Legal System Vocab

Question 1

Act

Answer 1

Act; specific piece of legislation passed by a legislative body, such as Parliament or Congress.

An Act of Parliament is divided into parts, sections, sub-sections, paragraphs and at the end are the schedules

Question 2

ADR

Answer 2

ADR; these initials stand for alternative dispute resolution. This includes mediation, conciliation and arbitration

Question 3

Alternative Business Structure (ABS)

Answer 3

Alternative Business Structure (ABS); since 2012 a new form of licensed business in the United Kingdom which is allowed to provide legal and other services. It enables consumers to obtain services from one business entity that brings together lawyers and non-lawyers.
For example, an ABS could provide insurance, mortgage and estate agency services, as well as property conveyancing. The ABS can be owned wholly or partly by non-lawyers.

Question 4

Arbitration

Answer 4

Arbitration; a form of alternative dispute resolution where a third party, acting as an arbitrator, delivers an opinion that is binding on the parties.

Question 5

Attorney-at-law

Answer 5

Attorney-at-law; usually referred to simply as an attorney. An attorney is a legal professional in the United States with the right to practice law in the state for which he has been admitted to the Bar

Question 6

Attorney General

Answer 6

Attorney General; in England he is a legal adviser to the Crown. The Attorney General has political duties that include advising government departments.
In the United States there is also an Attorney General. He is the head of legal affairs in a state or in the federal government

Question 7

Bar

Answer 7

Bar; the collective name for barristers/attorneys in independent practice

Question 8

Barrister

Answer 8

Barrister; a legal professional in the English legal system with a right of audience before all courts. As well as acting as an advocate, a barrister may also be a specialist in a certain area of law

Question 9

Beneficiary

Answer 9

Beneficiary; one who benefits from a trust and who has an equitable interest in the trust property

Question 10

Bill

Answer 10

Bill; an Act of Parliament is called a bill before it has been formally approved

Question 11

Binding

Answer 11

Binding; if a decision is binding, it must be followed. For example, precedents set by a higher court must be followed by lower courts

Question 12

Brief

Answer 12

Brief; in the English system this refers to the written instructions sent by a solicitor to a barrister, briefing him about a case. In the United States, it is used to indicate a written statement setting out the legal contentions of a party in litigation, especially on appeal

Question 13

Canon law

Answer 13

Canon law; also referred to as ecclesiastical law. This is the law of the church.

Question 14

Case law

Answer 14

Case law; refers to the decisions made by judges applying legal principles from legislation and binding precedent (see doctrine of binding precedent) to the circumstances of the particular disputes before them

Question 15

Certiorari

Answer 15

Certiorari; this order usually transfers a case from an appeal court, and in certain special cases from a trial court, to the US Supreme Court for judicial review

Question 16

Challenge

Answer 16

Challenge; potential members of a jury can be challenged, either for a reason that is stated before the court or for no reason. This is a way of excluding potential jurors from a jury.

Question 17

Chambers

Answer 17

Chambers: accommodation for a group of barristers. Barristers in chambers are self-employed and group together only to share facilities and staff. It would therefore be wrong to refer to a firm of barristers.

Question 18

Civil law

Answer 18

Civil law: this term has two meanings. It can be used in the sense of the law concerned with private rights rather than public law. The term may also be used to describe a legal system. Unlike the common law system, a civil law system has its roots in Roman law and is a codified system.

Question 19

Clerk

Answer 19

Clerk: the English legal system knows various types of legal clerks, for example, lay magistrates are assisted by a magistrate’s clerk. The clerk in barristers’ chambers, often now referred to as the practice manager, acts as a business manager for the barristers of that chamber.

Question 20

Coded systems

Answer 20

Coded systems: systems where the codification of the law has taken place, i.e., the laws of the land have been compiled to form a systematic, formal legal code.

Question 21

Common law

Answer 21

Common law: as a system of law it originated in medieval England and was later applied in former British colonies, including the United States. Common law is based on judicial precedent arising from cases rather than law based on codes or other forms of legislative enactments. Hence the term common law is also used to refer to case law rather than statute law.

Question 22

Competence

Answer 22

Competence: a court has the competence to hear a case if it has jurisdiction over the person or property at issue in that case.

Question 23

Conciliation

Answer 23

Conciliation: alternative form of dispute resolution where a third party, acting as a conciliator, offers the parties a non-binding opinion.

Question 24

Concur

Answer 24

Concur: verb used to indicate that judges in a case agree with the majority conclusion. The reasons for reaching that conclusion, however, may vary.

Question 25

Congress

Answer 25

Congress: the federal legislative body of the United States. It consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Question 26

Conveyancing

Answer 26

Conveyancing: drawing up legal documents to transfer the ownership of property from seller to buyer; in general, the law and procedure with respect to the purchase and sale of property.

Question 27

Coroner’s Court

Answer 27

Coroner’s Court: holds an inquest where death appears to be violent, unnatural or sudden and the cause is unknown.

Question 28

Counsel

Answer 28

Counsel: when representing a party in court, a barrister is referred to as counsel and an attorney as counsel or counsellor

Question 29

County Court

Answer 29

County Court: in the English system it hears civil cases. The name ‘county court’ may also be found in the court systems of several states in the United States, where it has a limited jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases.

Question 30

Court of Appeal

Answer 30

Court of Appeal: this is an appellate court to be found in many common law jurisdictions hearing appeals from lower courts.

Question 31

Court of first instance

Answer 31

Court of first instance: this term can be used to describe a court in which proceedings are initiated

Question 32

Court of Justice

Answer 32

Court of Justice: is part of the Court of Justice of the European Union and is the senior court in the European Union legal order. It is this European court, not the national courts of the Member States of the European Union, which has the competence to make decisions regarding European Union law

Question 33

Crown Court

Answer 33

Crown Court: this is a court in the English court system that hears primarily criminal cases

Question 34

Custom

Answer 34

Custom: this is unwritten law that is legally valid if a practice can be shown to have been continuously in operation since time immemorial.

Question 35

Discretionary

Answer 35

Discretionary: where a remedy is not available by right but depends upon the consideration of the court.

Question 36

Dissent

Answer 36

Dissent: where a judge disagrees with the majority opinion in a case. A dissenting judgment is classed as obiter dicta.

Question 37

Distinguish

Answer 37

Distinguish: if a case is distinguished, a judge finds a precedent laid down in a previous case not binding on the case before him because the material/key facts in the present case differ from those of the previous case.

Question 38

District courts

Answer 38

District courts: these are the trial courts of the American federal court system

Question 39

Doctrine of binding precedent

Answer 39

Doctrine of binding precedent: the precedent laid down in a prior case of a similar nature must be followed. The Latin term for the doctrine of binding precedent is stare decisis.

Question 40

Doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 40

Doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty: all legislative power in England is vested in Parliament or is derived from the authority of Parliament, Parliament being the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Crown. Parliament has the right to make any laws it wishes to make, although these laws are in practice bound by certain constitutional documents, norms and conventions, and must now be in keeping with European Union law.

Question 41

Draft

Answer 41

Draft: when a legal document, such as a contract, is being drawn up, the preliminary version (or versions) of the document is referred to as a draft. The draft may be subject to amendments before it is accepted as the final version

Question 42

Employment Tribunal

Answer 42

Employment Tribunal: tribunal in the English system with the jurisdiction to hear almost all individual disputes based on statutory employment law claims and common law contract claims up to a set maximum.

Question 43

Equitable title

Answer 43

Equitable title: under the principles of law developed by the court of equity, one piece of property could be subject to two sorts of interest: a legal interest and an equitable interest. The legal owner of the property holds the legal title, which was protected by the common law. The one with the equitable interest holds an equitable title, which was protected by the chancellor in the court of equity. The person holding the equitable title is the one intended to benefit from the property, even though that person is not the legal owner. There are no longer separate common law courts and equity courts, as these courts have fused. An equitable title is still protected in law against all but the bona fide purchaser without notice.

Question 44

Equity

Answer 44

Equity: historically, equity developed as a separate system of law in England, as the common law was too rigid. The court of equity developed its own principles of fairness and its own legal remedies. Now all courts may apply principles of equity alongside those of the common law

Question 45

Federal courts

Answer 45

Federal courts: the courts of the United States as distinguished from the courts of the individual states. Federal courts hear cases that involve disputes or issues governed by federal law or the US Constitution, or disputes involving citizens from different states.

Question 46

Forum shopping

Answer 46

Forum shopping: where more than one court has the competence to hear a case and parties wish to select the forum that would be most favourable for their case.

Question 47

High Court

Answer 47

High Court: a superior court in the English court system

Question 48

House of Lords

Answer 48

House of Lords: until 2009, the House of Lords as a court heard appeals in both civil and criminal cases where the matter was of public importance. However, the House of Lords as a court has now disappeared, having been replaced by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Question 49

Inferior

Answer 49

Inferior: an adjective used to describe a lower court. It does not mean that the quality of the court is poor. It simply means a court of lower jurisdiction

Question 50

Judicial review

Answer 50

Judicial review: an examination by judges of a higher court. This examination may be of either a decision made in an inferior court or decisions made by public authorities that affect the rights of individuals. In the US Supreme Court, judges may reject any legislation, whether state or federal, that is not in keeping with the US Constitution. Judges in the English system were never allowed to reject parliamentary legislation, as only Parliament could revoke one of its own acts. However, since becoming a member of the European Union, English judges are allowed to review whether parliamentary legislation is in keeping with European Union law.

Question 51

Jurisdiction

Answer 51

Jurisdiction: the legal power to hear and decide a case. If the court does not have the jurisdiction to hear a case, its decision will be void.

Question 52

Jurisprudence

Answer 52

Jurisprudence: the study or philosophy of law. In the United States it is also used in the sense of case law rather than statute law.

Question 53

Juror

Answer 53

Juror: a member of a jury

Question 54

Jury

Answer 54

Jury: a cross-section of the public called upon to hear a case. In England, a trial jury consists of twelve persons. In the United States, there are two sorts of juries. The trial jury (petit jury) consists of six to twelve persons. It hears criminal and civil cases. The grand jury has up to twenty-three persons. It hears criminal cases. The task of the grand jury is to see whether the accusations should result in an indictment being filed (the indictment sets out the charges against the accused). This depends upon whether there is enough evidence against the accused to bring a criminal prosecution

Question 55

Jury vetting

Answer 55

Jury vetting: procedure by which members of the public are selected in court for jury service in England. In the United States, the counsels for the defence/prosecution have far more opportunities to challenge potential members of the jury than in England. This procedure is commonly termed voir dire in the United States.

Question 56

Legal certainty

Answer 56

Legal certainty: to protect the expectations of individuals by ensuring that laws are applied consistently and predictably.

Question 57

Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDP)

Answer 57

Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDP): a new form of providing licensed legal services in the United Kingdom, as the business is conducted both by different kinds of lawyers and non-lawyers. Those working for an LDP could, for example, include solicitors, licensed conveyors, legal executives and patent and trademark agents. The Bar Stan dards Board has given its approval for barristers to supply legal services through LDPs. There can be no external ownership of an LDP.

Question 58

Legal executive

Answer 58

Legal executive: in England a legal executive is trained by the Institute of Legal Executives. Legal executives train under the supervision of a solicitor, the solicitor being referred to as the principal in this context. A fully qualified legal executive in the English system may perform many of the tasks of a solicitor. Legal executives do not have independent practice rights, but they may become partners or managers in LDPs (see Legal Disciplinary Practices). The term paralegal is also used in this context.

Question 59

Legal remedy

Answer 59

Legal remedy: means provided by the law to redress the harm suffered by one party because another party has acted contrary to the rules of law

Question 60

Legislation

Answer 60

Legislation: written laws passed by a legislative body, for example, the Parliament in England and the Congress in the United States

Question 61

Litigation

Answer 61

Litigation: where a party, known as a litigant, brings an action (a lawsuit)

Question 62

Magistrate

Answer 62

Magistrate: term given to an inferior judicial officer both in England and the United States. In the English court system, magistrates are often lay people. Professional, legally qualified magistrates in the English system are called district judges

Question 63

Magistrates’ Court

Answer 63

Magistrates’ Court: in the English court system this is an inferior court primarily for criminal cases. All criminal cases start in the Magistrates’ Courts. It hears summary offences and triable either way offences. More serious crimes are sent from the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court.

Question 64

Material

Answer 64

Material: used generally to denote something of importance in a case, for example, material fact or a material witness. The word key may also be used in this context

Question 65

Mediation

Answer 65

Mediation: alternative form of dispute resolution where a third party, acting as a mediator, helps the parties in a dispute to reach an agreement

Question 66

Notary

Answer 66

Notary: in the civil law system a notary is a trained lawyer who specialises in drafting and authenticating legal documents, and retains legal instruments. Inthe United States, on the other hand, a notary need not be a trained lawyer and the notary’s function is limited to administering oaths, affirmations and witnessing the signing of documents

Question 67

Obiter dicta

Answer 67

Obiter dicta: plural of obiter dictum, meaning passing or incidental statements in a judicial opinion that do not form part of the ratio decidendi or binding element in a case.

Question 68

Overrule

Answer 68

Overrule: a court reaches the decision that a precedent laid down in a different case no longer has precedential value.

Question 69

Persuasive

Answer 69

Persuasive: if the authority is persuasive rather than binding, the judge is not obliged to follow it, but it should be of importance in reaching a judgment.

Question 70

Pre-emption

Answer 70

Pre-emption: where one system of law takes precedence over another. In the United States, federal legislation is superior to state legislation and will pre-empt state legislation where there is a conflict. In Europe, the law of the European Union is said to override that of the national law of the Member States on matters within its competence.

Question 71

Probate

Answer 71

Probate: legal acceptance that a document usually associated with the administration of estates, such as a will, is valid

Question 72

Ratio decidendi

Answer 72

Ratio decidendi: the reason for the decision. This is the part of the judgment in which legal principles are applied to the facts of the particular case before the court. It is this part of the judgment that forms the precedent. In the United States this may also be referred to as a holding

Question 73

Reverse

Answer 73

Reverse: when a higher court hearing a case on appeal from a lower court reaches the opposite judgment to that of the lower court.

Question 74

Revoke

Answer 74

Revoke: to cancel or annul, for example, to annul previous legislation

Question 75

Right of audience

Answer 75

Right of audience: the right to appear and conduct proceedings in a court

Question 76

Senior Courts

Answer 76

Senior Courts: since the coming into operation of the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Crown Court are now known together as the ‘Senior Courts of England and Wales’

Question 77

Settlor

Answer 77

Settlor: also referred to as a trustor or donor. This is the person who settles his property on someone, in particular to set up a trust

Question 78

Solicitor

Answer 78

Solicitor: is a legal professional within the English system. A solicitor has four main areas of competence: conveyancing, probate, drafting company and commercial contracts and the preparation of litigation. Unless he has an advocacy certificate, his right to be heard in court is in general limited to the lower courts. A solicitor who has an advocacy certificate is known as a solicitor advocate

Question 79

State courts

Answer 79

State courts: this is the term given to the courts in the individual states of the United States as opposed to the courts in the federal system.

Question 80

Statute

Answer 80

Statute: a form of written law, such as an Act of Parliament, passed by a legislative body.

Question 81

Statutory instrument

Answer 81

Statutory instrument: subordinate legislation, usually made by a minister, under the authority granted by an act of Parliament

Question 82

Superior

Answer 82

Superior: this adjective is applied to courts to indicate courts of higher jurisdiction. Precedents set in the superior courts must be followed by the lower courts

Question 83

Supreme Court

Answer 83

Supreme Court: for centuries, the highest court of appeal in the United Kingdom was the House of Lords. However, since 2009, the House of Lords, in its committee capacity as an appellate court, has been replaced by a new Supreme Court. In the United States, the term Supreme Court refers either to the US Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the federal system, or it is often used to refer to the highest appellate court in a state

Question 84

Trust

Answer 84

Trust: property, either real or personal, that is held by one party for the benefit of another party. Property held in trust comprises two interests: a legal interest and an equitable interest. The legal interest is held by the trustee and the equitable interest is held by the beneficiary

Question 85

Trustee

Answer 85

Trustee: person who holds the legal title to property which is administered for the benefit of someone else

Question 86

US Bankruptcy Court

Answer 86

US Bankruptcy Court: only the federal courts may hear bankruptcy cases

Question 87

US Court of Federal Claims

Answer 87

US Court of Federal Claims: a federal court hearing claims against the United States for such matters as monetary claims against the US and disputes concerning federal contracts

Question 88

US Court of International Trade

Answer 88

US Court of International Trade: specialises in cases involving international trade

Question 89

US Supreme Court

Answer 89

US Supreme Court: this is the top court in the federal court system of the United States

Question 90

US Tax Court

Answer 90

US Tax Court: a federal court hearing tax cases

Question 91

Voir dire

Answer 91

Voir dire: see jury vetting Jury vetting: procedure by which members of the public are selected in court for jury service in England. In the United States, the counsels for the defence/prosecution have far more opportunities to challenge potential members of the jury than in England. This procedure is commonly termed voir dire in the United States