Affirm – To make firm; to establish. 1) To ratify or confirm the judgment of a lower court. 2) To ratify of confirm a voidable contract. 3) To declare or verify as a substitute for an oath.
Analytical Positivism – A system that says the law in its self is what makes right, not the ethical, reason or fairness of the law. Pg. 4-5
Appeal – A judicial review of s decision rendered by a lower court. Pg. 23
Appellant – A person who initiates an appeal from one court to another.
Appellee – A party in a law suit against whom an appeal has been taken.
Canon Law – A type of law that was ecclesiastical in nature and was often directly derived from the church; more concerned with moral than reasonable arguments. Pg. 11 and 14
Case of First Impression – First discussion or consideration; refers to the first time a question of law is considered for determination by a court. Pg. 204, Barron’s Law.
Chancellor –In early English law the name of the King’s minister who would dispense justice in the king’s name by extraordinary equitable relief where the remedy at law was inadequate to do substantial justice. Later, the name given to the chief judge of the court of chancery. Pg. 72, Barron’s.
Civil Suit – A case that does not entail the defendant or respondent to do jail time, penalties are usually punitive in nature. Unable to locate pg.
Common Law – An ambiguous term. 1) A system of jurisprudence founded on principles of justice whist are determined by reasoning and administration consistent with the usage, customs and institutions of the people and which are suitable to the genius of the people and their social, political, and economic condition. The rules deduced from this system continually change and expand with the progress of society. 2) That system of law which does not rest its authority upon any express statutes, but derives its force and authority from universal consent and immemorial usage, and which is evidenced by the courts of law, technically so called, in contradistinction to those of equity and the ecclesiastical courts. Glossary.
Contract – An agreement between parties, upon a legal consideration, to do or abstain from doing some act. It is usually applied to simple or parol contracts, including written as well as verbal ones. Following is a list of different kinds of contracts; Implied, express, mutual and dependent, independent, entire, severable, executed, executory, personal, contracts of beneficence.
Court of Equity – A court having jurisdiction in cases where a plain, adequate and complete remedy cannot be had at law. Court of equity where common law courts but had their own principles and their own unique remedies. Pg. 115 Barron’s.
Criminal Law – Jurisprudence concerning crime and their punishment. Glossary.
Curia Regis – Latin for the King’s Court. Pg. 123 Barron’s.
Damages – Monetary compensation which the law awards to one who has been injured by the action of another. Following is list of different types of damages; actual, compensatory, consequential, double, exemplary, expectation, general, incidental, liquidated, nominal, punitive, special, treble. Pg. 125-126 Barron’s.
Defendant – A person against whom an action is brought, a warrant is issued or an indictment is found. Glossary.
Dicta/Dictum – A statement by a judge concerning a point of law which is not necessary for the decision of the case in which it is stated. Usually, is not as persuasive as its opposite, i.e. holding. Glossary.
Due Process Clause – Applied due process to the federal in the 5th amendment and to the states in the 14th. Two types, substantive and procedural. Both require that the government be objective and fair in creating and applying the law. Pg. 158 Barron’s.
Equity – The ability of the court to make decisions based on right and discretion, rather than following the absolute letter of the law. Pg. 8, pg. 173 Barron’s.
Express Contract – A contract in which the terms are printed in words.
Felony – A crime that is generally very serious in nature. Punishable by more than 365 days of incarceration or a $1000.00 dollar fine. Glossary and memory.
Feudalism – Feudalism was a military, political, and social structure that ordered relationships between people. Under feudalism, a series of duties and obligations existed between a lord and vassals. Pg. 11
Hearing – A flexible term for a court proceeding or the trial of a suit. 2) The examination of witnesses incidental to the making of a judicial determination as to whether an accused person shall be held for trial.
Holding – 1) The principle that reasonable may be drawn from the decision, which a court actually makes in a case; the opposite of dictum. 2) The resolution of the unique dispute, which is before a judge or court in a specific case. 3) A broad term for something, which a person owns or possesses.
Historical Jurisprudence – Law is only valid to the extent that the will of the sovereign is compatible with the long-standing social practices, customs, and values.
Hundred – An organization that was a predecessor to English common law. The country was divided into groups, by population, called the hundred. The main purpose of the hundred was judicial in line with custom.
Implied Contract – Presumed by law to have been made from the circumstances of the relationship of the parties.
Injunction – A flexible discretionary process of preventative and remedial justice, which is exercised by the courts that have equity powers.
Jurisprudence – The science of the law; the study of the structure of legal systems, as distinguishable form the content of, of systems of law. Also, a collective term denoting the course of judicial decision or case law as oppose to legislation.
Legal Realism – A belief which says that judges make decisions based on personal convictions and not the letter of the law. Legal Realist feel that the only way to discover the real law is through behavioral research of judges. Pg. 6.
Magna Carta – The “great charter” of which King John gave his assent in 1215, and which is considered the fundamental guarantee of rights and privledges under English law.
Misdemeanor – Any crime or offence not amounting to a felony.
Money Damages – Unable to locate.
Natural Law – Law “which is so necessarily agrees with the nature and state of man, that w/o preserving its maxims, the peace and happiness of humanity can never be preserved.” Law which is generally understood, i.e. murder is evil. Pg. 331 Barron’s.
Plaintiff – A person who initiates a lawsuit.
Procedural Due Process – A right promised by the 5th and 14th amendments to the constitution. Says that all men are to be granted a certain “due-process” before being deprived of their life, liberty, or property. Pg. 158, Barron’s.
Public Policy – A highly flexible term of imprecise definition, 1) for the consideration of what is expedient for the community concerned. 2) The principle of law which holds that no person can do that which has a tendency to be injurious to the public, or against the public good. 3) The statutes and precedents, and not the general considerations of public interest.
Quantum meriuit – lat. “ as much as he deserved”. Generally under common law refers to payment for services rendered under a contract. Pg. 407 Barron’s.
Quasi-contract – An obligation which arises w/o express agreement between the parties; an implied consent.
Remand – 1) To commit a person to jail or prison 2) To send a lawsuit back to the same court from which it came, for trial or other action.
Reeve – A word from which sheriff was derived. Administered the King’s business in the Shire. Pg. 10, memory.
Reverse – As used in opinions, judgments, and mandates, the setting aside, annulling, vacating, or changing to the contrary the decision of a lower court or other body. Pg. 443 Barron’s.
Shire – A territory that existed in feudal England. Consisted of a group of hundreds. Held court twice a year, preside over by the Bishop and the Sheriff.
Sociological Jurisprudence – A belief that governments should become proactive in working to promote social and economic reforms and the judges become more socially aware of the impact of their decisions on society. Pg. 5.
Substantive Due process – That laws should be created objectively.
Tort – Any one of various, legally recognized, private injuries or wrongs, which do not arise as the result of a breach of contract.
Trade Secret – A plan, process, tool, mechanism, or compound, known only to its owner, and those of the employees to whom it is necessary to confide it, in order to apply it to the uses intended. It is distinguishable from a patent, in that it may be used by anyone who is able to discover its nature.
Trespass – Any transgression of the law, less than treason, felony, or misprison of either. Also unlawfully entering the land of a nother.
Trial Court Jurisdictions – Court of original jurisdiction, where matters are to be litigated first and where all evidence relative to a cause is received and considered. A trial court determines both the facts and the law in a particular case whereas an appellate court predominantly reviews questions of law and not the facts. Pg. 524 Barron’s.
Unjust Enrichment – The doctrine which places a legal duty of restitution upon a defendant who has acquired something of value at the expense of the plaintiff.
Utilitarian Law – The Utilitarian school of law concentrated on the social usefulness of legislation rather than the metaphysical notions of good ness and justice. Felt the government is responsible for ensuring the general public’s happiness.
Void-for-vagueness doctrine – A criminal statute is constitutionally void for vagueness when it is so vague that person of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application. Pg. 545 Barron’s.
Writ – A mandatory precept issued by the authority and in the name of the sovereign and the state for the purpose of compelling a person to do something therein mentioned. It is issued by a court or other comparable tribunal, and is directed to the sheriff or any other officer authorized to execute it. In every case the writ itself contains direction as to what is to be done.
Writ of Right – This was purchased from the king and directed the communal courts to do full justice without delay or to appear in a royal court and give an explanation.
Year Books – A collection of cases that had been heard in the most important courts that given year. Pg. 13.