Law Glossary

This glossary will be a tool for the readers of my blog. It'll contain words regarding my field of study which is Law/Paralegal Technology. When you work in this field you advise your clients on legal matters, represent clients before administration boards and draw up legal documents like contracts and wills. Also you have to plead cases, represent clients before tribunals and conduct prosecutions in courts of law. With this glossary on my blog, it'll be much easier for the people who read it to understand fully what I'm trying to say.

alibi

noun

A claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when an act, typically a criminal one, is alleged to have taken place.

Example: A man is found dead in a park there are two suspects both of which claim to have an alibi which is backed up my others.

fr: alibi

attorney

noun

A person appointed to act for another in business or legal matters. A lawyer.

Example: Huntley and Costanzo (2003) asked jurors systematic questions of their interpretations of the evidence after each attorney had presented their case.

fr: avocat

Bail

noun

The temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money be lodged to guarantee their appearance in court.

Example: Black defendants are classed as mentally vulnerable, are less likely than white people to be given bail by the criminal justice system and are more likely to receive compulsory psychiatric treatment (Brown cited in Pilgrim and Rogers, 1999:69).

fr: Caution

case

noun

A legal action, especially one to be decided in a court of law.

Example: The latest case is of a famous actor who has been brutally murdered in his home.

fr: Cas

charge

noun

An accusation, typically one formally made against a prisoner brought to trial.

Example: The charge rate for suspects who answered all questions remained constant and where suspects refused to answer some or all questions the charge rate actually dropped by 6%.

fr: accusation

common law

noun

The part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes. Often contrasted with statutory law.

Example: In his interpretation of the statute, the trial judge was guided by the general presumptions against deprivation of liberty and alteration of the common law [2].

fr: common law

constitution

noun

A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.

Example: This has serious implications as parliament are the supreme law making body in the UK and if individual ministers are able to use the relaxation of the exclusionary rule to have more influence over the law then the constitution is threatened.

fr: constitution

convicted

verb

Declare (someone) to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.

Example: A comparison of control sample heated in a similar way to the suspect brass shavings were found to match and the man was convicted of this crime.

fr: condamné

courtroom

noun

The place or room in which a court of law meets.

Example: The image of the courtroom at Hetty's trial ' haunted with the shadowy memories of old kings and queens' reinforces her betrayal of family loyalty.

fr: salle d'audience

defense

noun

He case presented by or on behalf of the party being accused or sued in a lawsuit.

Example: Firstly, it is likely that jurors compose more than one story of the evidence, and are not simply "plaintiff or defense jurors" (Huntley and Costanzo, 2003, pg35). It is more likely that jurors are more open to the interpretation of the evidence and, as suggested by Morley (1996), develop both prosecution and defense stories and select the story which, consistent with their own criteria, is most satisfactory for coverage, coherence and uniqueness (Pennington and Hastie, 1992).

fr: la défense

Exoneration

noun

He action of officially absolving someone from blame; vindication.

Example: The identification of any compound under these areas can lead to or help conviction or exoneration.

fr: Exonération

injunction

noun

A judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another, or that compels a person to carry out a certain act, e.g., to make restitution to an injured party.

Example: The company accused part of its workforce and their union of staging the 'illegal, unballoted official union-supported event', and won a High Court injunction to limit the number of pickets outside its Heathrow South operation as well as an injunction against the TGWU and 17 named individuals (Gate Gourmet [online] , 2005).

fr: injonction

jury

noun

A body of people (typically twelve in number) sworn to give a verdict in a legal case on the basis of evidence submitted to them in court.

Example: The jury first acquitted her but then reconsidered the verdict and declared guilty

fr: jury

law

noun

The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

Example: The manual defines individuals with this disorder as having a tendency to repeatedly break the law without regarding the feelings and rights of people who may become victims of their crimes.

fr: loi

plea

noun

A formal statement by or on behalf of a defendant or prisoner, stating guilt or innocence in response to a charge, offering an allegation of fact, or claiming that a point of law should apply.

Example: He changed his plea to not guilty.

fr: plaidoyer

prosecutor

noun

A lawyer who conducts the case against a defendant in a criminal court. Also called prosecuting attorney.

Example: When pressed by the prosecutor, Neurath altered his argument, replying that he 'no longer agreed with these statements' in any case.

fr: procureur

rights

noun

A moral or legal entitlement to have or obtain something or to act in a certain way.

Example: The Appellants argue that this contravenes Article 8(1) (Right to life) and 14 (Prohibition of Discrimination) of the European Convention of Human rights (ECHR).

fr: droits

subpoena

noun

A writ ordering a person to attend a court.

Example: A subpoena may be issued to compel their attendance.

fr: subpoena

testimony

noun

A formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.

Example: The everlasting Clara who though unable to save her daughter from rape is able to convey to her the strength to continue and to 'write a testimony that might one day call attention to the terrible secret she was living through, so that the world would know about this horror that was taking place parallel to the peaceful existence of those who did not want to know'.

fr: témoignage

trial

noun

A formal examination of evidence before a judge, and typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings.

Example: The McLibel trial is a British court case between McDonald's and a postman and a gardener from London (Helen Steel and Dave Morris).

fr: procès

verdict

noun

A decision on a disputed issue in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.

Example: There was a unanimous verdict that the retention was compatible with art 14.

fr: verdict

witness

noun

A person giving sworn testimony to a court of law or the police. Used to refer to confirmation or evidence given by signature, under oath, or otherwise.

Example: This essay shall consider the court's reasoning behind its decision on the two material facts of the case: The contempt occurred when the witness was returning from the court Although s.118(a) of the CCA 1984 provides for power to commit for a contempt which occurs 'in going to or returning from the court', the trial judge felt bound by the conflicting limitation of s.1(2), which stipulates that county courts, as inferior courts of record, only have the power to commit for contempt 'in the face of the court.'

fr: témoin

This glossary was made with the Virtual Writing Tutor glossary maker and grammar checker.