1-4 Legal System Flashcards
- those rules of civil conduct commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong
- a rule of action prescribed by an authority able to ENFORCE its will
- governmental rule prescribing conduct and carrying a PENALTY for violation
Law
Sum of money a wrongdoer must pay to an injured party
Damages
Those rules of conduct prescribed by government and its agencies in regulating business transaction
Business law
- CUSTOMS which have become recognized by the courts as binding on the community
- non-legislated principles and rules of action predicated upon usages and CUSTOMS
Common law
- CUSTOMS which have become recognized by the courts as binding on the community
- non-legislated principles and rules of action predicated upon usages and CUSTOMS
Common law
- justice system based on FAIRNESS
- provides relief other than merely money damages
Equity
Power to issue CEASE AND DESIST orders
Injunctive powers
Court’s temporary order forbidding an action
Restraining order
- a PERMANENT judicial order or decree forbidding the performance of a certain act
- court’s permanent order forbidding a specific action
Injunction
- any fundamental or important law or edict
- document that contains fundamental principles of a government
Constitution
First 10 amendments of the US Constitution, enacted by the first Congress to protect the civil rights and liberties of citizens and states
Bill of Rights
Law enacted by legislative bodies
Statute
Law enacted by cities
Ordinance
COLLECTION of laws, rules, or regulations
Code
APPELLATE court decisions that ESTABLISH precedented principles
Case law
DECISION of a court which is thereafter followed as an example in subsequent, similar cases
Precedent
PRINCIPLE that the decision of a higher court (should serve as a guide or precedent and) control the decision of a similar case in the future
Stare decisis
Law created by LEGISLATIVE BODIES in contrast to law generated by judicial opinions (case law) and administrative bodies (administrative law)
Statutory law
Law enacted by a local municipal governing body (e.g. zoning, building, safety, etc)
Municipal ordinances
Laws, ordinances, and government regulations setting forth requirements for construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of BUILDINGS
Building code
Laws passed by a municipality by virtue of its police power which regulates and prescribes the kind of buildings, residences, or businesses that shall by built and used in difference parts of the municipality
Zoning ordinance
That body of law created by federal and state administrative agencies to implement their powers and duties in the form of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions
Administrative Law
- a governmental body created by legislation empowered to regulate an industry and issue rules and regulations
- governmental board or commission with authority to regulate matters or implement laws
Administrative agency
Enactments by an administrative body WITHIN the jurisdiction of that agency
Rules and regulations
An agency of federal government created in 1914 to promote free and fair competition by prevention of trade restraints, price fixing, false advertising, and other unfair methods of competition
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- legal proceedings concerned with the rights of public citizens
- body of law dealing with enforcement or protection of private rights
- the body of law concerned with private or purely personal rights
Civil law
- laws dealing with crimes and the punishment of wrongdoers
- law dealing with offenses against society
Criminal law
- an offense which is injurious to society as a whole
- offense against society, the state, or a government
- an action in violation of constitution, statues, or ordinances (e.g. treason, felony, misdemeanor)
- violation of a law
Crime (criminal act)
Government employee who brings criminal actions
Prosecutor (district attorney)
A more serious criminal offense that is punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary for more than one year or by death
Felony
- a criminal offense which is neither treason or a felony
- a less serious criminal offense, generally punishable by fine and/or imprisonment of less than one year
Misdemeanor
An offense that can be either a felony or a misdemeanor
Wobbler
Offense less serious than a misdemeanor
Infraction (violation)
- a private or civil wrongful (other than breach of contract, either intentional or caused by negligence) for which there many be action for damages to be recovered
- a wrongful act committed by one person against another person or their property
Tort
- failure to exercise ordinary, reasonable and prudent, care
- the lack of due care exercised by a wrongdoer who has not acted as a reasonable person would
- a breach of a legal duty to act carefully resulting in injury to another or damage to another’s property
- omission to do something which a reasonable and prudent person would do under ordinary circumstances, or the doing of something which said person would not do
Negligence
The INTENTIONAL failure to perform a manifest duty in RECKLESS DISREGARD of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another
Gross negligence
- improper, negligent professional act, and a breach of contract by a professional person
- failure to perform a professional service with the ability and care generally exercised by others in the profession
Malpractice
- An act showing inherent baseless or vileness of principle or action
- shameless wickedness; depravity
Moral turpitude
- principles that determine the morality of one’s conduct, motives, and duties
- a set of moral principles or values governing individuals or groups
- conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct
Ethics
Authority of a court to hear a case
Jurisdiction
Law allowing a state to have jurisdiction over nonresidents
Long-arm statute
Location where a case is to be tried
Venue
Courts that conducts the original trial of a case and renders its decision
Trial court
- court that reviews the decision of another court, usually of a lower court
- courts hearing cases appealed from a lower court
Appellate court
Federal trial courts with limited jurisdiction, such as the US Tax Court
Special federal court
Trial court of the federal court system
Federal district court
Federal jurisdiction based on parties being from difference states
Diversity jurisdiction
Court that hears appeals in the federal court system
Federal court of appeals
Highest court in the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Order to product record of a case for review by a higher court
Writ of certiorari
A request to a higher court to review a lower court’s decision
Appeal
Trial court that hears only cases involving minor offenses and personal disputes
Inferior court
Court of record in which a criminal or civil case is first tried
Court of original general jurisdiction
Court in which an official record of the proceedings is kept
Court of record
Intermediate appellate court
State courts of appeals
Highest court in most states
State Supreme Court
A court having jurisdiction over individuals’ estates and proves authenticity of testator’s will
Probate court
Court with jurisdiction over cases involving delinquent, dependent, and neglected children
Juvenile court
Court that handles divorce and related cases
Domestic relations court
Chief officer of a court
Judge
Chief officer of an INFERIOR court
(2 names)
Justice of the peace
Magistrate
Court officer overseeing disposition of a case
Trial justice
Executive officer of a Court of record
Sheriff
Executive officer of a federal court
Marshal
Person licensed to represent others in court
Attorney (lawyer)
Law specifying how actions are filed and what trial procedure to follow
Procedural law
The individual who initiates a civil action / brings action in a court
Plaintiff
Person against who legal action is brought / is filed
Defendant
- written request which initiates a civil lawsuit
-written request to a court to settle a dispute
(2 names)
Complaint (petition)
- notice of suit
- notice of complaint given to a defendant, attaching the complaint and stating a time frame in which a response or answer must be filed, or an appearance made, and which serves the purpose of conferring personal jurisdiction over the defendant
(2 names)
Summons (process)
- written response by defendant to a complaint’s charges
- an official document detailing a defendant’s defense
(2 names)
Answer (motion)
- pre-trial steps taken to learn the details of the case
- means of obtaining unprivileged information from the other party before a trial
Discovery
To take into police custody
Arrest
Administrative steps taken after an arrested person is brought to a police station, which involves entry of the person’s name, the crime for which the arrest was made, and other relevant facts of the police “blotter,” and which may also include photographing, fingerprinting and the like
Booking
Charging a person with a crime and asking for that person’s plea
Arraignment
Fact acknowledged in a course of legal proceeding
Judicial admission
A decision of a court of law
Judgment
The carrying out or completion of some task
Execution
Person whose action causes injury
Tortfeasor
Negligence of the injured party
Contributory negligence
Contributory negligence that reduces but does not bar recovery
Comparative negligence
Tort caused by or involving a business
Business tort
Responsibility for wrongful acts or other debts
Liability
Manufacturer of product liable without proof of negligence for dangerous product
Strict liability
False statements of fact that degrades quality of another’s goods or services
(3 names)
Injurious falsehood
Commercial disparagement
Trade libel
Telling something to a third person
Communication
Representing goods or services as being those of another
Confusion of source
Word, symbol, devise, or combination of them used to identify and distinguish goods from other goods
Trademark
Special meaning of a mark that distinguishes goods, in such a way as to warrant trademark protection
Secondary meaning
Unauthorized use or imitation of another’s mark or name
Trademark or trade name infringement
Lessening the capacity of a famous mark to identify and distinguish goods
Trademark or trade name dilution
Total impression of product results in confusion as to product’s origin
Unfair competition
Crimes against a business or committed by using a business
Business crime
Act of taking another’s property without consent
Theft
The FORCIBLE BREAKING AND ENTERING of premises closed for business with the subsequent removal of cash or merchandise
Burglary
Taking unpurchased goods from a store
Shoplifting
Fraudulent APPROPRIATION of property by a person to whom it has been ENTRUSTED
Embezzlement
Taking and carrying property away without consent of the person in possession of the property
Larceny
Crime that is committed with the aid of computers or because computers are involved
Computer crime
Unauthorized use of, or access to, a computer
Computer trespass
Unauthorized outsider who gains access to another’s computer system
Hacker
Set of software instructions that produces abnormal computer behavior
Rogue program
Software copied illegally
Pirated software
Device that permits sending anonymous e-mail messages and software without the recipient knowing the source of the communication
Anonymous remailer
Having to PAY BACK profits received illegally
Disgorgement of profits
Prohibition on doing business with government
Debarment
- the intentional or reckless false statement of a material fact, upon which the injured party relied, which induced the injured party to enter into a contract, to his or her detriment
- inducing another to contract as a result of an intentional or recklessly false statement of a material fact
Fraud
Federal agency that enforces economic and trade sanctions
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
Enacting administrative rules by publishing the proposed rule and then the final rule without holding formal hearings
Notice and comment rulemaking
Statutes that seek to promote competition among businesses
Antitrust law
FEDERAL LEGISLATION intended to promote competition among businesses by prohibiting restraint of trade
Sherman Antitrust Act
Activities deemed illegal regardless of their effect
Per se violation
A governmental agency with environmental protection regulatory and enforcement authority
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
