camera

A Latin word meaning room and used in English only for rooms where laws are discussed


book

book (canonical)
books (third-person singular)
booked (past)
booked (past participle)
booking (present participle)

If you book someone, you officially put their name in police records for a crime.

The police booked him for driving too fast.


battery

Battery is the act of hitting or striking a person.

My brother was sent to jail for assault and battery.


custom

A custom is a long-established practice; considered as unwritten law.

It was a custom in medieval times a woman could not marry without her parents consent.


fee

An inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord in return for certain services.

He held his lands in fee of the Earl of Chester.


sentence

In law, a sentence is the punishment that a judge gives to a criminal.

He received a 15-year sentence for the murder of his friend.


sentence

sentence (canonical)
sentences (third-person singular)
sentenced (past)
sentenced (past participle)
sentencing (present participle)

If a judge sentences someone, they decide on a punishment for a crime.

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for the murder of his friend.


evidence

In a courtroom, evidence refers to anything that is shown to the judge that is related to the case during a trial.


service

The serving, or delivery, of a document requiring someone to appear in a court of law.

The service happened yesterday.


bond

A bond is a financial document promising to pay a certain amount of money. These are often bought and sold.

The new benchmark ten-year government bond yielded 6.3%.

Most large international banks have issued floating rate bonds as a source of medium-term funding.


case

A case is a matter for police or in court.

The judge did not accept his case.


grandfather

grandfather (canonical)
grandfathers (third-person singular)
grandfathered (past)
grandfathered (past participle)
grandfathering (present participle)

When someone is grandfathered, it can continue doing or having something when a new law doesn't allow it.

The new laws don't allow buildings that are over 50 feet tall, but the skyscrapers that already exist are grandfathered, so they can stay taller than 50 feet.


court

A court is where people are tried for crimes.

The bad guy goes to court to stand before the judge.


wanted

wanted (positive)
more wanted (comparative)
most wanted (superlative)

If a person is wanted, they are being looked for by the police for commiting a crime.


bill

The bill passed the Senate.


party

A party is one person or group in a disagreement.


charge

charge (canonical)
charges (third-person singular)
charged (past)
charged (past participle)
charging (present participle)

When the police charge someone with a crime, they officially say that the person did something illegal.

A short time later, police arrested the man and charged him with murder.

Many of the people in jail have not been charged with crimes.


pass

pass (canonical)
passes (third-person singular)
passed (past)
passed (past participle)
passing (present participle)

If a bill, law, motion, etc. passes, it is accepted, usually after a vote.

The House passed a law that makes it a crime to have sex with anyone under age 16.


term

The terms of a contract or purchase are its rules, conditions and limits.

The company has announced generally agreement on a new contract though the exact terms still have to be worked out.

Under the terms of the purchase, we get the house on July 14th.


lawyer

A lawyer is an expert in law. A lawyer has the job of standing for other people in court giving them advice about the law.

The defendant got a lawyer to defend him in court.

The lawyer represented the man in court.


mayhem

The crime of intentionally disfiguring or injuring a person.


disclaimer

disclaimer (singular)
disclaimers (plural)

A denial or waiver of a title, claim, interest, estate, or trust.


conspiracy

conspiracy (singular)
conspiracies (plural)

A plan between two or more people to commit a crime.


defence

In a court case, the defence is the person who was accused of a crime together with their lawyer.

His defence lawyers say that Honecker did not shoot the gun.


defense

In a court case, the defense is the person who was accused of a crime together with their lawyer.

His defense lawyers say that Honecker did not shoot the gun.


jury

A jury is a group of people who decide a court case's result.

The jury says the person is not guilty.


examine

examine (canonical)
examines (third-person singular)
examined (past)
examined (past participle)
examining (present participle)

If a lawyer examines you, they ask you questions in court.


judgment

A judgment is the something decided by a judge. It is an official order by a court.

This judgment means you have to pay me $500 each month, for a year.

We will hear the judgment soon.


competent

competent (positive)
more competent (comparative)
most competent (superlative)

In some countries, if you are competent the law says you are not insane (crazy). This means you can decide things, and may be allowed to do somethings that crazy people are not allowed to do.


incompetent

incompetent (positive)
more incompetent (comparative)
most incompetent (superlative)

In some countries if you are incompetent the law says you are not able to decide things. This means you are not allowed to do some things but do not do need to do other things. This is often because the incompetent person is insane (crazy).

He was found incompetent to stand trial.

The contract is no good because she was legally incompetent when she signed it.


witness

A witness is somebody who tells a court what they know about a situation, especially a crime.

The witness testified that Simpson was ill at the time.

Dr. Yazdi, an expert witness, explained how somebody could have used the computer without the owner knowing.

She was the key witness for the defense at the trial.


trial

A trial is a meeting in court with a judge where two sides explain their positions and the judge or jury makes a decision.

He was taken to jail to await trial for murder.

Jury selection in the trial began today.

He's spending all that money on lawyers defending him at trial.

His criminal trial is set to begin Monday.

He was charged with murder and went on trial last week.

Can a black man get a fair trial in Canada?

The judge ruled that the trial would proceed on schedule.

I am likely to be a witness in this trial.

She will have to be back in court to stand trial again in about eight months.


receiver

A receiver is an attorney or trustee who temporarily either owns or manages property that is the subject of a lawsuit.


objection

objection (singular)
objections (plural)

/əbˈdʒɛkʃən/

Objection is used in a court room when the lawyer wants to say that something is wrong.

This is an objection to the case.


review

A review is a judicial reassessment of a case or an event.

The victims demanded a full judicial review of the case.


petit

petit (positive)
more petit (comparative)
most petit (superlative)

If something is petit, it is small or minor.


realm

A realm is a kingdom, country or state which is ruled by a king or queen.


judgement

judgement (singular)
judgements (plural)

A judgement is the something decided by a judge. It is an official order by a court.

This judgement means you have to pay me $500 each month, for a year.

We will hear the judgement soon.


counterpart

counterpart (singular)
counterparts (plural)

A counterpart is a duplicate of a legal document.


grounds

The grounds for something is the basis of it.


porous

porous (positive)
more porous (comparative)
most porous (superlative)

Drugs easily enter the country because of its porous borders.


legal dispute

legal dispute (singular)
legal disputes (plural)

A legal dispute is a legal argument about the law.


caution

A caution can be a legal warning and that a repeat of the action could end up as an arrest.

The police gave the boy a caution after he was caught stealing from the shop.


accessory

accessory (singular)
accessories (plural)

An accessory is a person who helps someone to break the law.

Because she helped him hide the body after the murder, she was charged with being an accessory to the crime.


negligent

negligent (positive)
more negligent (comparative)
most negligent (superlative)


inoperative

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States.


enactment

enactment (singular)
enactments (plural)

A piece of legislation that has been authorized by a legislative person.

The enactment of this law will be a great step backward for our country.

The enactments passed by the council that year included sweeping reforms.


jure uxoris

For example, Robert Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale was titled Earl of Carrick jure uxoris.


precept

A written command to demand for a payment.


prosecutor

prosecutor (singular)
prosecutors (plural)

A prosecutor is a lawyer who tries to show that a person is guilty of a crime.

Annie Jay was the government prosecutor in the trial.


prosecution

prosecution (singular)
prosecutions (plural)

Prosecution is the act of taking legal action against a person, especially criminal action.

The prosecution of Bob was for the rape crimes that he has committed.

Prosecution refers to the agency that prosecutes a person in court, especially a person guilty of a criminal offence.

The prosecution of Mike Tyson during his rape trial argued that his victim's injuries made it very unlikely that she had consented to sex with the man.


negligence

negligence (singular)
negligences (plural)

/ˈnɛɡlɪd͡ʒəns/

Negligence refers to the state or quality of not taking care of the needs of a person or animal or not taking personal responsibility.


prosecute

prosecute (canonical)
prosecutes (third-person singular)
prosecuted (past)
prosecuted (past participle)
prosecuting (present participle)

When you prosecute someone, you are taking legal action against a person, especially criminal legal action against the person if he/she has broken the law.


petitioner

petitioner (singular)
petitioners (plural)

A petitioner is a person who makes a petition and brings it to court.


protester

protester (singular)
protesters (plural)

A protester is someone that does not agree with the bill or note.


summon

summon (canonical)
summons (third-person singular)
summoned (past)
summoned (past participle)
summoning (present participle)

If a police officer or other law enforcement official summons a person, he is accusing him of a crime but not arresting him, and instead demanding he appear in court to respond to the accusation.


waive

waive (canonical)
waives (third-person singular)
waived (past)
waived (past participle)
waiving (present participle)

When you waive one of your rights, you decide not to use it; you choose to give it up.

Because A'isha knew she had done nothing wrong, she decided to waive her right to have a lawyer with her and just tell the policeman what happened.

Before we went parachuting, the company made us waive our rights to sue them if one of us got hurt.


statute

The Statute of Kilkenny forbid English from marrying Irish or using Irish language.


magistrate

magistrate (singular)
magistrates (plural)

A magistrate is a judicial officer with limited power to enforce the law.


impound

impound (canonical)
impounds (third-person singular)
impounded (past)
impounded (past participle)
impounding (present participle)

If documents, vehicles, etc. is impounded, a court holds on to it.

The court impounded a document to keep it safe.


legalize

legalize (canonical)
legalizes (third-person singular)
legalized (past)
legalized (past participle)
legalizing (present participle)

If something that was against the law is legalized, it becomes allowed under law.

There has been a recent push to legalize marijuana in the United States.


legalise

legalise (canonical)
legalises (third-person singular)
legalised (past)
legalised (past participle)
legalising (present participle)

If something that was against the law is legalised, it becomes allowed under law.

Canada recently legalised marijuana.


criminalize

criminalize (canonical)
criminalizes (third-person singular)
criminalized (past)
criminalized (past participle)
criminalizing (present participle)

If something is criminalized, it is made a crime.

advocates pushed for gun possession to be criminalized.


criminalise

criminalise (canonical)
criminalises (third-person singular)
criminalised (past)
criminalised (past participle)
criminalising (present participle)

If something is criminalised, it is made a crime.

advocates pushed for gun possession to be criminalised.


insider

An insider is person in a position in an organization with special knowledge about it or special influence.


attorney-at-law

attorney-at-law (singular)
attorneys-at-law (plural)

An attorney-at-law is a lawyer who is qualified to represent someone in court.


attorney

An attorney is a lawyer who is appointed to act for a person in business or legal matters.


attorney at law

attorney at law (singular)
attorneys at law (plural)

An attorney at law is a lawyer who is qualified to represent someone in court.


manslaughter

manslaughter (singular)
manslaughters (plural)

Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally.


alimony

An alimony is an amount of money that a court requires a divorced person to pay regularly to the person they used to be married to.


vacate

vacate (canonical)
vacates (third-person singular)
vacated (past)
vacated (past participle)
vacating (present participle)

If a court vacates a decision, the decision is cancelled or annulled.

The judge vacated the earlier decision when new evidence was presented.


fixture

A fixture a piece of equipment or furniture which is fixed in position in a building or vehicle.


criminal negligence

Criminal negligence is the failure to use reasonable care, and thus put someone at risk of injury or death.


embezzlement

embezzlement (singular)
embezzlements (plural)

Embezzlement is the theft of funds that was placed in their trust from their employer.


embezzle

embezzle (canonical)
embezzles (third-person singular)
embezzled (past)
embezzled (past participle)
embezzling (present participle)

If you embezzle, you steal money from the organisation that you are working for.


waiver

A waiver is a legal document that records the waiving of a right, claim, or privilege.

I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong.


verdict

A verdict is a decision on an issue in a civil or criminal case.

The jury returned a “not guilty” verdict.


larceny

Larceny is the theft of someone else's personal property.


infraction

infraction (singular)
infractions (plural)


illicit

illicit (positive)
more illicit (comparative)
most illicit (superlative)

If something is illicit, it is not approved by law.


unlawful

unlawful (positive)
more unlawful (comparative)
most unlawful (superlative)

If an act is unlawful, it is not allowed by law

He was charged with unlawful use of a car.


limitation

limitation (singular)
limitations (plural)

A limitation is a time period after which some legal action may no longer be continued.


bailor

A bailor is a person who transfer the ownership of something to someone (bailee).


bailee

A bailee is a person who has possession of a bailed property of someone (bailor).


accomplice

accomplice (singular)
accomplices (plural)

An accomplice is a person who helps someone with a crime.


conflict of interest

Conflict of interest is a situation where a person's goals may affect the their ability to do their job fairly and professionally.


impunity

Impunity is the exemption from punishment.


enact

enact (canonical)
enacts (third-person singular)
enacted (past)
enacted (past participle)
enacting (present participle)

If you enact a bill, you make it into a law.


perjure

perjure (canonical)
perjures (third-person singular)
perjured (past)
perjured (past participle)
perjuring (present participle)

If you perjure, you knowingly make a false statement of witness in court.

He perjured himself.


lawsuit

A lawsuit is a dispute between two or more people that is brought to a court for resolution.


complainant

complainant (singular)
complainants (plural)

A complainant is someone that files a civil lawsuit against another person.


plaintiff

plaintiff (singular)
plaintiffs (plural)

A plaintiff is someone who files a civil lawsuit against a defendant.


extrajudicial

An extrajudicial killing, detention, or punishment happens outside of the regular legal procedures.

President Duterte has encouraged extrajudicial police killings of drug dealers.


cold case

cold case (singular)
cold cases (plural)

A cold case is an unsolved criminal investigation that remains open pending new evidence.


whitelist

whitelist (singular)
whitelists (plural)

A whitelist is a list of people or things that is regarded as trustworthy.


blacklist

blacklist (singular)
blacklists (plural)

A blacklist is a list of people or things that is regarded as untrustworthy.

The software included a lengthy blacklist of disreputable websites to block.


renunciation

renunciation (singular)
renunciations (plural)

Renunciation is the act by which a person abandons a right without transferring it to another.


doxxer

A doxxer is someone who reveals or violates the private information of other people.

Has Bob the doxxer been reprimanded for his doxxing behaviour?


novate

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

If you novate a contract, you replace it with one or more new contracts.


repossess

repossess (canonical)
repossesses (third-person singular)
repossessed (past)
repossessed (past participle)
repossessing (present participle)

If you repossess something, you reclaim the ownership of it.


arraign

arraign (canonical)
arraigns (third-person singular)
arraigned (past)
arraigned (past participle)
arraigning (present participle)

If a person is arraigned, they are officially charged in court.


escrow

An escrow is a written document that is kept by a neutral third party and will only take effect when the conditions of the contract have been met.


demise

Demise is the transfer of an estate by will or lease.


demise

demise (canonical)
demises (third-person singular)
demised (past)
demised (past participle)
demising (present participle)

If the law demises something, it grants an estate by will or lease.


foreclose

foreclose (canonical)
forecloses (third-person singular)
foreclosed (past)
foreclosed (past participle)
foreclosing (present participle)

/ˌfɔːˈkləʊz/

If a bank forecloses on a mortgaged property, it repossess it as the owner failed to make the necessary payments.


testify

testify (canonical)
testifies (third-person singular)
testified (past)
testified (past participle)
testifying (present participle)

If you testify in court, you give evidence as a witness under oath.


bequeath

bequeath (canonical)
bequeaths (third-person singular)
bequeathed (past)
bequeathed (past participle)
bequeathing (present participle)

If a person bequeaths a property, they give it or leave by will.


bequest

Bequest is the act of leaving something by will.


bequest

bequest (canonical)
bequests (third-person singular)
bequested (past)
bequested (past participle)
bequesting (present participle)

If a person bequests, they leave something by will.


adjudicate

adjudicate (canonical)
adjudicates (third-person singular)
adjudicated (past)
adjudicated (past participle)
adjudicating (present participle)

When a judge adjudicates, they formally settle a legal case or other dispute.


overturn

overturn (canonical)
overturns (third-person singular)
overturned (past)
overturned (past participle)
overturning (present participle)

If you overturn a decision, you reverse or invalidate it.


restitution

restitution (singular)
restitutions (plural)

Restitution is the process of compensating or restoring losses.


lapidate

lapidate (canonical)
lapidates (third-person singular)
lapidated (past)
lapidated (past participle)
lapidating (present participle)

If you lapidate a person, you kill them by throwing stones at them.


perjury

If a person commits perjury, they deliberately give of false or misleading testimony under oath.


affiant

An affiant is the individual witness whose statement is confirmed by oath and is used as evidence in court.


affidavit

affidavit (singular)
affidavits (plural)

An affidavit is a signed document where an affiant makes a sworn statement.


notary

A notary is a lawyer who drafts legal documents and provides legal advice for private parties. They do not represent their client in court.


purview

The purview of an authority is the scope or range of interest or control.


malfeasance

malfeasance (singular)
malfeasances (plural)

Malfeasance is misconduct or wrongdoing by a public official and the action causes damage.


disbar

disbar (canonical)
disbars (third-person singular)
disbarred (past)
disbarred (past participle)
disbarring (present participle)

If you disbar a lawyer, you expel from the bar, or the legal profession.


subpoena

A subpoena is a writ that requires someone to appear in court to give testimony.


gag

A gag is an order or rule that forbids the discussion of a case or subject.


abrogate

abrogate (canonical)
abrogates (third-person singular)
abrogated (past)
abrogated (past participle)
abrogating (present participle)

If you abrogate something, you annul it by an authoritative act.


arraignment

arraignment (singular)
arraignments (plural)

An arraignment is the formal charging of a defendant with an offense.


tort

A tort is a wrongful act that leads to a legal liability.


disclaim

disclaim (canonical)
disclaims (third-person singular)
disclaimed (past)
disclaimed (past participle)
disclaiming (present participle)

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If you disclaim something, you renounce a legal claim to it.


power of attorney

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If you have power of attorney for someone, their health, or their property, you have the legal power to act as their agent in those matters.

The power of attorney is a legal document allowing someone to act as your agent.


trustee

A trustee is a person to who is given control of a property and has a legal obligation to manage it for others.


legality

The legality of something is state of it being in accordance with the law.


mufti

A mufti is a Muslim who is an expert on law and the Qur'an


quantum

The quantum of something is its total amount.

The court decided the quantum of damages to be paid.