Law

Unless otherwise stated, this page refers to the law as it applies in England and Wales.

See also Age and the Law.

Smallest amount that a cheque can be written out for		1p
Minimum number of people required to constitute a riot in US law		3
Minimum number of people required to constitute a riot, in England and Wales (according to the original Riot Act of 1714, and also under the Public Order Act 1986)		12
Number of judges that sit in the UK's Supreme Court		12
Number of people on a Scottish criminal jury		15
England & Wales: a death must be registered within		5 days
England & Wales: a birth must be registered within		42 days
A decree nisi becomes absolute after		42 days
Until the rule was abolished in 1996, an assault became murder if the victim died within		A year and a day
Maximum period for which a custodial sentence can be suspended (UK)		2 years
Minimum period of employment to qualify for statutory redundancy pay		2 years
A person can legally be declared dead after being missing for		7 years
In England, a minor can be made a ward of court up to age		18 years
Ages between which you are liable for jury service		18, 75
The Ancient Lights law pertains after		20 years
UK patents are valid for		20 years
Copyright persists after an author's death for		50 years

Became a statutory offence in Britain 1861; legalised in the Soviet Union in 1920, Iceland in 1935, and Great Britain in 1967 (in specific circumstances)		Abortion
Common English expression meaning "a sudden and irresistible act of nature that could not reasonably have been foreseen" – a.k.a. vis major (Latin) or force majeure (French)		Act of God
Scottish equivalent of a barrister		Advocate
A written statement, made voluntarily under oath		Affidavit
Relationship by marriage (cf. Consanguinity)		Affinity
Prevents building of anything blocking someone else's windows		Ancient lights
Legalisation of a document for international use (under the 1961 Hague Convention); originally a marginal note, or an explanatory note on other writings		Apostil(le)
1971: combined with Quarter Sessions and replaced by Crown Courts		Assizes
The area of a bailiff's jurisdiction – survives in the administration of the Channel Islands, which are divided into those of Jersey and Guernsey (the latter including Sark, Alderney etc.)		Bailiwick
Collective name for members of the profession of barrister within a given jurisdiction (to which lawyers are said to be "called" on qualifying as barristers)		The Bar
Document describing goods carried on a merchant ship		Bill of Lading
Traditionally worn by British judges when pronouncing a death sentence (actually a square of silk)		Black cap
In marine law: a contract (similar to a mortgage) in which the owner of a ship pledges the ship as security for a loan		Bottomry
Term used for the rooms or offices from which a lawyer (barrister or judge) operates		Chambers
Chapter of the US Bankruptcy Reform Act (1978) that allows debtors to remain in control of a failing business and try to save it		Chapter 11
Canon law is concerned with matters of the		Church
Supplement to a will		Codicil
Introduced in the UK by the Criminal Justice Act 1972		Community Service
Relationship by descent from a common ancestor (cf. Affinity)		Consanguinity
Sumptuary laws are designed to regulate		Consumption
Transferring the legal title in a property from one person to another		Conveyancing
Decides whether a find is treasure trove, and what should be done with it		Coroner
A District Judge sits in a		County Court
Supreme civil court in Scotland		Court of session
Questioning the other side's witness		Cross–examination
Formed 1971 by combining Assizes and Quarter Sessions		Crown Courts
Term used in Scottish law as the equivalent to manslaughter		Culpable homicide
Term used for a judge in the Isle of Man		Deemster
In the Latin legal term absente reo, "reo" refers to		The defendant
Gray's Inn: named after		The de Gray family who owned the land
Head of the Crown Prosecution Service		Director of Public Prosecutions
Names used in US courts for unknown persons (male and female)		John & Jane Doe
Right to use someone else's land for e.g. access or drainage		Easement
Name given to an offence that can be tried in either a Magistrates' or a Crown Court		Either Way offence
Right to take wood for burning at home from woodland and waste land		Estovers
Difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance		Evasion is illegal
Person responsible for seeing that the terms of a will are carried out		Executor
Legal principal known as the law of talion (Latin lex talionis – the law of retaliation) – as stated, in slightly different forms, in at least three places in the Bible (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)		An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Scottish equivalent of the Inns of Court (Bar)		Faculty of Advocates
Murder of one's brother (or, according to some, one's sister)		Fratricide
Causing someone to give up property or other legal right, by deceit		Fraud
First priority for payment from the estate of a deceased person		Funeral expenses
Gallows–like structure from which the bodies of executed criminals were hung – often as ordered by a judge as part of the sentence		Gibbet
Residences owned by the sovereign, granted free of rent to certain people		Grace and favour
The principle that no one can be imprisoned without charge or trial		Habeas corpus
Heir who will inherit as long as he survives the ancestor		Heir apparent
Maritime area not under the sovereignty of any one state		High seas
Right to pursue a ship across international waters or a criminal into another country		Hot pursuit
Prosecution of a public official by the legislature of the state; charge of treason against a head of state		Impeachment
Inchoate (of a document – will, etc.)		Incomplete
Embracery		Influencing a jury
Latin term used to refer to the responsibility of an adult, other than a parent, for a child under their supervision		In loco parentis
Describes someone who dies without making a will		Intestate
Presiding judge in a Court Martial		Judge Advocate
Goods jettisoned at sea but attached to a buoy for recovery		Lagan
Regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales		Law Society
The Lord Chancellor's breakfast – a reception held in early October in Westminster Hall (preceded by a service in Westminster Abbey) marks the start of		The legal year
An open letter issued by a head of state or a government, e.g. to grant a title to a person or city status to a town; also to grant a patent to an inventor		Letters patent
Term of office for which a Justice of the Peace (JP) is appointed		Life
Chief law officer in Scotland (head of the Procurator Fiscal Service)		Lord Advocate
The highest–ranking law officer in England and Wales, prior to 2005 when the judicial functions of the office were removed; still a member of the Cabinet		Lord Chancellor
Highest–ranking law officer in England and Wales, since 2005 (see above)		Lord Chief Justice
England & Wales's second most senior judge: President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, Head of Civil Justice, and Keeper of the Records at the Public Records Office		Master of the Rolls
Marriage between two unequal partners, on an understanding that issue have no claim to rank or property		Morganatic marriage
Three possible verdicts in a Scottish court: guilty, not guilty, and		Not proven
Central Criminal Court of the City of London: common name		Old Bailey
Letters of Marque (16th/17th Centuries): permitted a ship's captain to commit		Piracy
Person who brings a civil action		Plaintiff
Female equivalent of bigamy		Polyandry
Official 'proving' of a will (proving that it is the last will and testament of the deceased, and granting authority to the executor to administer the estate)		Probate
Work done by a lawyer without payment, in the public interest (Latin phrase)		Pro bono (publico)
Public office that combines the roles of coroner and public prosecutor in Scotland		Procurator Fiscal
Courts held four times a year in England & Wales (prior to 1971 – see Crown Courts)		Quarter Sessions
Appointed by the Coastguard to deal with salvage of a shipwreck		Receiver of wreck
An additional fee, paid to counsel in a prolonged case		Refresher
The killing of a king (from the Latin)		Regicide
Since time immemorial: before the reign of		Richard I (1189)
A place of worship that comes under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, rather than a diocese (preserved in the name of a famous English beer)		Royal Peculiar or Peculier
Law that prevents a woman from succeeding to a throne		Salic Law
Scottish equivalent of a County Court		Sheriff's Court
Trading of church offices		Simony
Next in rank to the Attorney General		Solicitor General
Acronym coined in the 1980s (by two professors at the University of Denver, Colorado) for a lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition		SLAPP (suit)
Writ obliging a person to appear before a court – now known in England & Wales as a witness summons		Subpoena
Laws made to enforce social hierarchies through restrictions on clothing, food and luxury expenditure		Sumptuary law
Replaced the House of Lords in 2009 as the ultimate court of appeal in the United Kingdom		Supreme Court
USA: law prescribing 25 years for persistent offenders		Three strikes (and out)
Annuity scheme where the last surviving subscriber benefits		Tontine
Civil wrong		Tort
Only crime still punishable by death in the UK		Treason
Right of way over land for carriage of minerals from a mine or quarry		Wayleave
Intra vires		Within the legal powers of

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23