|
Duplicity (law)
Duplicity is the error committed when the charge (known as a ''count'') on an indictment describes two different offences. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the jury) can know precisely what offences he or she is accused of. If a count is poorly drafted so that it alleges two offences, it is said to be "duplicitous". A duplicitous count is defective and must be quashed by the judge, unless the judge permits the count to be amended so that it only alleges one offence, or is split into two counts. If a duplicitous count is not noticed until after the defendant has been convicted on it, the verdict may be void. Duplicity is a completely different situation from when two different counts each allege the same offence, which is known as multiplicity Multiplicity may refer to: In science and the humanities * Multiplicity (mathematics), the number of times an element is repeated in a multiset * Multiplic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Error (law)
Errors of various types may occur in legal proceedings and may or may not constitute grounds for appeal. Types of error * Harmless error is one considered not to have affected the trial's outcome and is thus not grounds for appeal. Harmless error is distinguished from "plain error" in that if error is "preserved" by the making of a timely objection, the burden of proof is on the respondent to show that the error was harmless, but if error was not preserved, the burden of proof is on the appellant to show that the error was plain. * Invited error is error brought about by a party's own conduct during a trial, and does not give grounds for appeal. * Reversible error is one that can lead to a judgment being overturned on appeal. See also * Actual innocence * Fundamental error * Miscarriage of justice * Mistake of law Mistake of law is a legal principle referring to one or more errors that were made by a person in understanding how the applicable law applied to their past activity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an indictable offence, an offence that requires an indictment. Australia Section 80 of the Constitution of Australia provides that "the trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury". The High Court of Australia has consistently used a narrow interpretation of this clause, allowing the Parliament of Australia to define which offences proceed on indictment rather than conferring a universal right to a jury trial. Section 4G of the ''Crimes Act 1914'' provides that "offences against a law of the Commonwealth punishable by imprisonment for a period exceeding 12 months are indictable offences, unless the contrary intention appears". Canada A direct indictment is one in which the ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offense (law)
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane and Conoghan (editors), ''The New Oxford Companion to Law'', Oxford University Press, 2008 (), p. 263Google Books). though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. One proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual but also to a community, society, or the state ("a public wrong"). Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law. The notion that acts such as murder, rape, and theft are to be prohibited exists worldwide. What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by the criminal law of each r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdiction to another. In Scots law, the terms "accused" or "panel" are used instead in criminal proceedings and "defender" in civil proceedings. Another term in use is "respondent". Criminal defendants In a criminal trial, a defendant is a person accused ( charged) of committing an offense (a crime; an act defined as punishable under criminal law). The other party to a criminal trial is usually a public prosecutor, but in some jurisdictions, private prosecutions are allowed. Criminal defendants are often taken into custody by police and brought before a court under an arrest warrant. Criminal defendants are usually obliged to post bail before being released from custody. For serious cases, such as murder, bail may be refused. Defendants must ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgment (law), judgment. Juries developed in England during the Middle Ages and are a hallmark of the English common law system. As such, they are used by the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and other countries whose legal systems were derived from the British Empire. But most other countries use variations of the European Civil law (legal system), civil law or Islamic sharia, sharia law systems, in which juries are not generally used. Most trial juries are "petit juries", and usually consist of twelve people. Historically, a larger jury known as a grand jury was used to investigate potential crimes and render indictments against suspects. All common law countries except the United States and Liberia hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motion To Quash
A motion to quash is a request to a court or other tribunal to render a previous decision or proceeding null or invalid. The exact usage of motions to quash depend on the rules of the particular court or tribunal. In some cases, motions to quash are requests to nullify a decision made by the same or a lower court. It can arise out of mistakes made by any lawyer or court officer. A lawyer may file a motion to quash if a mistake has been made on the part of a court, or if an attorney believes that some court document such as a subpoena was not issued or delivered following the required procedure. For example, a party that receives improper service of process may file a motion to quash. In the context of a court hearing an appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ..., de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling in the case based on their interpretation of the law and their own personal judgment. A judge is expected to conduct the trial impartially and, typically, in an open court. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, the judge's powers may be shared with a jury. In inquisitorial systems of criminal investigation, a judge might also be an examining magistrate. The presiding judge ensures that all court proceedings are lawful and orderly. Powers and functions The ultimate task of a judge is to settle a legal dispute in a final and publicly lawful manner in agreement with substantial p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal trier of fact, finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales, a coroner's findings used to be called verdicts but are, since 2009, called conclusions (see ). Etymology The term "verdict", from the Latin ''veredictum'', literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English ''verdit'', from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman: a compound of ''ver'' ("true", from the Latin ''vērus'') and ''dit'' ("speech", from the Latin ''dictum'', the Grammatical gender, neuter past participle of ''dīcere'', to say). Criminal law In a Criminal law, criminal case, the verdict, which may be either "not guilty" or "guilty"—except in Scotland where the verdict of "not proven" is also available—is handed down by the jury. Different counts in the same case may have different verdicts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Void (law)
In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means "to be treated as invalid from the outset", comes from adding the Latin phrase ''ab initio'' (from the beginning) as a qualifier. For example, in many jurisdictions where a person signs a contract under duress, that contract is treated as being void ''ab initio''. The frequent combination "null and void" is a legal doublet. The term is frequently used in contradistinction to the term "voidable" and "unenforceable". Definitions '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines 'void' as: In the case of a contract, this means there is no legal obligation, therefore there can be no breach of contract since the contract is null, but there may be an implied contract which requires the recipient of goods or services provided to pay their reasonable value. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multiplicity (law)
Multiplicity may refer to: In science and the humanities * Multiplicity (mathematics), the number of times an element is repeated in a multiset * Multiplicity (philosophy), a philosophical concept * Multiplicity (psychology), having or using multiple personalities * Multiplicity (chemistry), multiplicity in quantum chemistry is a function of angular spin momentum * Multiplicity (software), a software application which allows a user to control two or more computers from one mouse and keyboard * Multiplicity, a type of relationship in class diagrams for Unified Modeling Language used in software engineering * Multiplicity (statistical mechanics), the number of microstates corresponding to a particular macrostate in a thermodynamic system A thermodynamic system is a body of matter and/or radiation, confined in space by walls, with defined permeabilities, which separate it from its surroundings. The surroundings may include other thermodynamic systems, or physical systems that ar ... [...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] |
