Unit 1 Flashcards
Adversarial system
The judicial process whereby evidence is presented by two opposing parties to an impartial judge or jury.
Assizes
Travelling courts
Case law
A method of deciding cases based on recorded decisions of similar cases.
Common law
Law that developed in English courts; relies on case law and is common to all people.
Circuit judges
Judges of travelling courts.
Code of Hammurabi
One of the earliest-known sets of recorded law, written by King Hammurabi of Babylon.
Code of Li K’vei
A set of Chinese laws written around 350 BCE.
Codified
Arranged and recoded systematically.
Divine right
The concept that monarchs and their successors derived their power to rule from God and were accountable only to God.
Great laws of Manu
Indian laws complied between 1280 and 880 BCE, previously transferred through oral tradition.
Habeas Corpus
A court order designed to prevent unlawful arrest by ensuring that anyone detained is charged before a court within a reasonable amount of life.
Justinian’s Code
The clarification and organization of Roman law commissioned by Justinian I.
Magna Carta
A charter of political and civil rights signed in 1215 at Runnymede in England.
Mosaic Law
Biblical or Hebrew law found in the Book of Exodus.
Ten Commandments
Laws given to Moses to guide the Hebrew people.
Napoleonic Code
The civil law of France completed in 1804 (also called the French Civil Code).
Quebec Civil Code
The system of law used in Quebec for resolving private matters.
Restitution
Payment made by the offender to the victim of a crime.
Retribution
Justice based on vengeance and punishment.
Rule of Law
A principle of justice stating that the law is necessary to regulate society, that law applies equally to everyone, and that people are not governed by arbitrary power.
Rule of precedent
Applying a previous decision to a case that has similar circumstances.
Stare decisis
A Latin phrase meaning “to stand by the decision”.
The Great Binding Law (Gaynashagowa)
The Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Trial by combat
Determining guilt or innocence by having the parties fight a duel.
