from the bench after he showed some interest in the gay civil rights aspects of these cases.

1981 April 18, Mitzel, “Davis Convicted Of '72 Sex Act”, in Gay Community News, page 6:

(criminal law) Relating to prosecuting of criminal cases.


sky marshal

(US, law enforcement) An armed, undercover guard on a commercial-airline flight.


air marshal

T.S.A. said its office of inspection makes quality assurance visits to ensure that the air marshals are properly prepared for their missions. […] Employees with the air marshals view their jobs as crucial to overall efforts to protect airplanes and airports from terrorist attacks.

2018 April 25, Ron Nixon, “Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program”, in The New York Times:


chokey

Borrowed from Hindi चौकी (caukī, “post, police station, etc.”) / Urdu چَوکی (caukī).


materiality

en-noun

materiality (countable and uncountable, plural materialities)

From material (adjective and noun) + -ity, perhaps modelled on Latin māteriālitās.

(law) The quality of being of consequence to a legal decision.


cellblock

The cellblock where the men were held was close enough to the holding tank, where the women were all kept together, for us to hear much of what happened there.

1983 December 24, Larry Goldsmith, “Cops Bust 70 Anti-Nuke Demonstrators”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 6:

A wing of a prison containing cells for the inmates.


recoupment

recoupment (countable and uncountable, plural recoupments)

(law) A reduction of the plaintiff's damages by keeping out a part.