Nuremberg defense

Nuremberg defense (plural Nuremberg defenses)

/ˈnjʊəɹəmbəːɡ dɪˈfɛns/

Albert Speer
Alfred Rosenberg
Franz von Papen
Hans Frank
Nuremberg Charter
Nuremberg trials
Rudolf Hess
Wilhelm Frick

An allusion to a defense used by former Nazi officials prosecuted during the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The trials were held in Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.

A relatively novel legal issue was raised by dissenters who contended that they did not so much oppose war in general as the Viet Nam war in particular. This contention, which became known as the Nuremberg defense, was raised by some young men who did not qualify as conscientious objectors and who were prosecuted for refusing to submit to induction.

1967, “The Nuremberg Defense”, in Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, volume 25, part 2, Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 936, column 1:

In United States v. Berrigan, a Federal court in Maryland laid down a legal blueprint for the treatment of war protest cases where an attempt was made to invoke the "Nuremberg defence." Father Philip Berrigan and three others stood charged with injuring the property of the United States Government, mutilating records filed in a public office of the United States, and hindering the administration of the Military Selective Service Act.

1980 January, Gary Komarow, “Individual Responsibility under International Law: The Nuremberg Principles in Domestic Legal Systems”, in The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, volume 29, number 1, London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 28:

Even during the Vietnam War, in the Pentagon Papers case, a standing objection would not have barred the assertion of a Nuremberg defense by those who committed the civil disobedience.

1985 October, Jules Lobel, “The Limits of Constitutional Power: Conflicts between Foreign Policy and International Law”, in Virginia Law Review, volume 71, number 7, Charlottesville, Va.: Virginia Law Review Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, footnote 452, page 1158:

[pages 413–434] The modern Nuremberg Defenses are the antithesis of the original defense: criminal defendants today build a defense based on the reasoning and principles used by the Allied nations to convict Germans at Nuremberg. There are essentially two modern Nuremberg Defenses: the Citizen's Duty and the Citizen's Privilege. [...] Under the Citizen's Duty defense, defendants assert that they could be held liable for complicity with international crimes if they fail to take action to prevent such crimes. [...] [page 416] Under the Citizen's Privilege formulation of the Defense, the Nuremberg Principles are joined with the statutory and common law privileges allowing citizens to prevent crime. This then creates a "citizen's privilege" to break domestic law.

1989 January, Frank Lawrence, “The Nuremberg Principles: A Defense for Political Protestors”, in Hastings Law Journal, volume 40, number 2, San Francisco, Calif.: Hastings College of the Law, University of California, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-01-05, part II (The Modern Nuremberg Defenses), pages 413–414 and 416:

The American judiciary's narrow interpetation of the standing requirement under the Nuremberg Principles has eviscerated the Nuremberg defense and limited its application to a narrow range of cases. [...] The judiciary, in rejecting defendants' standing to raise the Nuremberg defense, ignores the recognized privilege of citizen intervention to prevent the commission of a crime.

1991 fall, Matthew Lippman, “Nuremberg: Forty Five Years Later”, in Connecticut Journal of International Law, volume 7, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: Connecticut Journal of International Law Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1; republished in Guénaël Mettraux, editor, Perspectives on the Nuremberg Trial, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, →ISBN, part IX (Lowering the Procedural Barriers: Recognizing the Nuremberg Defense for Political Protestors), page 539:

An area in which one may indeed use the international defence, like the Nuremberg defence, though with little success, is opposition to nuclear weapons and other situations where civil disobedients set themselves against military combat. [...] Therefore, civil disobedients' interference in the production of weapons is not criminally culpable, but rather clearly excusable as avoiding the violation of a more serious law. Although this defence has had little success so far, it is worth brandishing and counts amongst the defences preferred by civil disobedients.

2004, María José Falcón y Tella, “The Positive Aspect”, in Peter Muckley, transl., Civil Disobedience (Monographs on International Law and Human Rights; 7), Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, →ISBN, page 216:

Three nuns, Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte, were jailed for between 30 and 41 months for attempting in 2002 a 'citizen weapons inspection', public exposure and symbolic disarmament of a Minuteman III nuclear missile silo near New Raymer, Colorado. [...] At their trial in 2003, however, US District Judge Robert Blackburn barred the jury from hearing international law and Nuremberg defences.

2011, Michael Head, “Espionage, Official Secrets and Sabotage”, in Crimes against the State: From Treason to Terrorism, Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, →ISBN; republished Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2016, →ISBN, page 143:

(US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful.


garnishor

(law) A person who garnishes; one who obtains a garnishment against another.


notitia criminis

From Latin nōtitia (“renown”) + crīminis, genitive of crīmen (“verdict”).

(law) A notice conveyed to a prosecutor that a crime is alleged to have occurred.


subleaser

(property law, informal) Synonym of sublessor.


fieri facias

From Middle English fieri facias, from Medieval Latin fierī faciās (“thou should cause it to be done”), which is not a normal Classical Latin construction but a calque from Romance causatives from faciō and infinitive (attested since Late Latin).

der

(law) In English law, a writ of execution issued after judgment obtained in a legal action for debt or damages.


exclusionary rule

en-noun

exclusionary rule (plural exclusionary rules)

(US, law) A doctrine which requires that evidence obtained as the result of an illegal act on the part of law enforcement personnel (such as a warrantless search, or continued questioning a witness who has invoked the right of counsel) must therefore be excluded from being admitted as evidence in a trial. This rule does not apply in civil proceedings, although statutes sometime specifically provide for exclusion of such evidence.


colourable

Glauce, what needs this colourable word, / To cloke the cause, that hath it selfe bewrayd?

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(now rare, sometimes law) Deceptive; fake, misleading.

(law) In appearance only; not in reality what it purports to be, hence counterfeit, feigned.


defeasible fee

(law) An estate in land that may be divested from its current owner upon the occurrence of an event set forth by the grantor in the grant.

fee simple subject to condition subsequent

fee simple subject to executory limitation


possibility of reverter

possibility of reverter (plural possibilities of reverter)

fee simple determinable
fee simple determinable

(law) Where a grantor of an estate in land has created a fee simple determinable (a condition on the grant which would give the grantor the right to reclaim ownership of the property), the grantor's remaining interest in the property.


permissive waste

(law) The legally compensable destruction of the value of property through the failure of a life tenant to maintain the property to the point where it falls into disrepair.


power of termination

power of termination (countable and uncountable, plural powers of termination)

(law) Where a grantor has created a fee simple subject to condition subsequent, and the condition of the grant has come to pass, the right of the grantor to physically reclaim ownership of the land.


contingent remainder

contingent remainder (plural contingent remainders)

Joe leaves property "to Mike for life, and then to Mike's oldest surviving child"; since it is not known who will be Mike's oldest surviving child at the time of Mike's death, ownership of the property is a contingent remainder.

(law) An interest in property that is owned by a party that can not be identified until the interest vests.


fee simple subject to condition subsequent (plural fee simples subject to condition subsequent)

(law) A defeasible fee created with language reserving the right of the grantor to reclaim ownership of the land upon the occurrence of a specified condition (e.g. "if X event occurs, grantor reserves the right to reenter and retake"); upon occurrence of the condition, the grantor may decide to retake ownership or not.

or fee simple subject to executory limitation

fee simple subject to executory interest


fee simple subject to executory interest (plural fee simples subject to executory interest)

Joe gives Mike an estate in land "so long as no alcohol is brought onto the property, in which case the property will go to Harry"; this creates a fee simple subject to executory limitation- if alcohol is brought onto the property, Harry automatically takes ownership.

(law) A defeasible fee created with clear durational language expressing a condition (e.g. "so long as", "until", "while") which causes ownership of a property to revest in a third party identified by the grantor if that condition comes about.


estate in land

(law) An interest in land that is or may become possessory of a physical area of land, almost always with a set geographic location; real estate; real property.


executory interest

executory interest (plural executory interests)

Joe gives land "to Mike, but if Harry graduates from law school, to Harry". Harry has an executory interest which he can realize by graduating from law school; Mike owns the land subject to Harry's executory interest.

(law) A third-party interest in an estate in land created by the conditions of a grant wherein the grantor gives the land to a second party, but with said land going to a third party upon the occurrence of a condition; an interest created subject to a fee simple subject to executory interest.


fee simple subject to executory limitation (plural fee simples subject to executory limitation)

fee simple subject to executory interest#English

(law) Synonym of fee simple subject to executory interest


right of reentry

right of reentry (plural rights of reentry)

(law) The right of a person who has traveled out of their country of citizenship to cross the border upon return to that country.


vested remainder subject to open

vested remainder subject to open (plural vested remainders subject to open)

vested remainders subject to open (plural)

(law) A future interest held by a member of a class, for which the interest is certain to vest, but for which new members may enter the class before the interest vests, thereby reducing each member's share of the total interest.


fee simple determinable

fee simple determinable (plural fees simple determinable)

Joe gives Mike an estate in land "so long as no alcohol is brought onto the property"; this creates a fee simple determinable - if alcohol is brought onto the property, ownership of the land automatically reverts to Joe.

(law) A defeasible fee created with clear durational language expressing a condition (e.g. "so long as", "until", "while") which causes ownership of a property to revert to the grantor upon the occurrence of that condition.


life estate pur autre vie

life estate pur autre vie (plural life estates pur autre vie)

From life estate + Old French pur ("for"), autre ("another"), vie ("life").

Joe gives property "to Mike for the life of Bob"; Joe has created a life estate pur autre vie for Mike, but when Bob dies, the property automatically reverts to Joe.

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


vested remainder

vested remainder (plural vested remainders)

(law) A future interest in an estate in land which is certain to vest at some future point.


shifting executory interest

shifting executory interest (plural shifting executory interests)

Joe gives land "to Mike, but if Harry graduates from law school, to Harry". Harry has an shifting executory interest because his graduation from law school divests Mike of ownership.

(law) A third party interest in an estate in land created by the conditions of a grant wherein the grantor gives the land to a second party, but with the occurrence of a condition divesting the second party of the land in favor of the third party.


plenarty

plenarty (usually uncountable, plural plenarties)

The plea that the benefice was full more than six months before the writ was purchased (called the plea of "plenarty") was a good affirmative defense.

1982, Robert E Rodes, Lay Authority and Reformation in the English Church:

Plenarty, the abstract of the adjective plenus, and is used in Common Law in matters of benefices, where a church is full of an incumbent; Plenarty and vacation, or avoidance, being direct contraries.

1811, Giles Jacob, Thomas Edlyne Tomlins, The Law Dictionary:

(law, historical) The state of a benefice when occupied.


reverter

(property law) The reversion of ownership of an estate in land to the original grantor pursuant to the occurrence of a condition set forth in the original grant.


feme

From Middle English feme, from Anglo-Norman feme (“woman”). Doublet of femina, femme, and hembra.

TRESPASS FOR INTERMEDDLING WITH A FEME.
There are some curious decisions in the old books regarding this point of law, with which it may be useful to be acquainted. In Br. Ab. Tresp. 40, it is said that a man may aid a feme who falls upon the ground from a horse, and so if she be sick, and the same if her baron would murder her. And the same per Rede if the feme would kill herself. And per Fineux a man may conduct a feme on a pilgrimage. So where a feme is going to market, it is lawful for another to suffer her to ride behind him on his horse to market. (Br. Ab. Tresp. 207.) And if a feme says that she is in jeopardy of her life by her baron, and prays him (a stranger) to carry her to a justice of the peace, he may lawfully do it. (Br. Ab. Tresp. 207.) But where any feme is out of the way, it is not lawful for a man to take her to his house, if she was not in danger of being lost in the night, or being drowned with water. (Br. Ab. Tresp. 213.)

1825, Henry Roscoe, Thomas Roscoe, Westminster Hall: Or, Professional Relics and Anecdotes of the Bar, Bench and Woolsack:


search warrant

Evidence found without a valid search warrant may be discarded by the courts as null and void

(law) A court order in the form of a warrant, authorizing the search of a home and/or other privacy-protected place(s), notably to seek unlawful possessions, evidence etc. as part of a judicial inquiry

搜查證

court order authorising the search of a place


overseas territory

overseas territory (plural overseas territories)

(law) A more specific status legally defined under a constitution for one or more of the above territories.


pro hac vice

From Latin pro hac vice (“for this turn”).

(law) Permitted for a specific case or action.


profert

Borrowed from Latin profert (“he makes known”), third-person singular present indicative of profero (“I make public, I make known, I cite”).

Baron Parke, after laying down that in general a party is not required to make profert of an instrument to the possession of which he is not entitled,[…]

1881, Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Common Law:

(law) The production or display of recorded evidence in court.


civil wrong

(law) A wrongful act by one person against another for which the other person may recover damages in a lawsuit; this includes tort, breach of contract, breach of trust, and breach of fiduciary duty.


election of remedies

election of remedies (plural elections of remedies)

A defendant has been found liable for taking a plaintiff's car; the plaintiff has an election of remedies between forcing the defendant to return the property, or forcing the defendant to pay the value of the property.

(law) The situation of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit having multiple options from which to choose as to how the defendant's wrong may be righted.


descendibility

(law) The characteristic of being descendible; inheritability by an heir.


descendible

en-adj

descendible (comparative more descendible, superlative most descendible)

more descendible (comparative)
most descendible (superlative)

The rights of men in ſociety, are neither deviſeable, nor transferable, nor annihilable, but are deſcendable only; and it is not in the power of any generation to intercept finally, and cut off the deſcent.

1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, London: […] J. S. Jordan, […], →OCLC, page 129:

(law) Of property: able to pass by descent; inheritable by heirs.


high crime

From high (“of great importance and consequence; grave”) + crime.

Lese majesty used to be a high crime, for which royal or imperial courts often put offenders to death.

Charles Stuart King of England. You have been accuſed on behalf of the People of England of high Treaſon and other high Crimes; the Court have determined that you ought to anſwer the ſame.

1649 February 2, C. W., A Perfect Narrative of the Whole Proceedings of the High Court of Iustice in the Tryal of the King in Westminster Hall, on Saturday the 20. and Monday the 22. of This Instant January. […], London: Printed for John Playford, […], published 23 January 1648–1649 (Julian calendar), →OCLC, page 14:

By way of Advice, I do acquaint you that there is no Judicature in England ſuperior to this, but the Parliament immediately. You are here impeached of a very high Crime, High Treaſon; it may be a Strain of Youth: the firſt Step to Mercy is Confeſſion.

1658 June 11, “The Tryal of John Mordant, Esq; on Tuesday the First of June, 1658. 10 Car. II.”, in [Thomas Salmon], editor, A Compleat Collection of State-Tryals, and Proceedings upon Impeachment for High Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; […] In Four Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for Timothy Goodwin, […]; John Walthoe […]; Benj[amin] Tooke […]; John Darby […]; Jacob Tonson […]; and John Walthoe Jun. […], published 1719, →OCLC, page 814, column 1:

For, my Lords, if I have committed any Faults or Errours in Expreſſion, yet as I inſiſt upon my Innocence with reſpect to all the High Crimes laid to my Charge, ſo I muſt ſtill inſiſt upon all the Doctrines which I have taught, as being agreeable to the Word of God, and to the Doctrine of our excellent and Apoſtolical Church, and which we of the Clergy are oblig'd both by Subſcription, and Oath to acknowledge, and defend.

1710 March 18, [Henry Sacheverell], “Tuesday, March 7 [Julian calendar]. The Eighth Day.”, in The Tryal of Dr. Henry Sacheverell, before the House of Peers, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 349:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

1787 September 17, “[Constitution of the United States]”, in The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, retrieved 2019-06-19, Article II, section 4:

Treason and bribery [in the United States Constitution, Article II, section 4] have their precise definitions; other high crimes and misdemeanors have their import, but have not been legally defined, so as to include all cases which may fall under their heads. [...] A high crime is always understood to be some great offence against the State or the public; a misdemeanor is some petty offence in office, consisting of any kind of misbehaviour, or ill behaviour.

1836 March 18, [Thomas Hart] Benton, “Expunging Resolution”, in Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twenty-fourth Congress: […] (United States Senate), volume XII, Washington, D.C.: Printed and published by Gales and Seaton, →OCLC, column 899:

The South entered an equal Union, in which she was promised the control of one branch of Congress, for her safety, her freedom, and her protection therein; and it was her high crime, her unpardonable rebellion, that she refused to submit to an overwhelming majority in both branches thereof. [...] This, in the estimation of the North, was her high crime and misdemeanor. In the estimation of history, it will be her noble-doing and heroic virtue.

1868 January, “Art. I.—1. History of the American Civil War. By John William Draper, […]. 1867. 2. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America. By John William Draper, […]. 1865.”, in [Albert Taylor Bledsoe and Sophia Bledsoe Herrick], editors, The Southern Review, volume III, number V, Baltimore, Md.: Bledsoe and Browne, →OCLC, pages 18–19:

Congress has repeatedly defined "other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" to be serious violations of the public trust, not necessarily indictable offenses under criminal law [...]

1989 April 25, Impeachment of Walter L. Nixon, Jr., Report to Accompany H. Res. 87, 101st Congress, 1st Session [H. Rep. 101-36], Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 5; quoted in Elizabeth B. Bazan, Anna C. Henning, “Background”, in Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice (CRS Report for Congress; 98-186), Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 8 April 2010, →OCLC, page 23:

I am not dwelling today on high crimes. High crimes are so mind-boggling that the ordinary citizen cannot deal with them. [...] On the other hand, the practice of cheap chicanery, of dirty little cons, swindles and petty thievery, is something that at one time or another touches every one of us and is well understood.

1993, Howard Fast, “Our Friends in Washington [Uncommon Thieves]”, in War and Peace: Observations on Our Times, Armonk, N.Y., London: M[yron] E. Sharpe, →ISBN, page 190:

(law) A major crime or wrongdoing, notably one subject to trial before the highest courts which may impose the gravest punishments.


soke

From Middle English soke, from Medieval Latin (Anglo-Latin) sōca "right of jurisdiction", from Old English sōcn (“jurisdiction, prosecution”, literally “act of seeking”), from Proto-West Germanic *sōkni, from Proto-Germanic *sōkniz (“seeking, inquiry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to track”).
Cognates: see English soken. More at sake, seek.

der

(England, law, historical) A soc (a medieval right to hold a court or to receive fines).


PMSI

security interest
security interest#English

(business law) Initialism of purchase money security interest.


security interest

en-noun

security interest (plural security interests)

(law) The right of a lender to seize possession of collateral offered to secure the loan.


constructive force

A civilian who impersonates a police officer in order to convince a debtor to turn over physical possession of collateral owed to a creditor has used constructive force to acquire the collateral.

(law) Action on the part of one party which will be treated by a court as equivalent to the use of force in determining whether that party has acted improperly with respect to another.


banneret

From French banneret, from bannière (“banner”) + -et (“-et, -ette: forming diminutives”). Equivalent to banner + -et.

(law, historical) Clipping of knight banneret: a knight entitled to subinfeudate his estate and to lead men in battle under his own banner.


close in

en-verb

close in (third-person singular simple present closes in, present participle closing in, simple past and past participle closed in)

closes in (present singular third-person)
closing in (participle present)
closed in (participle past)
closed in (past)

The police were closing in on the thieves.

(intransitive, law enforcement, criminology) To come or approach nearer to someone being pursued.


title defect

(law) A problem with the chain of title to a parcel of real property that exposes the putative owner of the property to a potential legal dispute over the ownership of the property.


special warranty deed

en-noun

special warranty deed (plural special warranty deeds)

(law) A deed of title to real property by which the grantor warrants that he is not personally responsible for any title defects, but making no warranties or representations as to the quality of the title in other respects.


covenant of title

covenant of title (plural covenants of title)

(law) In the law of real property, a guarantee made by the seller of a parcel of land to the buyer of that parcel regarding the legal status of the title.


English covenants

(law) In the law of real property, a set of six traditional covenants of title made by the seller of a parcel of land to the buyer of that parcel.


judicial notice

If an attorney were to ask the court to admit into evidence the fact that a party can not have traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles without crossing several state lines, or that July 4, 2000 fell on a Tuesday, the court would likely take judicial notice of the fact.

(law) In the law of evidence, the power of a court to deem the burden of proof to be established as to a particular fact without the introduction of evidence, because the fact is one that is a matter of common knowledge, or is readily demonstrated by reference to sources of unquestionable authority.


chain of title

(law) In the law of real property, a series of documents recorded in the appropriate government repository which establish the passage of a parcel of property from owner to owner, ideally back to the first owner to reduce the property to private ownership.


purposeful availment

personal jurisdiction
personal jurisdiction

(US, law) In the law of civil procedure, an intentional act by one party directed into a particular state, thereby permitting that state to constitutionally assert personal jurisdiction over that party.


long arm statute

long arm statute (plural long arm statutes)

(law, US) In the law of civil procedure, a statute which establishes the activities by a potential defendant which will give the courts of a state personal jurisdiction over that defendant.


breach of promise

breach of promise (countable and uncountable, plural breaches of promise)

But suppose an agreement to marry made by a man in Scotland with a minor lady in England, would we decern for damages for breach of promise in such a case?

1828, Scotland Court of Session, Session Cases: Cases Decided in the Court of Session, volume 6, page 416:

A ‘breach of promise’ case being 'played out in the courts' was covered over three consecutive days and given substantial prominence especially on the commercial channels' bulletins (this was the last ‘breach of promise case’ in the state of Victoria, which may account for the sustained coverage).

1998, John Langer, Tabloid Television: Popular Journalism and the ‘Other News’, page 97:

Nevertheless, pointing a finger at young men and punishing them with breach-of-promise lawsuits did little to address the problem of fallen women.

2013, Mark E. Kann, Taming Passion for the Public Good: Policing Sex in the Early Republic, page 118:

(law) A tort in common law arising when a man withdraws an earlier promise to marry a woman; abolished in many jurisdictions.

miehen yksipuolinen kihlauksen purkaminen

miehen yksipuolinen kihlauksen peruminen

incumplimiento de la promesa de matrimonio


mainpernable

en-adj

mainpernable (comparative more mainpernable, superlative most mainpernable)

more mainpernable (comparative)
most mainpernable (superlative)

(law) Capable of being admitted to give surety by mainpernors; able to be mainprised.


malicious mischief

(law) The willful, wanton, or reckless destruction of the personal property of another occasioned by actual ill will or resentment toward the owner or possessor of such property.


mandator

(law) The person who employs another to perform a mandate.


balance of probabilities

en-noun

balance of probabilities (plural balances of probabilities)

(law) A legal standard, applied in many jurisdictions for deciding the outcome of civil disputes, which requires that a dispute be decided in favor of the party whose claims are more likely to be true.


remittitur

(law) The reduction by a judge of damages awarded by a jury.


additur

(law) The augmentation by a judge of damages awarded by a jury.


bill of particulars

bill of particulars (plural bills of particulars)

(law) A written statement or specification of the particulars of the demand for which an action at law is brought, or of a defendant's set-off against such demand, furnished by one of the parties to the other, either voluntarily or in compliance with a judge's order for that purpose.

(law) A written statement or specification of the charges made against a defendant.


quasi-contract

(law) An obligation created by the law in the absence of an agreement or contract; not based upon the intentions or expressions of the parties.


contributory negligence

(law) The rule of law under which an act or omission of plaintiff is a contributing cause of injury and a possible bar to a complete recovery.


Alford plea

Originated in the US legal case before the Supreme Court of the United States, North Carolina v. Alford (1970).

Alford Plea. A plea under which a defendant may choose to plead guilty, not because of an admission to the crime, but because the prosecutor has sufficient evidence to place a charge and to obtain conviction in court. The plea is commonly used in local and state courts in the United States.

1992, Walter John Raymond, Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms, Brunswick Publishing Corporation, →ISBN, page 9:

Under the Alford doctrine, a defendant does not admit guilt but admits that the state has sufficient evidence to find him or her guilty, should the case go to trial.

1996, Kathleen Daly, Gender, Crime, and Punishment, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 20:

Alford plea. A guilty plea entered as part of a plea bargain by a criminal defendant who denies committing the crime or who does not actually admit his guilt. In federal courts, such plea may be accepted as long as there is evidence that the defendant is actually guilty. Named after North Carolina v. Alford (1970.)

2006, Susan Ellis Wild, Webster's New World Law Dictionary, Webster's New World, →ISBN, page 21:

When offering an Alford plea, a defendant asserts his innocence but admits that sufficient evidence exists to convict him of the offense.

2009 November, Michael T. Judge, Stephen R. McCullough, “Criminal law and procedure”, in University of Richmond Law Review, page 339, Vol. 44:

(US, law) A plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit guilt but concedes the government has sufficient evidence to convict.


appellate court

appellate court (plural appellate courts)

(law) A court having jurisdiction to hear appeals and review a lower court's decisions.


breach of contract

breach of contract (plural breaches of contract)

(law) A failure to meet an obligation under the terms of a contract.


adverse witness

adverse witness (plural adverse witnesses)


adverse party

(law) The opposing party in a lawsuit under an adversary system of law; adversary.

parte adversă

the opposing party in a lawsuit under an adversary system of law


alluvion

alluvion (countable and uncountable, plural alluvions)

(law) The increase in the area of land due to the deposition of sediment (alluvium) by a river.


appeals court

That year a U.S. appeals court found the program Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

2022 September 26, “Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Snowden”, in Mark Trevelyan, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-09-26, Europe:

(law) An appellate court, to hear appeals against lower tribunals.


police power

(law) The inherent power, incident to sovereignty, of a state to regulate and exercise reasonable control over matters of public health, public morals, public safety, and in general, all things relating to the general welfare.

Police power (United States constitutional law)


attorney's lien

attorney's lien (plural attorney's liens)

(law) The right of an attorney to retain a client's papers until the attorney's fees have been paid.


blanket lien

A release schedule determines how much of the loan must be paid off in order to have a lot released from the blanket lien.

2006, Kathryn J. Haupt, chapter 9, in Principles of California Real Estate, →ISBN, page 216:

(law) A lien that gives the lienholder the entitlement to take possession of any or all of the lienee's real property to cover a delinquent loan.


architect's lien

architect's lien (plural architect's liens)

An architect's lien statute may grant the same rights to a design professional as an ordinary mechanics' lien.

2001, Kevin L. Lybeck, H. Bruce Shreves, chapter 2, in The Law of Payment Bonds, →ISBN, page 35:

(law) The right of an architect to retain a client's papers until the architect's fees have been paid.


accountant's lien

accountant's lien (plural accountant's liens)

A recent decision from New South Wales suggests, however, that in the absence of some contractual prohibition the benefit of a possessory lien (in this case, an accountant's lien over his client's papers) may be assigned to a third party, along with the debt.

1994, Michael Gillooly, chapter 5, in Securities over Personalty, →ISBN, page 140:

(law) The right of an accountant to retain a client's papers until the accountant's fees have been paid.


banker's lien

As a banker's lien may arise in consequence of the customer's instruction to a bank to open credits without the need to prove an unequivocal act of deposition or intent to deposit the documents, a banker's lien is likely to arise where the bank is financing the transaction under a documentary credit or for debt relating to costs of TPF services provided.

2003, Emmanuel T. Laryea, chapter 3, in Paperless Trade: Opportunities, Challenges and Solutions, →ISBN, page 177:

(law) The right of a bank to satisfy a customer's matured debt by seizing the customer's money or property within the bank's possession.


lienor

Those mechanic′s lienors with equal priority to the foreclosing lienor need not be named as defendants in the action, but should be identified in the complaint, as well as those encumbrances with interests prior in right to the foreclosing lienor.

2009, Carl J. Circo, Christopher H. Little, American Bar Association, A State-by-State Guide to Construction & Design Law, 2nd edition, page 161:


gross negligence

(law) Negligence evincing a total or near total disregard for the rights and welfare of others and for the consequences of an act.

嚴重疏忽

negligence of total disregard for rights of others


duty of care

(law) A legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others.


child support

(law) The ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made directly or indirectly by an obligor, usually the noncustodial parent, to an obligee, usually the custodial parent or other guardian, for the financial care and support of children of a relationship or marriage that has been terminated, or which never existed.

pensão alimentícia f (also means alimony)


agricultural lien

agricultural lien (plural agricultural liens)

Filing with the state generally is required to perfect an agricultural lien unless the collateral is in the possession of the lienholder.

2007, Milton C. Toby, chapter 6, in The Complete Equine Legal & Business Handbook: Legal Insights and Practical Tips for a Successful Horse Business, →ISBN, page 112:

(US, law) A statutory lien that protects the seller of farming equipment by giving the seller a lien on crops grown with the equipment.


ne exeat

Borrowed from Latin nē exeat (literally “may he not go forth”), from nē (“not”) + exeat, third-person singular subjunctive of exeō (“depart”).

bor+

(law) A common law writ prohibiting the departure of a person or of property from the jurisdiction of a court.


lay down the law

en-verb

lay down the law (third-person singular simple present lays down the law, present participle laying down the law, simple past and past participle laid down the law)

lays down the law (present singular third-person)
laying down the law (participle present)
laid down the law (participle past)
laid down the law (past)

(law, dated) To present the law that applies to a given case.


affirmant

From Latin affirmans, present participle of affirmo.

(law) One who affirms of taking an oath.


detinue

From late Middle English detenue, from Old French detenue, feminine singular past participle of detenir (“to detain”). See detain.

(law) A legal action to reclaim goods wrongfully detained.


vid.

(law) Abbreviation of vidua (Latin for “widow”).


commixtion

en-noun

commixtion (countable and uncountable, plural commixtions)

From Middle English commixtion, from Middle French commixtion, and its source, Latin commixtiōnem, from commiscēre (“to mix”).

(Roman law, Scots law) A method of acquiring property by mixing or blending substances belonging to different proprietors.


statute book

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:

(informal, law) All the statutes and laws of a given jurisdiction, whether or not listed in an actual book.


S.D. Iowa

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, as used in case citations.


S.D. Ind.

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, as used in case citations.


N.D. Iowa

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, as used in case citations.


N.D. Ind.

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, as used in case citations.


unconscionability

unconscionability (countable and uncountable, plural unconscionabilities)

(law, contract law) The principle that one party to a contract might be entitled to a remedy if the other party has behaved in an unconscionable manner.


pontage

pontage (countable and uncountable, plural pontages)

From Latin pons, pontis (“a bridge”): compare French pontage.

They pay no Toll for Goods which they have in Right of the Church , and were formerly by the common Law discharg'd from Pontage and Murage

1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […], →OCLC:

(UK, law, obsolete) A duty or tax paid for repairing bridges.


fishing expedition

fishing expedition (plural fishing expeditions)

(idiomatic, law, informal, derogatory) A search for information, especially incriminating information, that is conducted without specific direction or goal, in the hope that something may turn up.


just compensation

just compensation (countable and uncountable, plural just compensations)

[...] ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

1789, Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

(law) The compensation provided for property taken via eminent domain. It is usually the fair market value of the property, but may be determined by other means.

preu just

compensation for property taken via eminent domain


settlement agreement

settlement agreement (plural settlement agreements)

contractual agreement
contractual agreement

(law) A contractual agreement between parties to actual or potential litigation by which each party agrees to a resolution of the underlying dispute.

Prozessvergleich

settlement as result of judicial process


N.J.

(law) New Jersey, as used in case citations.


Nev.

(law) Abbreviation of Nevada, as used in case citations.


D. Me.

w:United States District Court for the District of Maine

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Maine, as used in case citations.


nonindividual

(law) That which is not an individual (as a trust, partnership, etc.).


N.H.

(law) Initialism of New Hampshire, as used in case citations.


D. Kan.

w:United States District Court for the District of Kansas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Kansas, as used in case citations.


D.N.M.

w:United States District Court for the District of New Mexico

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, as used in case citations.


D. Md.

w:United States District Court for the District of Maryland

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Maryland, as used in case citations.


D. Minn.

w:United States District Court for the District of Minnesota

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, as used in case citations.


D. Nev.

w:United States District Court for the District of Nevada

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Nevada, as used in case citations.


D. Mont.

w:United States District Court for the District of Montana

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Montana, as used in case citations.


D.N.J.

w:United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, as used in case citations.


D.N.H.

w:United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, as used in case citations.


Me.

(law) Abbreviation of Maine, as used in case citations.


N.M.

(law) Initialism of New Mexico, as used in case citations.


D. Mass.

w:United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, as used in case citations.


Haw.

(law) Abbreviation of Hawaii, as used in case citations.


D. Colo.

w:United States District Court for the District of Colorado

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Colorado, as used in case citations.


R.I.

(law) Initialism of Rhode Island, as used in case citations.


D. Idaho

w:United States District Court for the District of Idaho

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Idaho, as used in case citations.


D.D.C.

w:United States District Court for the District of Columbia

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of Columbia, as used in case citations.


D. Ariz.

w:United States District Court for the District of Arizona

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Arizona, as used in case citations.


D. Del.

w:United States District Court for the District of Delaware

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Delaware, as used in case citations.


D.P.R.

w:United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, as used in case citations.


Or.

(law) Abbreviation of Oregon, as used in case citations.


D. Haw.

w:United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, as used in case citations.


D. Alaska

w:United States District Court for the District of Alaska

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Alaska, as used in case citations.


V.I.

(law) Initialism of Virgin Islands, as used in case citations.


D. Conn.

w:United States District Court for the District of Connecticut

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, as used in case citations.


D.S.C.

w:United States District Court for the District of South Carolina

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, as used in case citations.


C.Z.

(law) Initialism of Canal Zone., as used in case citations.


D.S.D.

w:United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, as used in case citations.


D. Or.

w:United States District Court for the District of Oregon

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Oregon, as used in case citations.


D. Wyo.

w:United States District Court for the District of Wyoming

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, as used in case citations.


D.R.I.

w:United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, as used in case citations.


D. Guam

w:United States District Court for the District of Guam

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Guam, as used in case citations.


D.V.I.

w:United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands, as used in case citations.


D.C.Z.

w:United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone, as used in case citations.


S.C.

(law) Initialism of South Carolina, as used in case citations.


P.R.

(law) Abbreviation of Puerto Rico, as used in case citations.


D. Utah

w:United States District Court for the District of Utah

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Utah, as used in case citations.


D. Neb.

w:United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, as used in case citations.


D.

(law) District, as used in case citations.


D.N.D.

w:United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

(law) Initialism of United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, as used in case citations.


D. Vt.

w:United States District Court for the District of Vermont

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the District of Vermont, as used in case citations.


antilynching

The year before, he donated his earnings from his performance in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings to Jewish refugees fleeing Germany, and in 1945 he worked to get Harry Truman to support an antilynching law.

1998 March 27, Cara Jepsen, “Days of the Week”, in Chicago Reader:

(law) Prohibiting the practice of lynching


control order

(UK, law) An order made by the Home Secretary to restrict an individual's liberty for the purpose of protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism.


rightsholder

(law) A person or organization that owns the legal rights to something

rettighedshaver

a person or organization that owns the legal rights to something


et seqq.

(law, uncommon) Abbreviation of et sequentia; (of sequential things, such as pages and lists) and those which follow.


antisodomy

Many felt it was the first positive news at the federal level since 1986, when the court affirmed a state's interest in restricting sexual behavior by upholding Georgia's antisodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick.

1996 August 30, Jeffrey Felshman, “How to Win Enemies and Influence People”, in Chicago Reader:

Doesn't it violate the Texas antisodomy law once backed by President Bush--to say nothing of the FCC's new antismut regulations--for so many U.S. senators to have their heads up their butts on C-SPAN?

2004 July 23, Dan Savage, “Savage Love”, in Chicago Reader:

(chiefly law) Seeking to prevent or prohibit sodomy


vendication

From Latin vendicatio (“claiming”), via French vendication (“claiming”).

1678 June 8, The Minutes of the Westconnaug Purchase, quoted in Rhode Island Historical Society, Rhode Island Historical Society Collections
We do give unto them full Power and Authority to and in our Behalf for the maintaining justifying and defending our just Rights and Property in our aforesaid Purchases above premisd and call to an Account any Person or Persons that are concernd in the aforesaid Purchase of what Monies is due from them to the Company and also to deal with Samuel Reape about a Deed of Sale which he doth obstinately detain in his Hands belonging to the Company: and to all Matters relating to the Propagation and Vendication of our aforesaid Purchases &c

Poſſeſſion thereof remains in the Heir, against whom the Legatar hath not only a personal Action, for payment or delivery of the Legacy but hath alſo a real Action of Vendication, againſt him, and all other havers thereof, for delivery of the ſame.

1693, The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, Deduced from Its Originals, and Collated with the Civil, Canon, and Feudal Laws, and with the Customs of Neighbouring Nations ... The Second Edition, Revised, Corrected, and Much Enlarged, Etc, page 498:

Vendication of a plot of ground

1868, Mauritius. Supreme Court, Decisions of the Supreme Court, Vice-Admiralty Court & Bankruptcy Court of Mauritius: Arrets de la Cour Supreme, de la Cour de Vice Admiraute & de la Cour des Faillites de l'Ile Maurice:

(property law, rare) An act of claiming property.


if, as and when

1944, Thomas Reed Powell, letter to William O. Douglas, quoted in Melvin I. Urofsky (1989), '"Dear Teacher": The Correspondence of William O. Douglas and Thomas Reed Powell', Law and History Review 7(2), page 364,
No one cares about what a judge thinks, if, as and when. All that counts is what he says.

The whole thing, Tyne decided, would make a nice problem to mull over in his old age -- if, as, and when.

1988, Harry Brown, A Walk in the Sun, →ISBN, page 75:

We'll talk about appeals if, as and when.

2001, The Man Who Wasn't There, spoken by Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Shalhoub):

(informal, chiefly law) In the event that the thing being discussed comes to pass.


VARA

Visual Artists Rights Act
w:Visual Artists Rights Act

(law) Acronym of Visual Artists Rights Act.


E.D. Ky.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, as used in case citations.


E.D. Mich.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, as used in case citations.


C.A.F.C.

(law) United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as used in case citations.


C.A.A.F.

w:United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

(law) Abbreviation of United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.


Vet.

(law) Abbreviation of veteran, as used in case citations in the United States.


E.D. Ark.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, as used in case citations.


W.D. Ark.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, as used in case citations.


M.D. Pa.

w:United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, as used in case citations.


W.D. Ky.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, as used in case citations.


W.D. Mo.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, as used in case citations.


E.D. Mo.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, as used in case citations.


E.D. Okla.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, as used in case citations.


W.D. Mich.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, as used in case citations.


E.D. Pa.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as used in case citations.


W.D. Pa.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, as used in case citations.


Vet. App.

w:United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

(law) Abbreviation of United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, as used in case citations.


E.D. Va.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, as used in case citations.


E.D. Wis.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin as used in case citations.


W.D. Va.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, as used in case citations.


W.D. Wash.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, as used in case citations.


W.D. Tenn.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, as used in case citations.


N.D. Okla.

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, as used in case citations.


E.D. Wash.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, as used in case citations.


W.D. Okla.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, as used in case citations.


W.D. Wis.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, as used in case citations.


spendthrift trust

spendthrift trust (plural spendthrift trusts)

(law) A trust that is created for the benefit of a person (often because that beneficiary is unable to control spending) that gives an independent trustee full authority to make decisions as to how the trust funds may be spent for the benefit of the beneficiary, thus keeping the funds in the trust beyond the reach of creditors.


E.D. Tenn.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, as used in case citations.


M.D. Tenn.

w:United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, as used in case citations.


springing executory interest

springing executory interest (plural springing executory interests)

Joe gives land "to Harry, if Harry graduates from law school". Harry has a springing executory interest because his graduation from law school directly divests Joe of ownership.

(law) An interest in an estate in land created by the conditions of a grant wherein the grantor cuts short the grantor's own interest in the property in favor of the grantee, contingent upon the occurrence of a specific condition.

fee simple subject to executory interest

fee simple subject to executory limitation


N.D. Tex.

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, as used in case citations.


W.D. Tex.

w:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, as used in case citations.


S.D. Tex.

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, as used in case citations.


Tex.

(law) Abbreviation of Texas, as used in case citations.


E.D. Tex.

w:United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, as used in case citations.


Miss.

(law) Mississippi, as used in case citations.


S.D.W.Va.

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, as used in case citations.


W.Va.

(law) Abbreviation of West Virginia., as used in case citations.


N.D. Ohio

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, as used in case citations.


N.D.W.Va.

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, as used in case citations.


S.D. Ohio

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, as used in case citations.


N.D. Miss.

w:United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, as used in case citations.


S.D. Miss.

w:United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

(law) Abbreviation of United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, as used in case citations.


under-trial

(India, law) Alternative spelling of undertrial


undertrial

(India, law) One who is currently on trial or who is imprisoned on remand whilst awaiting trial.


conditional sentence

conditional sentence (plural conditional sentences)


out-of-court

To avoid negative publicity, we arrived at an out-of-court settlement.

(law) Without resorting to formal legal action.

庭外

without resorting to formal legal action


pray in aid

en-verb

pray in aid (third-person singular simple present prays in aid, present participle praying in aid, simple past and past participle prayed in aid)

prays in aid (present singular third-person)
praying in aid (participle present)
prayed in aid (participle past)
prayed in aid (past)

Other, smaller craters in the North Sea and Ukraine have been prayed in aid of this theory.

(transitive, chiefly law) To ask for the help of (someone or something) in pleading a case; to make use of, adduce (something) in defence of a case, argument etc.


I rest my case

All the evidence points toward the defendant's guilt. I rest my case.

(law) My argument is proven; I conclude my statement.

Damit schließe ich die Beweisführung ab.

ezzel befejeztem a perbeszédet / az érvelésemet

egyebet nem kívánok mondani/hozzátenni/hozzáfűzni

これにて立証を終える

これにてりっしょうをおえる


galanas

From Welsh galanas (“murder; weregild”).

(historical, law) the blood money or weregild paid by a murderer to the family of his victim under early Welsh law


medical examiner

en-noun

medical examiner (plural medical examiners)

aviation medical examiner
medical examiner

(law) A physician who examines cadavers on behalf of the government.

médecin légiste

a physician who examines cadavers on behalf of the government


nonfungible

Horses, slaves, and so forth, are non-fungible things, because they differ individually in value and cannot be exchanged indifferently one for another.

1880, Thomas Erskine Holland, The Elements of Jurisprudence, 12th edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1916, page 107:

But the claim that love of certain sorts—romantic, maternal, filial—is nonfungible means that this emotion is directed only to the particular individuals who manifest those properties.

2019, Carolyn Korsmeyer, Things: In Touch with the Past, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 100:

(chiefly property law, finance) Not fungible, not interchangeable.


bona vacantia

"The company asked also for an express vesting order concerning the land, which had legally gone to the Crown as bona vacantia" http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WvY3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA814&dq=bona+vacantia

(UK, law) The principle that there is no unowned property, and that if there is no other owner then property vests in the Crown.


greylist

(law) A list, resembling a blacklist, for less serious offences.


probate court

(law) A court, sometimes called "Orphans' Court" (tribunal) whose function is to administer estates (property of a decedent) and prove wills

遺囑檢驗法庭

court or tribunal that administers estates and proves wills


onus probandi

burden of production
burden of production

burden of persuasion
burden of persuasion

(law) The burden of proof, the onus; the duty of a party in a legal proceeding to prove an assertion of fact; it includes both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion.


glossator

From Middle English glosatour, from Medieval Latin glōsātor, glossātor, from glōsāre, glōssāre (“to gloss”) + Latin -tor (agent suffix).

(historical, law) A legal scholar of the Middle Ages, (specifically) one who authored glosses on legal texts (especially the Corpus Juris of Justinian), typically distinguished from the later commentators who wrote in extended prose and adopted a more pragmatic form of jurisprudence.


obrogate

en-verb

obrogate (third-person singular simple present obrogates, present participle obrogating, simple past and past participle obrogated)

obrogates (present singular third-person)
obrogating (participle present)
obrogated (participle past)
obrogated (past)

That a law is surrogated, when anything is added to the former law; that it is obrogated when anything in the former law is changed.

1880, James Buchanan, Johannes Voet, His Commentary on the Pandects, translation of original by Johannes Voet, page 56:

(law, rare) To annul a law by enacting a new law, as opposed to repealing the former law.


vice squad

(law enforcement, criminology) A police section specialized in vice crimes.


viatorial privilege

(law) The exemption of a witness from court duty until summoned and compensated for their expense.


collateral estoppel

(law) The estoppel forbidding again litigating an issue decided in a previous case with the same parties, or even with the same party being estopped.


paternity test

(law, genetics) A test performed to determine the biological father of a child.


pledgor

(law) One who engages in or makes a pledge to a pledgee.


actio popularis

en-noun

actio popularis (plural actiones populares)

Latin actio (“action”) + popularis (“of the people”)

(law) Action to obtain remedy by a person or a group in the name of the collective interest.


working time

Working time shall mean any period during which the worker is working, at the employer's disposal and carrying out his activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice.

1993 December 13, Official Journal (of the European Union) L 307, pages 0018 - 0024:

(law) The period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Most countries regulate the working time by law, e.g. by stipulating a maximum number of working hours per week. Exact definition varies by the legislation.


act of independent significance

act of independent significance (plural acts of independent significance)

acts of independent significance (plural)

(law) A doctrine in the law of wills under which a testator may effectively change the disposition of his property without changing the text of the will, so long as the acts or events changing the disposition have some significance other than avoiding the requirements of the will.


CTM

CTM (countable and uncountable, plural CTMs)

(copyright law) Initialism of community trademark.


prest

From Middle English prest, from Old French prest.

the same tayles soe hereafter there to be levyed and striken, shalbe delyvered unto everye of the same Sheriffes[…]without prest or other chardge to be sett upon them for the same.

(law) A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands.


plead the Fifth

en-verb

plead the Fifth (third-person singular simple present pleads the Fifth, present participle pleading the Fifth, simple past pled the Fifth or pleaded the Fifth, past participle pled the Fifth)

pleads the Fifth (present singular third-person)
pleading the Fifth (participle present)
pled the Fifth (past)
pleaded the Fifth (past)
pled the Fifth (participle past)

(law, US) To invoke the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves.


statute of frauds

en-noun

statute of frauds (plural statutes of frauds)

(law) A statute that bars enforcement of an oral contract.


pragmatical

en-adj

pragmatical (comparative more pragmatical, superlative most pragmatical)

more pragmatical (comparative)
most pragmatical (superlative)

/pɹæɡˈmætɪkəl/


SCP

(genre): An initialism of special containment procedures. Not an initialism of the SCP Foundation’s motto, secure, contain, protect, which is a backronym from SCP.

init

(law) Initialism of Senior Crown Prosecutor.


what say you

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-what say you.wav

Early Modern English syntax for what do you say; at the time, do-support was not yet obligatory. Compare Middle English what seien ye.

(formal) What do you say? What is your opinion?

(law) When addressed to a defendant in court: how do you plead? Also, when addressed to a jury or its foreperson: what is your verdict?

kuinka vastaatte syytteisiin?

when addressed to a defendant in court: how do you plead?


PCA

(US, law) Abbreviation of Posse Comitatus Act. The U.S. law called "Posse Comitatus Act", 20 Stat. 152 aka 18 U.S.C. § 1385


chthonic law

en-noun

chthonic law (countable and uncountable, plural chthonic laws)

(law, uncountable) A system of law centered on the sacred character of the cosmos.

(law, countable) An individual law of this kind.


contemnor

(law) A party who commits or is held in contempt of court.


legal code

(law) All the official laws of a country or state


pawnee

(law) One or two whom a pledge is delivered as security; one who takes anything in pawn.


supersedeas

(law) A type of surety bond that a court requires from an appellant who wants to delay payment of a judgement until the appeal is over.

(law) A writ requiring a lower court to suspend an action.


TRO

temporary restraining order
temporary restraining order#English

(law) Initialism of temporary restraining order.

(law) Initialism of traffic restriction order.


temporary restraining order

temporary restraining order (plural temporary restraining orders)

(law) A restraining order which expires at a specified point in time, in particular a restraining order issued prior to an inter partes hearing.


Law French

(law) The body of legal terms used in the United Kingdom descended from the Anglo-Norman dialect of Old French, many now archaic but some still in use in the UK and elsewhere.


dépeçage

(law) The joint application of norms from different jurisdictions or legal systems, each governing certain aspects of a case.


repliant

(law) A litigant who files a reply or replication.


appendant

en-adj

appendant (comparative more appendant, superlative most appendant)

more appendant (comparative)
most appendant (superlative)

If A. be ſeiſed of a mannor whereunto the franchiſe of waife and ſtray and ſuch like are appendant, and the King purchaſeth the mannor with the appurtenances, now are the royall Franchiſes reunited to the Crowne, and not appendant to the Mannor, […]

1628, Edw[ard] Coke, The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for the Societe of Stationers, →OCLC, book 2, chapter 11, section 184, folio 121, verso:

(law) Appended by prescription, that is, a personal usage for a considerable time; said of a thing of inheritance belonging to another inheritance which is superior or more worthy; as, an advowson, common, etc., which may be appendant to a manor, common of fishing to a freehold, a seat in church to a house.


appendant

(law) An inheritance annexed by prescription to a superior inheritance.


SJ

Secretary for Justice
w:Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong)

(Hong Kong, law) Abbreviation of Secretary for Justice.


hospitium

en-noun

hospitium (plural hospitiums or hospitia)

Borrowed from Latin hospitium. Doublet of hospice.


private law

(law) The area of law pertaining to the relationships between private persons (natural or legal persons including corporations), as opposed to relations between the state and private persons.


qui tam

Latin qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, "[he] who sues in this matter for the king as [well as] for himself".

(law) A writ whereby a private individual who assists a prosecution can receive all or part of any penalty imposed.


rere

(Ireland, law, specifically) back portion or area behind (a building, etc.)


antiloitering

an antiloitering law

(law) Serving to prevent or counter loitering.


avowry

avowry (countable and uncountable, plural avowries)

From Middle English avouerie, avourie, from Old French avoerie, avouerie.

Every avowant, and other person, that makes avowry or conusance, or justifies as baily, in replevin or second deliverance, for rent, custom or service, if the plaintiff be barred, shall recover damages and costs.

1764, Timothy Cunningham, A New and Complete Law-dictionary:

(law) The act of avowing and justifying in one's own right the distraining of goods.


cotenant

(property law) A person who shares a tenancy with another; a co-owner of an interest in property.


cestui

cestui (plural cestuis or (rare) cestuies)

(law, obsolete) That person; the person in question.


chargeant

The discharge of the petitioner to the charge of the executors alleged that the REv. THomas Conway was a member of the Order of Saint Dominic, and that is not denied; and the said discharge further stated that the said legacy to the Rev. Thomas Conway was in trust for the sole use and benefit of the members of the Order of Saint Dominic, and was void. The Rev. P. T. Conway, by his charge, states- "That chargeant has read that portion of the petitioner's discharge in this matter, which impeaches the said bequest to this chargeant on the ground that the said legacy was left to this chargeant upon trust, that he would take and apply same for the maintenance and support, or for the use and benefit of the members of the Order of Saint Dominic resident in the United Kingdom, and chargeant saith that no trust, save as hereinafter mentioned, was imposed upon chargeant in relation to the said bequest—that is to say, that he, the testator, had a conversation with chargeant, who informed him that he had bequeathed, or would bequeath, to chargeant the sum of £500, and that the said sum was, or would be, so bequeathed to chargeant, […]

1896, James Alphonsus Dwyer, The Dominicans of Cork City and County, page 164:

Every charge and discharge shall be verified by the affidavit of the chargeant and dischargeant respectively, unless the Court shall otherwise allow.

1904, Great Britain, Statutory Rules and Orders Other Than Those of a Local, Personal, Or Temporary Character, page 557:

(Ireland, law, possibly obsolete) A chargee, a person who has a charge upon something.


privity

privity (countable and uncountable, plural privities)

From Anglo-Norman priveté, privitee et al., Old French priveté, from privé + -té.

There is no privity, (as the lawyers say),—that is, no mutual recognition, consent and agreement—between those who take these oaths, and any other persons.

1870, Lysander Spooner, No Treason, Number 6, page 32:

(law) A relationship between parties seen as being a result of their mutual interest or participation in a given transaction, e.g. contract, estate, etc.


libel tourism

That is called libel tourism by lawyers in the media trade. And Britain remains a comfortable destination for the rich in search of friendly courts, which have already weighed complaints from people who consider themselves unfairly tarred with labels like tax dodger, terrorist financier or murky Qaeda operative.

[2008 January 20, Doreen Carvajal, “Britain, a destination for "libel tourism"”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Ehrenfeld's case was an example of "libel tourism," where someone brings a libel claim in a country where he is most likely to win. Often, that country is Great Britain.

2015 March 21, Ari Shapiro, “On Libel And The Law, U.S. And U.K. Go Separate Ways”, in NPR.org:

(law, derogatory) A form of forum shopping in which plaintiffs choose to file libel suits in jurisdictions thought more likely to give a favourable result.


damnify

en-verb

damnify (third-person singular simple present damnifies, present participle damnifying, simple past and past participle damnified)

damnifies (present singular third-person)
damnifying (participle present)
damnified (participle past)
damnified (past)

From Old French damnifier, from Latin damnifico.


disseisin

en-noun

disseisin (countable and uncountable, plural disseisins)

The United States cannot acquire jurisdiction tortiously or by disseisin of the state, or by occupancy with merely the tacit consent of the state.


surplusage

surplusage (countable and uncountable, plural surplusages)

From Medieval Latin surplusagium, from surplus.

(law) Matter in pleading which is not necessary or relevant to the case, and may be rejected.


marriage certificate

marriage certificate (plural marriage certificates)

(law) An official record indicating that two individuals were legally married on the date of the certificate.


indicavit

This act recited, that thentofore suits met with unmeet delays, by the indicavits being sued out before the suit in the spiritual court was recorded

1791, John Mallory, Modern Entries, in English:

(UK, law) A writ of prohibition against proceeding in the spiritual court in certain cases, when the suit belongs to the common-law courts.


second-degree

The jury found her guilty of second-degree murder for accidentally killing her victim as she mugged him.

At the second level of some system, particularly:

(law) A level of felony somewhat mitigated by various factors.


first-degree

The jury found her guilty of 6 counts of first-degree murder, one for each of the victims of her rampage.

At the first level of some system, particularly:

(law) The most severe level of felony, typically involving planning or other aggravating factors.


BSL

The BSL is a ‘Source Available’ license that freely allows using the code for development and other non-production work such as testing. Production use of the software requires a commercial license from Lightbend.

2022 September 8, Paul Kunert, quoting Jonas Bonér, “Open source biz sick of FOSS community exploitation overhauls software rights”, in The Register:

(software, copyright law) Initialism of Business Source License.


moratory

moratory interest

(law, finance) Pertaining to delay of payment or fulfilment of an obligation.


condiction

(law) A claim for restitution of a payment


condonation

condonation (countable and uncountable, plural condonations)

(law) A legal defense made when an accuser had forgiven or chosen to ignore an act about which they were legally complaining. ᵂᵖ


demerit point

(law) A point subtracted from a person's driver's license upon conviction of a driving offense, the accumulation of which may lead to additional penalties and/or loss of driving privileges.

扣分

point subtracted from a driver's license


underletting

In the marketplace, it is important that tenants of business premises should be able to assign their leases or grant underlettings, in good times and bad.

2006, Susan Bright, Landlord and Tenant Law: Past, Present and Future, page 4:


voluntary waste

voluntary waste (usually uncountable, plural voluntary wastes)

(property law) Any structural change made to an estate in land that intentionally or negligently causes harm to the estate or depletes its resources, unless this depletion is a continuation of a pre-existing use.


multiclaim

(law) Of or pertaining to multiple claims.


nonenforcement

nonenforcement (usually uncountable, plural nonenforcements)

(law) Lack of enforcement; failure to enforce.


nonjoined

(law, of a party) omitted from an action


subterm

(mathematics, law, computing) A subordinate term.


rule against perpetuities

rule against perpetuities (plural rules against perpetuities)

(law, singular only) The rule that prevents a testator or other transferor of property from controlling further transfer of his property more than twenty-one years after the death of anyone alive at the time of the original transfer who may have some interest in the transfer.

(law, countable, by extension) Any rule that prevents a testator or other transferor of property from controlling further transfer of his property beyond a certain length of time.


nulla pœna sine lege

/ˌnʊlə ˈpɔɪnə ˌsiːneɪ ˈleɪɡeɪ/

From Latin: nūlla (feminine form of nūllus, “not any”) + poena (“penalty”, “punishment”) + sine (“without”) + lēge (ablative singular form of lēx, “a law”) = “no punishment without a law”.

This is a wide definition, and the courts, no doubt bearing in mind that a wide application might tend to defeat the maxim “nulla pœna sine lege” have been cautious in its application in practice.

1945, The Solicitors’ Journal, volume 89, page 262:

[…] -cutions on these and similar constructs, thereby overruling nulla pœna sine lege.

1992, European Journal of Sociology, volumes 33-34, Plon, page 196:

This is especially pertinent to nulla poena sine lege in its particular reference to punishment.

2005, Jerome Hall, General Principles of Criminal Law, page 55:

(law) The principle that a person shall receive no punishment unless he has committed an offence as explicitly defined in a law.


cybervandalism

(law) Vandalism carried out by means of computer technology, as for example the defacement of a website.


cybertrespass

(law) The act of connecting to a private computer system without permission.


CUE

(law) Acronym of clear and unmistakable error; legal standard for appeal of a decision by a Board of Veterans Appeals in the United States.


NOD

(law) Initialism of notice Of disagreement; filed by an appellant in response to a denial of veteran's benefits in United States law.


amicable suit

(law) An action to secure clarification on a point of law, in concord and in the mutual interest of the parties involved.


annotatrix

2008: CLT Scotland Conferences, The Human Rights Conference 2008 (brochure), page 2, “Speakers” column
Rosalind McInnes is in-house solicitor with the BBC. Rosalind is co-author of the textbooks, Contempt of Court in Scotland and Scots Law for Journalists and is annotatrix of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.


strike down

en-verb

strike down (third-person singular simple present strikes down, present participle striking down, simple past struck down, past participle struck down or stricken down)

strikes down (present singular third-person)
striking down (participle present)
struck down (past)
struck down (participle past)
stricken down (participle past)

Later, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down bans on interracial marriages remaining in 16 states, all in the old Confederacy and border states.

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

(law) To invalidate (a law, statute etc.)


deceaser

(law) One who deceases; a person who dies.


self-authenticating

(law) In the law of evidence, being a piece of evidence that will automatically be presumed authentic for purposes of admissibility based on the character of the evidence itself. Examples include certified copies of public or business records, official publications of government agencies, and newspaper articles.


ancient document

en-noun

ancient document (plural ancient documents)

(law) In the law of evidence, a document which is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule, and which is considered self-authenticating, because it is older than a certain age (usually twenty years) and in a condition that makes it free from suspicion concerning its authenticity, and was found in a place where such a writing was likely to be kept.


wardship

wardship (usually uncountable, plural wardships)

The majority said temporary wardship, which allowed the girl to receive a transfusion, was justified.

2009 February 21, Tracey Tyler, “A many-ringed circus”, in Toronto Star:

(chiefly law) The state of being a ward of someone.


in fee

(law, idiomatic, archaic) Of an estate in land, inherited or owned by one who has the absolute right to dispose of the land as they desire, including the right to select an inheritor of the land.


fee tail

From Middle English fee taille, fetayll, from Anglo-Norman fee tailé, from Medieval Latin foedum talliātum.

(law) An estate in land in common law in which the land is inherited, but cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death.

限嗣繼承地產

estate in land in common law wherein the land is inherited


arrestment

arrestment (countable and uncountable, plural arrestments)

(law, Scotland) The process that prohibits a debtor from making payment to the creditor until another debt due to the person making use of the arrestment by such creditor is paid.


arrestable

Playing music too loud isn't an arrestable offence.

(law) For which one can be arrested (taken into police custody).


pseudonymized

en-adj

pseudonymized (not generally comparable, comparative more pseudonymized, superlative most pseudonymized)

more pseudonymized (comparative)
most pseudonymized (superlative)

(computing, law) Synonym of pseudonymous


hear both sides

en-verb

hear both sides (third-person singular simple present hears both sides, present participle hearing both sides, simple past and past participle heard both sides)

hears both sides (present singular third-person)
hearing both sides (participle present)
heard both sides (participle past)
heard both sides (past)

(law) To ensure that an accused person has the chance to seek to refute the accusations.

يسمع من الطرفين

hear both sides of the argument for fair judgement


tenendum

(law) The clause in a deed wherein the tenure of the land is defined and limited.


depublish

depublish (third-person singular simple present depublishes, present participle depublishing, simple past and past participle depublished)

depublishes (present singular third-person)
depublishing (participle present)
depublished (participle past)
depublished (past)

[…] the California Supreme Court declined either to depublish or accept the case for review even though it received extensive amicus briefs in support of United California Bank's petition from six leading California banks […]

For example, in the courts of the state of California, the Supreme Court can “depublish” or remove from all official records, and thus from legal authority, prior case opinions it delivered but has since decided are not good examples of legal analysis.

2015, Justin B. Richland, Sarah Deer, Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 123:

(California, law) To remove legal opinions from the record such that they can no longer be used as precedent.


in gross

appurtenant

antonym(s) of “held independently in law”

an easement in gross, a hereditary office held in gross

(law) Held independently of anything else; not annexed to or appended to anything else.


pleadable

en-adj

pleadable (comparative more pleadable, superlative most pleadable)

more pleadable (comparative)
most pleadable (superlative)

From Middle English pledable, from Old French; equivalent to plead + -able.


recaption

en-noun

recaption (countable and uncountable, plural recaptions)

The ordinance affirmed the common-law right of masters to recapture fugitives on their own, without coming before a magistrate. By contrast, Article IV omitted mention of self-help recaption or reclamation.

2005, Akhil Reed Amar, America's Constitution: A Biography:

(law) The lawful claim and recovery, by a person, of goods wrongly taken from him


declarant

(law) A person who makes a formal declaration or statement

declarant

a person who makes a formal declaration or statement


pupillage

(law) A form of apprenticeship for prospective barristers


devilling

(law) The pupillage of a prospective advocate or barrister.


Act of God

Heavy rainfall is not the kind of exceptional phenomenon to which the Act of God exception applies.

In road and rail traffic liability is excluded for accidents which are due to circumstances amounting to an Act of God.

“Pardon me,” I said, preserving with an effort the polished suavity demanded from an English gentleman when chewing the rag with one of the other sex, “you're talking through the back of your fatheaded little neck. I did not trip over my flat feet. I was hurled into the depths by an Act of God, to wit, a totally unexpected dachshund getting between my legs.”

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(law, usually "an") Alternative letter-case form of act of God


releasor

(law) A person who releases (surrenders) a claim on an estate.


miscarriage of justice

miscarriage of justice (plural miscarriages of justice)

The Incarcerations is an unsettling indictment of Modi's India, and alleges grave miscarriages of justice, […].

2024 May 4, John Reed, “How to interpret India?”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 9:

(law) An error at a trial which led to an unjust outcome, such as the conviction of a person for a crime they did not commit.


suspensive

en-adj

suspensive (comparative more suspensive, superlative most suspensive)

more suspensive (comparative)
most suspensive (superlative)

Effect of an appeal – In principle, an appeal has a suspensive effect (Art. 51(1) VRP). The term suspensive effect denotes the fact that the legal consequence prescribed by the ruling does not become effective until the conclusion of the appeal procedure.

(chiefly law) That suspends (temporarily stops)


shorthold

(UK, law) Describing a tenancy that exists for an agreed term, at the end of which the property may be recovered by the landlord.


verd

(obsolete, UK, law) The privilege of cutting green wood within a forest for fuel.

(obsolete, UK, law) The right of pasturing animals in a forest


code enforcement

(law, government) The act of enforcing a set of rules, principles, or laws, especially written ones, and ensuring observance of a system of norms or customs.


supersedere

Mr Sweepclean, secede paulisper, or, in your own language, grant us a supersedere of diligence for five minutes.

1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary, Oxford University Press, published 2002, page 406:

(law) A creditor's voluntary surcease of personal execution in behalf of a debtor.


proferens

From Middle French proference, from Medieval Latin proferentia. Doublet of proferans.

(law) The person who proposes a contract (or one of its clauses)


donative

From Latin dōnātīvum (“a gratuity”), from dōnō (“I give [a present]”), from dōnum (“gift”).

(ecclesiastical law) A benefice conferred on a person by the founder or patron, without either presentation or institution by the ordinary, or induction by his orders.


nonassignment

a nonassignment clause

(law) Prohibiting the assignment of something to another party.


doctrine of foreign equivalents

(law) A rule applied in United States trademark under which foreign words are translated into English to determine whether they are registrable as trademarks, or are either descriptive or confusingly similar with existing marks.


dedimus

From Latin dedimus (“we gave”), from do (“I give”). So called because the writ began "Dedimus potestatem […] ".

A Dedimus was awarded to take the Conuſance of a Fine from Baron and Feme, and the Conuſance of Baron only was returned, and the Feme would not acknowledge it.

1742, Charles Viner, A General Abridgement of Law and Equity:

(law) A writ to commission private persons to do some act in place of a judge, such as to examine a witness, etc.


asportation

en-noun

asportation (countable and uncountable, plural asportations)

Kidnapping usually includes the seizing, confining, and carrying away (asportation) of another by force, threat, or deception, and without consent.

2011, James W. H. McCord, Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal, page 128:

(law) The illegal movement of goods or carrying away of a person.


capias

Borrowed from Latin capiās (“you should seize, you are to seize”), from capiō (“to seize”).

bor

All which when Cupid heard, he by and by / In great displeasure wild a Capias / Should issue forth t'attach that scornefull lasse.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(law) An arrest warrant; a writ commanding officers to take a specified person or persons into custody.


conjurator

(obsolete, law) A person who swears an oath along with others


acte clair

(law) The doctrine, in European law, that cases involving a law with a reasonably obvious interpretation do not need to be referred to the European Court of Justice.


Hildebrand rules

After the 1992 case Hildebrand v. Hildebrand.

Previously, a spouse who came across information showing their partner was hiding money could copy it and put it before the court – a protection called the Hildebrand rules that was intended to help the financially impoverished.

2010 July 30, Natalie Hanman, “Covertly found assets no longer valid in divorce”, in The Guardian:

(law) The unofficial acceptance of the use of one's spouse's private documents in court during a divorce.


carveout

These laws create special exemptions for farms through statutory and regulatory carveouts.

2018, Jacob E. Gersen, Margot J. Pollans, Michael T. Roberts, Food Law and Policy, page 825:

(law) An exception to a legal provision.


examinership

(Ireland, law) A legal process whereby a company gets protection from the Court, in order to survive.


nonjoinder

(law) The omission of a party that was necessary to an action


briefless

en-adj

briefless (comparative more briefless, superlative most briefless)

more briefless (comparative)
most briefless (superlative)

Consequently a briefless barrister who is totally without connexion, as it is delicately phrased, which means who has no attorney blood in him, who has not married an attorney's daughter, and who has no rich relations who bring grist to the attorney mill, cannot hope by any change of administration to become a briefed barrister.

1849 November, “The Avatar of Attorneyism”, in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 40, page 572:

As an advocate he had no success, for after walking the floor of the Parliament House, as it is called in Edinburgh, along with other briefed and briefless advocates, and securing only one case, which brought him four guineas, he abandoned that practice and settled down seriously to his true life work of literature.

1899 June 10, H. B. Baildon, “Robert Louis Stevenson: Essayist, Novelist and Poet”, in The Living Age, volume 221, number 2866, page 683:

No one can accuse the Unionist Party of seeking to make indecent capital out of the folly, the misfortunes and the scandals which have become the chief stock-in-trade of latter-day Radicalism since the great historic Party fell under the auspices of barristers— briefed and briefless.

1913 June, L. J. Maxse, “The End of the Asquith Legend”, in The National Review, volume 61, number 364, page 684:


riparian right

(law) The right of a person who owns the land by a river, stream or creek to have access to and use of the shore and water. Depending on jurisdiction, this may include fishing rights and/or the right to use the water for domestic and garden purposes.


covin

From Old French covin, from Latin convena (“a meeting, a coming together”), from conveniō.


JSC

joint-stock company
joint-stock company#English

(business, law) Initialism of joint-stock company.

АО

акционерное общество


volens

From Latin volens (literally “wishing, willing”).

bor

Coordinate term: sciens

A man who unwillingly performs dangerous work because he would otherwise lose his employment is not volens. A man does not act voluntarily unless he acts free from legal or moral compulsion.

1889, The Law Reports: Appeal cases before the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, also peerage cases, volume 14, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, page 182:

(law) In the state of mind where one voluntarily accepts a specific risk.


umpirage

en-noun

umpirage (countable and uncountable, plural umpirages)

When the umpire enters upon his umpirage, he may reexamine the witnesses; but it has been holden not to be objectionable, for the umpire to receive the evidence from the arbitrators, unless the parties require him to do otherwise.

1838, John Frederick Archbold, The practice of country attornies and their agents, in the courts of law at Westminster:

(law, archaic) The office (or term of office) of an umpire


atextual

en-adj

atextual (comparative more atextual, superlative most atextual)

more atextual (comparative)
most atextual (superlative)

Neither party to the present case challenges the atextual extension of the habeas statute to United States citizens held beyond the territorial jurisdictions of the United States courts...

Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2007), Scalia, J., dissenting

(law) Of an interpretation of a statute or similar governing provision, derived from something other than the text of the provision.


disafforest

en-verb

disafforest (third-person singular simple present disafforests, present participle disafforesting, simple past and past participle disafforested)

disafforests (present singular third-person)
disafforesting (participle present)
disafforested (participle past)
disafforested (past)

The Charter of the Forests had for its object the disafforesting several of those tracts; the prevention of future afforestings: the mitigation and ascertainment of the punishments for breaches of the Forest Law.

1760, Edmund Burke, “An Essay towards an Abridgment of the English History. […]”, in [Walker King], editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume X, London: […] [R. Gilbert] for C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], published 1826, →OCLC, book III, page 534:

(UK, law) To change the status of land from that of a forest to ordinary land.


probator

(law, UK, obsolete) One who, when indicted for crime, confessed it and accused his accomplices in order to obtain pardon.


confirmor

The confirmor must have such an estate and property in the thing of which the confirmation is made, as may enable him to confirm the estate to the confirmee; Dyer 109.

1826, S. F. T. Wilde, editor, A Supplement to Mr. Barton’s Precedents in Conveyancing […], volume 2, page 325, note 1:

deed of confirmation
deed of confirmation

(law) One who performs the confirmation of an estate; the grantor of a deed of confirmation.


significavit

Latin, (he) has signified, perf. ind. of significare (“to signify”).

the Kings Courts can receive Significavits from none but the person to whom (if need be) they may write to discharge the Prisoner

(UK, law, historical) A writ issuing out of chancery, upon certificate given by the ordinary, of a man's standing excommunicate by the space of forty days, for the laying him up in prison till he submit himself to the authority of the church.