Legal Terminology A - M | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

Importance of Legal Terminology 

• As aspiring lawyers, you must be familiar with some words commonly used in the legal context. 
• Your aim of learning the meanings of words under your vocabulary course may be to better your writing skills or to improve your understanding of the English language and various writings. 
• Your aim of learning the meaning of words and phrases under legal vocabulary should be quite different. 
• The purpose of enhancing your legal vocabulary is to realize the legal applicability of certain concepts and to build a good foundation beforehand for the teachings you shall receive in the course of your law school career.

Terms with 'A'

• Abrogate → To repeal, cancel or annul an agreement.
• Abefance → The condition of an inheritance which has no present owner or a state of suspension.
• Abstract of Title → A chronological summary of all official records and recorded documents affecting the title to a parcel of real property.
• Acceptance → The taking and receiving of anything in good faith with the intention of retaining it.
• Accomplice → A partner in a crime, a person who knowingly and voluntarily participates with another in a criminal activity.
• Accretion → The increase or accumulation of land by natural causes, as out of a lake or river.
• Acquittal → A release, absolution or discharge of an obligation or liability. In criminal law the finding of not guilty.
• Administrative Agencies → Agencies created by the legislative branch of government to administer laws pertaining to specific areas such as taxes, transportation and labour.
• Admiralty Law → Also, maritime law. That body of law relating to ships, shipping, marine commerce and navigation, transportation of persons or property by sea, etc.
• Admissible Evidence → Evidence that can be legally and properly introduced in a civil or criminal trial.
• Adverse Possession → Method of acquiring real property under certain conditions by possession for a statutory period.
• Affirmation → A solemn and formal declaration that an affidavit is true. This is substituted for an oath in certain cases.
• Aid and Aabet → To actively, knowingly or intentionally assist another person in the commission or attempted commission of a crime.
• Allegation → A statement of the issues in a written document (a pleading) which a person is prepared to prove in court.
• Alternative → Dispute Resolution Settling a dispute without a full, formal trial. Methods include mediation, conciliation, arbitration and settlement, among others.
• Answers to Interrogatories → A formal written statement by a party to a lawsuit which answers each question or interrogatory propounded by the other party. These answers must be acknowledged before a notary public or other person authorised to take acknowledgments.
• Antitrust Acts → Federal and state statutes to protect trade and commerce from unlawful restraints, price discriminations, price fixing and monopolies.
• Appeal → A proceeding brought to a higher court to review a lower court decision.
• Appeal Bond → A guarantee by the appealing party insuring that court costs will be paid.

  Appearance → The act of coming into court as a party to a suit either in person or through an attorney.

• Appellate Court → A court having jurisdiction to hear appeals and review a trial court's procedure.

• Arbitration → The hearing of a dispute by an impartial third person or persons (chosen by the parties), whose award the parties agree to accept.

• Arbitrator → A private, disinterested person chosen by the parties in arbitration to hear evidence concerning the dispute and to make an award based on the evidence.

• Arrest → To take into custody by legal authority.

• Assault → Threat to inflict injury with a n apparent ability to do so. Also, any intentional display of force that would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate bodily harm.

• Assumption of Risk → A doctrine under which a person may not recover for an injury received when he has voluntarily exposed himself to a known danger.

• Attachment → Taking a person 's property to satisfy a court-ordered debt.
  

  Question for Legal Terminology A - M

  Try yourself:
  The term Assignment means:

  • A.

    To Transfer.
  • B.

    To share out in proportion.
  • C.

    A person who appeals
  • D.

    Legal transfer of a property or of a right.

  Explanation

  An assignment is a legal term used in the context of the law of contract and of property. In both instances, assignment is the process whereby a person, the assignor, transfers rights or benefits to another, the assignee. 

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Terms with 'B'

• Bail → Money or other security (such as a bail bond) provided to the court to temporarily allow a person's release from jail and assure their appearance in court. 'Bail' and 'Bond' are often used interchangeably, (applies mainly to state courts.)
• Bail Bond → An obligation signed by the accused to secure his or her presence at the trial. This obligation means that the accused may lose money by not properly appearing for the trial. Often referred to simply as 'bond'.
• Bailee → Person who accepts property through a contract of bailment, from a Bailor and who has certain denties of care while the property remains in this possession.
• Bar → 1. Historically, the partition separating the general public from the space occupied by the judges, lawyers and other participants in a trial. 2. More commonly, the term means the who body of lawyers.
• Bar Examination → A state examination taken by prospective lawyers in order to be admitted and licensed to practice law.
• Bench → The seal occupied by the judge. More broadly, the court itself.
• Bench Trial → (Also known as court trial.) Trial without a jury in which a judge decides the facts.
• Bench Warrant → An order issued by a judge for the arrest of a person
• Beneficiary → Someone named to receive property or benefits in a will. In a trust, a person who is to receive benefits from the trust.
• Best Evidence → Primary evidence, the best evidence available. Evidence short of this is "secondary'. i.e. an original letter is 'best evidence', and a photocopy is 'secondary evidence'
• Bill of Particulars → A statement of the details of the charge made against the defendant.
• Blasphemy → It consistently attacking religion, God and religions tenets for the purpose of imposing the doctrines to contempt and redicule.
• Bond → A written agreement by which a person insures he will pay a certain sum of money if he does not perform certain duties property.
• Breach → The breaking or violating of a law, right, or duty, either by commission or omission. The failure of one part to carry out any condition of a contract.
• Breach of Contract → An unjustified failure to perform when performance is due.
• Burglary → The act of illegal entry with the intent to steal.
• Business Bankruptcy → A proceeding under the bankruptcy code filed by a business entity.
• Bylaws → Rules or laws adopted by an association or corporation to govern its actions.
  
  Question for Legal Terminology A - M

  Try yourself:The term Borstal means:

  • A.

    Which has two chambers or houses.
  • B.

    Good faith or in good faith.
  • C.

    Center where a young offender was sent for training if he had committed a crime, which would normally be punishable by a prison sentence.
  • D.

    Failure to carry out the terms of an agreement.

  Explanation

  Borstal is a form of custodial sentence for young offenders, now superseded by young offender institutions.

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Terms with 'C'

• Capital Crime → A crime punishable by death.
• Case Law → Law established by previous decisions of appellate courts, particularly the United States Supreme Court.
• Cases → General term for an action, cause or controversy, at law or in equity-questions contested before a court of justice.
• Cause → A lawsuit, litigation or action question, civil or criminal, litigated or contested before a court of justice.
• Cause of Action → The fact or facts which give a person a right to relief in court.
• Censure → An official reprimand or condemnation of an attorney.
• Certification → Written attestation, authorised declaration verifying that an instrument is a true and correct copy 0f . original.
• Certiorari → A writ of review issued by a higher court to a lower court. A means of getting an appellate court to review a lower court's decision. If an appellate court grants writ of certiorari, it agrees to take the appeal.
• Challenge → An objection, such as when an attorney objects at a hearing to the seating of a particular person on a civil or criminal jury.
• Challenge for Cause → A request from a party to a judge that a certain prospective juror not be allowed to be a member of a jury because of specified causes or reasons.
• Change of Venue → Moving a lawsuit or criminal trial to another place for trial.
• Charge to the Jury → The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.
• Chief Judge → Presiding or administrative judge in a court.
• Civil → Relating to private rights and remedies sought by civil actions as contrasted with criminal proceedings.
• Civil Law → Law based on a series of written codes or laws.
• Civil Procedure → The rules and process by which a civil case is tried and appealed, including the preparations for trial, the nil of evidence and trial conduct, and the procedure for pursuing appeals.
• Clerk of Court → Administrator or chief clerical officer of the court.
• Code of Federal Regulations → An annual publication which contains the commulative executive agency regulations.
• Code of Professional → The rules o f conduct that govern the legal profession responsibility.
• Collective Mark → Trademark or service ,m ,k used by members of a cooperative, an association, or other collective group or organisation.
• Commit → To send a person to prison, asylum or reformatory by a court order.
• Common Law → Also case law. Law established by subject matter heard in earlier cases.
• Complainant → The party who complains or sues; one who applies to the court for legal redress.
• Complaint → The legal document that usually begins a civil lawsuit. It states the facts and identifies the action the court is asked to take, formal written charge that a person has committed a criminal offense.
• Concurrent Sentences → Sentences for more than one crime that are to be served at the same time, rather than one after the other.
• Consecutive Sentences → Successive sentences, one beginning at the expiration of another, imposed against a person convicted of two or more violations.
• Consent → Agreement; voluntary acceptance of the wish of another.
• Consideration → The price bargained for and paid for a promise, goods or real estate.
• Constitutional Law → Law set forth in the Constitution of the United States and the State Constitutions.
• Consumer Bankruptcy → A proceeding under the bankruptcy code filed by an individual (or husband and wife) who is not in business
• Contempt of Court → Willful disobedience of a judge's command or of an official court order.
• Continuance → Postponement of a legal proceeding to a later date.
• Contract → An agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. A legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties made either orally or in writing.
• Conviction → A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corroborating → Evidence Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.
• Counterclaim → A claim made by the defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff. In essence, a counter lawsuit within a lawsuit.
• Court of Original Jurisdiction → A court where a matter is initiated and heard in the first instance; a trial court.
• Cross-Examination → The questioning of a witness produced by the other side.
• Cumulative Sentences → Sentences for two or more crimes to run consecutively, rather than concurrently.
  
  Question for Legal Terminology A - M

  ---

  Try yourself:What is the term for f'orcing someone by pressure to commit a crime or do some act.'
   

  • A.

    Borstal
  • B.

    Arrest
  • C.

    codicil
  • D.

    coercion 

  Explanation

  "Coercion" is the committing, or threatening to commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.

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Terms with 'D'

• Damages → Money awarded by a court to a person injured by the unlawful actor negligence of another person.
• Declaratory Judgement → A statutory remedy for judicial determination of a controversy where plaintiff is in doubt about his legal rights.
• Decree → An order of the court. A final decree is one that fully and finally disposes of the litigation.
• Defamation → That which tends to injure a person's reputation.
• Default Judgement → A Judgement entered against a party who fails to appear in court or respond to the charges.
• Defendant → The person defending or denying a suit.
• Deficient → Incomplete; defective; not sufficient in quantity or force.
• Dependent → One who derives existence and support from another.
• Deposition → Testimony of a witness or a party taken under oath outside the courtroom, the transcript of which becomes a part of the court's file. 
• Direct Evidence → Proof of facts by witnesses who saw acts done or heard words spoken.
• Direct Examination → The first questioning of witnesses by the party on whose behalf they are called.
• Discharge → The name given to the bankruptcy court's formal discharge of a debtor's debts. In probate, the release of the estate's representative from fiduciary responsibility.
• Distant to Disagree → An appellate court opinion setting forth the minority view and outlining the disagreement of one or more judges with the decision of the majority.
• Dissolution → The termination; process of dissolving or winding up something.
• Diversity of Citizenship → The condition when the party on one side of a lawsuit is a citizen of one state and the other party is a citizen of another state; such cases are under the jurisdiction of federal courts.
• Docket Control → A system for keeping track of deadlines and court dates for both litigation and non-litigation matters.
• Domicile → The place where a person has his permanent home to which he intends to return.
• Double Jeopardy → Putting a person on trial more than once for the same crime. It is forbidden by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Terms with 'E'

• Entity → A person or legally recognised organisation.
• Entry → A statement of conclusion reached by the court and placed in the court records.
• Environment → The conditions, influences  or forces which affect the desirability value of property, as well as the effect on people's lives.
• Equal Protection of the Law → The guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment, to the US Constitution that all person be treated equally by the law.

• Escheat → The process by which a deceased person's property goes to the state if no heir can be found.

• Ethics → Of on relating to moral action conduct; professionally right; conforming to professional standards.

• Evidence → Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.

• Exceptions → Declarations by either side in a civil or criminal case reserving the right to appeal a judge's ruling upon a motion. Also, in regulatory cases, objections by either side to points made by the other side or to rulings by the agency or one of its hearing officers.

• Exclusionary Rule → The rule preventing illegally obtained evidence to be used in any trial.

•  Execute → To complete; to sign; to carry oil according to its terms.

• Exempt Property → All the property of a debtor which is not attachable under the bankruptcy code or the state statute.

• Exhibit → A document or other item introduced as evidence during a trial or hearing.

• Ex Parte → On behalf of only one party, without notice to any other party, e.g. a request for a search wan ant is an ex parte proceeding, since the person subject to the search is not notified of the proceeding and is not present at the hearing.

Terms with 'F'

• Family Law → Those areas of the law pertaining to families, i.e. marriage, divorce, child custody, juvenile, paternity etc.
• Finding → Formal conclusion by a judge or regulatory agency on issues of fact. Also, a conclusion by a jury regarding a fact.
• Food and Drug Agency (FDA) → A federal agency which sets safety and quality standards for administration food, drugs, cosmetics and household substances.
• Foreclosure → A court proceeding upon default in a mortgage to vest title in the mortgagee.
• Forfeiture → A cancellation. A legal action whereby a contract purchaser following default loses all his interest in the property.
• Fraud → A false representation of a matter of fact which is intended to deceive another.

Terms with 'G'

• General Jurisdiction → Refers to courts that have no limit on the types of criminal and civil cases they may hear.
• Good Time → A reduction in sentenced time in prison as a reward for good behaviour. It usually is one third to one half of the maximum sentence.
• Grievance → In labour law a complaint filed by an employee regarding working conditions to be resolved by procedural machinery provided in the union contract. An injury, injustice or wrong which gives ground for complaint.
• Guardian → A person appointed by will or by law to assume responsibility for incompetent adults or minor children. If a parent dies, this will usually be the other parent. If both die, it probably will be a close relative.
• Guardianship → Legal right given to a person to be responsible for the food, housing, health care and other necessities of a person deemed incapable of providing these necessities for himself or herself.

Terms with 'H'

• Habeas Corpus → The name of a writ having for its object to bring a person before a court.
• Harmless Error → An error committed during a trial that was corrected or was not serious enough to affect the outcome of a trial and therefore was not sufficiently harmful (prejudicial) to be reversed on appeal.
• Hearing → A formal proceeding (generally less formal than a trial) with definite issues of law or of fact to be heard. Hearings are used extensively by legislative and administrative agencies.

• Hearsay → Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.

• Hostile Witness → A witness whose testimony is not favourable to the party who calls him or her as a witness. A hostile witness may be asked leading questions and may be cross-examined by the party who calls him or her to the stand.

• Hung Jury → A jury whose members cannot agree upon a verdict.
  

  Question for Legal Terminology A - M

  Try yourself:
  What is the legal term used for using property such as securities as collateral for a loan, but not transferring legal ownership to the lender.

  • A.

    Holograph
  • B.

    Detinue
  • C.

    citation
  • D.

    Hypothecation

  Explanation

  Hypothecation basically means offering an asset as collateral security to the lender. Herein, the ownership lies with a lender and the borrower enjoys the possession. In the case of default by the borrower, the lender can exercise his ownership rights to seize the asset.

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Terms with 'I'

• Immigrants → Persons who come into a foreign country or region to live.
• Immunity → Grant by the court, which assures someone will not face prosecution in return for providing criminal evidence.
• Impeachment → A criminal proceeding against a public official.
• Impeachment of a Witness → An attack on the credibility (believability) of a witness, through evidence introduced for that purpose.
• Implied Contract → A contract not created or evidenced by the explicit agreement of the parties but one inferred by law; as the use of electric power in your home implies a contract with the light company.
• Inadmissible → That which, under the rules of evidence, cannot be admitted or received as evidence. 
• Incapacity → Lack of legal ability to act; disability, incompetence; lack of adequate power.
• Incompetent → One who lacks ability, legal qualification, or fitness to manage his own affairs.
• Information → Accusatory document, filed by the prosecutor, detailing the charges against the defendant. An alternative to an indictment, it serves to bring a defendant to trial.
• Instructions → Judge's explanation to the jury before it begins deliberations of the question it must answer and the applicable law governing the case.
• Intangible Assets → Non-physical items such as stock certificates, bonds, bank accounts, and pension benefits that have value and must be taken into account in estate planning.
• Intentional Tort → Wrong perpetrated by one who intends to break the law.
• Interlocutory → Temporary; provisional; interim; not final.
• Interrogatories → A set or series of written questions propounded to a party, witness, or other person having information or interest in a case; a discovery device.
• Intervention → An action by which a third person who may be affected by a lawsuit is permitted to become a party to the suit.

Terms with 'J'

• Joint Tenancy → A form of legal co-ownership of property (also known as survivorship). At the death of one co-owner, the surviving co-owner becomes sole owner of the property Tenancy by the entirety is a special f joint tenancy between a husband and wife.
• Judge → A presiding officer of the court.
• Judgement → The official and authentic decision of a court of justice upon the rights and claims of parties to an action or suit submitted to the court for determination.
• Judiciary → The branch of government invested with judicial power to interpret and apply the law; the court system; the body of  judges; then bench.
• Jurisdiction → The power or authority of a court to hear and try a case; the geographic area in which a court has power or the types of cases it has power to hear. 
• Jurisprudence → The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Jury → A certain number of men and women selected according to law and sworn to try a question of fact or indict a person for public offense.
• Justiciable → Issues and claims capable of being properly examined in court.

Terms with 'K'

• Kickback → Illegal commission paid to someone who helps in a business deal.

Terms with 'L'

• Lapsed Gift → A gift made in a will to a person who has died prior to the will- makers death.
• Larceny → Obtaining property by fraud or deceit.
• Law → The combination of those rules and principles of conduct promulgated by legislative authority, derived from court decisions and established by local Custom
• Leading Question → A question that suggest the answer desired of the witness. Leading questions may be asked only of hostile ( witnesses and on cross-examination.
• Legal Aid → Professional legal services available usually to persons or organisations unable to afford such services.
• Legal Process → A formal paper that is legally lid: something issuing from the court, usually a command such as a writ or mandate.
• Legislation → The act of giving or enacting the power to make laws via legislation in contrast to court-made laws.
• Legitimate → That which is legal, lawful, recognised by law or according to law.
• Letters Testamentary → Legal document sued by a court that shows an executor's legal right to take control of assets in the deceased person's name.
• Lien → An encumbrance or legal burden upon property
• Limited Jurisdiction → Refers to courts that are limited in the types of criminal and civil cases they may hear. e.g. traffic violations generally are heard by limited jurisdiction courts.
• Litigant → A party to a lawsuit.
• Litigation → A lawsuit; a legal action, including all proceedings therein.

Terms with 'M'

• Manslaughter → The unlawful killing of another without intent to kill; either voluntary (upon a sudden impulse); or involuntary (during the commission of an unlawful act not ordinarily expected to result in great bodily harm).
• Marshal → The executive officer of the federal court.
• Mediation → A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a settlement.
• Memorandum → An informal note or instrument embodying something the parties desire to have in written evidence.
• Memorialised → In writing.
•  Merger → The absorption of one thing or right into another.
• Minor → A person under the age of legal competence.
• Mistrial → An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
• Mitigating Circumstances → Those which do not constitute a justification or excuse for an offense but which may be considered as reasons for reducing the degree of blame.
• Mitigation → A reduction, abatement, or diminution of a penalty or punishment imposed by law.
• Murder → The unlawful killing of a human being with deliberate intent to kill;
  (1) murder in the first degree is characterised by premeditation;
  (2) murder in the second degree is characterised by a sudden and instantaneous intent to kill or to cause injury without caring whether the injury kills or not.
• Mutual Assent → A meeting of the minds; agreement.