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Ambiguity (law)
Ambiguity occurs when a single word or phrase may be interpreted in two or more ways. As law frequently involves lengthy, complex texts, ambiguity is common. Thus, courts have evolved various doctrines for dealing with cases in which legal texts are ambiguous. Criminal law In criminal law, the rule of lenity holds that where a criminal statute is ambiguous, the meaning most favorable to the defendant—i.e., the one that imposes the lowest penalties—should be adopted. In the US context, Justice John Marshall stated the rule thus in '' United States v. Wiltberger'': Contract law In contract law, the ''contra proferentem'' rule holds that, depending on the circumstances, ambiguous terms in a contract may be construed in favor of the party with less bargaining power. International law In Canada, courts have developed rules of construction to interpret ambiguities in treaties between Indigenous peoples and the Crown. In 1983, the Supreme Court of Canada held that "treaties ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rule Of Lenity
The rule of lenity, also called the rule of strict construction, is a principle of criminal statutory interpretation that requires that when a law is unclear or ambiguous, a court must apply the law in the manner that is most favorable to the defendant. The rule has a long history in the law and has been an important element of the relationship between the courts and the legislature, but its role in modern jurisprudence is less clear. Overview Today, determining legislative intent is a critical job that arises from the distinct and separate roles played by the judiciary and the legislature in administering justice. Judges are routinely required to apply the relevant laws and rules passed by the legislature to the decisions they make. There are reasons this can be difficult. For one, laws are intended to apply generally and it would be impossible for the legislature to foresee all the possible situations to which they might apply after their enactment. The rule of lenity is on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Party (law)
A party is an individual or group of individuals that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. Parties include: * plaintiff (person filing suit), * defendant (person sued or charged with a crime), * petitioner (files a petition asking for a court ruling), * respondent (usually in opposition to a petition or an appeal), * cross-complainant (a defendant who sues someone else in the same lawsuit), or * cross-defendant (a person sued by a cross-complainant). A person who only appears in the case as a witness is not considered a party. Courts use various terms to identify the role of a particular party in civil litigation, usually identifying the party that brings a lawsuit as the plaintiff, or, in older American cases, the ''party of the first part''; and the party against whom the case was brought as the defendant, or, in older American cases, the ''party of the second part''. In a criminal case in Nigeria and some other countries t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Terminology
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the art of justice. State-enforced laws can be made by a group legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes; by the executive through decrees and regulations; or established by judges through precedent, usually in common law jurisdictions. Private individuals may create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that adopt alternative ways of resolving disputes to standard court litigation. The creation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. Legal systems vary between jurisdictions, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement whose intended meaning cannot be definitively resolved according to a rule or process with a finite number of steps. (The '' ambi-'' part of the term reflects an idea of "two", as in "two meanings".) The concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with vagueness. In ambiguity, specific and distinct interpretations are permitted (although some may not be immediately obvious), whereas with information that is vague, it is difficult to form any interpretation at the desired level of specificity. Linguistic forms Lexical ambiguity is contrasted with semantic ambiguity. The former represents a choice between a finite number of known and meaningful context-dependent interpretations. The latter represents a choice between any number of possi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Testator
A testator () is a person who has written and executed a Will (law), last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 556. . Related terms * A female testator is sometimes referred to as a testatrix (), plural testatrices (), particularly in older cases. *In Ahmadiyya Islam, a testator is referred to as a moosi, who is someone that has signed up for Wasiyyat or a will, under the plan initiated by the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Promised Messiah, thus committing a portion, not less than one-tenth, of his lifetime earnings and any property to a cause. * The adjective, adjectival form of the word is testamentary, as in: # Testamentary capacity, or mental capacity or ability to execute a will and # Testamentary disposition, or gift made in a will (see that article for types). # Testamentary trust, a trust (law), trust that is created in a will. * A will (la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deed
In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring (conveyancing) title to property. The deed has a greater presumption of validity and is less rebuttable than an instrument signed by the party to the deed. A deed can be unilateral or bilateral. Deeds include conveyances, commissions, licenses, patents, diplomas, and conditionally powers of attorney if executed as deeds. The deed is the modern descendant of the medieval charter, and delivery is thought to symbolically replace the ancient ceremony of livery of seisin. The traditional phrase ''signed, sealed and delivered'' refers to the practice of seals; however, attesting witnesses have replaced seals to some extent. Agreements under seal are also called contracts by deed or ''specialty''; in the United States, a specialty is en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Negotiable Instrument
A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a contract, which promises the payment of money without condition, which may be paid either on demand or at a future date. The term has different meanings depending on the use of the term as it is used in the application of different laws, and depending in which country and context it is used. Concept of negotiability William Searle Holdsworth defines the concept of negotiability as follows: #Negotiable instruments are transferable under the following circumstances: they are transferable by delivery where they are made payable to the bearer, they are transferable by delivery and endorsement where they are made payable to order. #Consideration is presumed. #The transferee acquires a good title, even though the transferor had a defective or n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Admissible Evidence
Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder—usually a judge or jury—to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. For evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant and "not excluded by the rules of evidence", which generally means that it must not be unfairly prejudicial, and it must have some indicia of reliability. The general rule in evidence is that all relevant evidence is admissible and all irrelevant evidence is inadmissible, though some countries (such as the United States and, to an extent, Australia) proscribe the prosecution from exploiting evidence obtained in violation of constitutional law, thereby rendering relevant evidence inadmissible. This rule of evidence is called the exclusionary rule. In the United States this was effectuated federally in 1914 under the Supreme Court case '' Weeks v. United States'' and incorporated against th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parol Evidence
The parol evidence rule is a rule in the Anglo-American common law that governs what kinds of evidence parties to a contract dispute can introduce when trying to determine the specific terms of a contract. The rule also prevents parties who have reduced their agreement to a final written document from later introducing other evidence, such as the content of oral discussions from earlier in the negotiation process, as evidence of a different intent as to the terms of the contract. The rule provides that "extrinsic evidence is inadmissible to vary a written contract". The term "parol" derives from the Anglo-Norman French ''parol'' or ''parole'', meaning "word of mouth" or "verbal", and in medieval times referred to oral pleadings in a court case. The rule's origins lie in English contract law, but has been adopted in other common law jurisdictions; however there are now some differences between application of the rule in different jurisdictions. For instance, in the US, a common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prima Facie
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' ('face'), both in the ablative case. In modern, colloquial and conversational English, a common translation would be "on the face of it". The term ''prima facie'' is used in modern legal English (including both civil law and criminal law) to signify that upon initial examination, sufficient corroborating evidence appears to exist to support a case. In common law jurisdictions, a reference to ''prima facie evidence'' denotes evidence that, unless rebutted, would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact. The term is used similarly in academic philosophy. Most legal proceedings, in most jurisdictions, require a ''prima facie'' case to exist, following which proceedings may then commence to test it, and create a ruling. Burde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest serving justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices ever to serve. Prior to joining the Court, Marshall served as the fourth U.S. Secretary of State under President John Adams. Marshall was born in Germantown in the Colony of Virginia in 1755. After the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he joined the Continental Army, serving in numerous battles. During the later stages of the war, he was admitted to the state bar and won election to the Virginia House of Delegates. Marshall favored the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and he played a major role in Virginia's ratification of that document. At the request of President Adams, Marshall traveled to France i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Property Law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual property. Property can be exchanged through contract law, and if property is violated, one could sue under tort law to protect it. The concept, idea or philosophy of property underlies all property law. In some jurisdictions, historically all property was owned by the monarch and it devolved through feudal land tenure or other feudal systems of loyalty and fealty. History Though the Napoleonic code was among the first government acts of modern times to introduce the notion of absolute ownership into statute, protection of personal property rights was present in medieval Islamic law and jurisprudence, and in more feudalist forms in the common law courts of medieval and early modern England. Theory The word ''property'', in everyday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
