Legal Glossary

Coast

The margin of a country bounded by the sea. This term includes the natural appendages of the territory which rise out of the water, although they arc not of sufficient firmness to lx? inhabited or fortified. Shoals perpetually covered with water am not, however, compre…

pension

pension law: an overview Upon retirement many workers continue to receive monetary compensation from their employer in the form of a pension. There are two main types of pensions. Under a defined benefit plan, the benefit that an employee receives is normally based on t…

terrorism

The word terrorism does not have a commonly agreed or legally adopted unique definition because defining its scope is politically complex, and its selective use is often the subject of controversy in and outside legal domestic and international arenas.  The United Stat…

Napoleonic Code

History For most of its history as a feudal polity, France lacked a single unified body of law. In the north, local customary laws derived from old Franco-Germanic traditions predominated, while in the south these customs were combined with the Corpus Iuris Civilis (Rom…

banking

Banking involves receiving deposits that can be withdrawn on demand, issuing loans, and discounting commercial papers. It also includes making secured loans on collateral, buying and selling bills of exchange, negotiating loans, and trading negotiable securities issued …

Bles

Laws of ancient Rome com- posed in part from those of Solon, and other Greek legislators, and in part from the unwritten laws or customs of the Romans. These laws, first appeared in the year of Rome 303 inscribed on ten plates of brass. The following year two others wer…

Code of Canon Law

Code of Canon Law may refer to:Corpus Juris Canonici, a collection of sources of canon law of the Catholic Church applicable to the Latin Church until 1918 1917 Code of Canon Law, code of canon law for the Catholic Latin Church from 1918 to 1983 1983 Code of Canon Law, …

Income Tax

Overview: The power to collect income tax is found in the Constitution of the United States. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 (Also known as the Taxing and Spending Clause) sates: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay…

rule of doubt

The Rule of Doubt is a U.S. Copyright Office rule that presumptively accepts copyright registration of a claim containing software object code, even though the Office cannot verify whether the software object code contains copyrightable work. The Copyright Office Compen…

Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the formal process that allows debtors and creditors to resolve the problem of the debtor’s financial shortcomings through a reorganization plan. See Tamir v. United States Trustee. Accordingly, the central goal of chapter 11 is to create a viab…

criminal law

Overview: Criminal law, as distinguished from civil law, is a system of laws concerned with crimes and the punishment of individuals who commit crimes. Thus, where in a civil case two parties dispute their rights, a criminal prosecution involves the government deciding …

estates and trusts

During the early 1500s in England, landowners found it advantageous to convey the legal title of their land to third parties while retaining the benefits of ownership. Because they were not the real "owners" of the land, and wealth was primarily measured by the amount o…

gambling

Gambling Law: An Overview Gambling is when a person bets or risks something of value (like money) based on a chance outcome that is out of their control or influence with the understanding that they will either gain increased value or lose their original value determine…

Kind code

In patent law, a kind code, or WIPO Standard ST.16 code, is a code used on patent documents published by intellectual property offices to distinguish different kinds of patent documents. A kind code includes a letter, and in many cases a number, used to distinguish the …

negotiable instruments

Negotiable instruments are mainly governed by state statutory law. Every state has adopted Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), with some modifications, as the law governing negotiable instruments. The UCC defines a negotiable instrument as an unconditioned w…

Chapter 12 bankruptcy

In 1986, Congress enacted chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code to allow farmer debtors with regular annual income to achieve debt relief. Accordingly, chapter 12 bankruptcy provides relief to debtors who qualify as family farmers and family fishermen with regular income; s…

Chapter 7 bankruptcy

When a debtor becomes insolvent and the bankruptcy proceeding begins, the debtor will either liquidate its assets or reorganize its debts. The liquidation route is governed by Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. In a liquidation, the assets of the debtor, usually a corpo…

consumer credit

Consumer credit refers to the ability of a consumer to access a loan. The most common form of credit used by consumers is a credit card account issued by a financial institution. Merchants may also provide direct financing for products which they sell. Banks may directl…

Dam

A construction of wood, stone, or other materials made across a stream of water for the purpose of confining it ; a mole. 2. — The owner of a stream not navi- gable, may erect a dam across it, and employ the water in any reasonable manner, cither for his use or pleasur…

elections

Elections are processes through which eligible citizens vote on candidates for public office or on ballot issues. Once votes are cast, they are counted to determine an official outcome. There are two main types of public elections: general elections, which occur at regu…

employment discrimination

Overview: Employment discrimination laws seek to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers. Discriminatory practices include bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination,…

Ethical code

Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist their members or employees in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally refers to either a code of business ethics, a codes o…

Example

An example is a case put to illustrate a principle. Examples illustrate but do not restrain or change the laws; iUustrunt non restringunt legem, Co. Lilt. 24 n. KXCAMRIATOR, the name of an exchange of lands ; a broker. This term is now obsolete. EXCEFX'IO REI JUDICATA…

Code of law

A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the code was enacted, by a proces…

Community

This word has sc- vend meanings; when used in common parlance it signifies the body of the people, as such acts cannot bo tolerated | in a moral community. 2. — In the civil law, by community is understood corporations, or bodies ! politic. Dig. 8, 4. 3. — In the Fren…

Department

A portion of n country. In France, tho country is divided inio departments, which are somewhat similar to the counties in this country. The United States huve been divided into military departments, including certain portions of the coun- try. 1 Pet. 293. 2. — Ily depa…

Doom book

The Doom Book, Dōmbōc, Code of Alfred or Legal Code of Ælfred the Great was the code of laws compiled by Alfred the Great. Alfred codified three prior Saxon codes – those of Æthelberht of Kent, Ine of Wessex and Offa of Mercia – to which he prefixed a modified version o…

hotel and restaurant law

Hotel and restaurant law is an area of law that governs the operation of hotels, motels, inns, restaurants, and other establishments that offer shelter and accommodations for compensation. Hotels and restaurants are regulated chiefly by state law, not federal law. Hist…

Napoleonic Code

The Napoleonic Code, officially the Civil Code of the French, is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since its inception. Although Napoleon himself was not directly i…

Casus fce deris

When two nations have formed a treaty of alliance, in anticipation of a war or other diffi- culty with another, and it is required to determine the cuse in which the parties must act in consequence of the alliance, this is colled the casus fr/lcris, or case of alliance…