Legal Term Dictionary

1. That which is laid down, ordained, or established. A rule or method according to which phenomena or actions coexist or follow each other. 2. A system of principles and rules of human conduct being the aggregate of those commandments and principles which are either prescribed or recognized by the More...

1. That which is laid down, ordained, or established. A rule or method according to which phenomena or actions coexist or follow each other. 2. A system of principles and rules of human conduct being the aggregate of those commandments and principles which are either prescribed or recognized by the governing power in an organized jural society as its will in relation to the conduct of the members of such society, and which it undertakes to maintain and sanction and to use as the criteria of the actions of such members. "Law" is a solemn expression of legislative will. It orders and permits and forbids. It announces rewards and punishments. Its provisions generally relate not to solitary or singular cases, but to what passes in the ordinary course of affairs. Civ. Code La. arts. 1, 2. "Law," without an article, properly implies a science or system of principles or rules of human conduct, answering to the Latin "jus" as when it is spoken of as a subject of study or practice. In this sense, it includes the decisions of courts of justice, as well as acts of the legislature. The judgment of a competent court, until reversed or otherwise superseded, is law, as much as any statute. Indeed, it may happen that a statute may be passed in violation of laic, that is, of the fundamental law or constitution of a state; that it is thu prerogative of courts in such cases to declare it void, or, in other words, to declare it not to be law. Burrill. 3. A rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state. 1 Steph. Comm. 25; Civ. Code Dak. ft 2; Pol. Code Cal. ft 4466." A "law," in the proper sense of the term, is a general rule of human action, taking cognizance only of external acts, enforced by a determinate authority, which authority is human, and among human authorities is that which is paramount In a political society. Holl. Jur. 36. A "law," properly so called, is a command which obliges a person or persons; and, as distinguished from a particular or occasional command, obliges generally to acts or forbearances of a class. Aust Jur. A rule or enactment promulgated by the legislative authority of a state; a long-established local custom which has the force x>f such an enactment. Dubois v. Hepburn, 10 Pet 18, 9 L. Ed. 325. 4. In another sense the word signifies an enactment; a distinct and complete act of "positive law; a statute, as opposed to rules Of civil conduct deduced from the customs of the people or judicial precedents. When the term "law" is used to denote enactments of the legislative power, it is frequently confined, especially by English writers, to permanent rules of civil conduct, as distinguished from other acts, such as a divorce act, an appropriation bill, an estates act. Rep Eng. St. L. Com. Mar. 1856. For other definitions and descriptions, see State v. McCann, 4 Lea (Tenn.) 9; State v. Hockett, 70 Iowa, 454, 30 N. W. 744; Duncan v. Magette, 25 Tex. 253; Baldwin v. Philadelphia, 99 Pa. 170; State v. Fry, 4 Mo. 189; Forepaugh v. Railroad Co., 128 Pa. 217, 18 Atl. 503, 5 L. R. A. 508, 15 Am. ,St. Rep. 072; State v. Swan, 1 N. D. 5, 44 N. W. 492; Smith v. U. S., 22 Fed. Cas. 606; Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet 1, 10 L. Ed. 865; Miller v. Dunn, 72 Cal. 462, 14 Pac. 27, 1 Am. St. Rep. 67; Bier v. McGehee, 148 U. S. 137, 13 Sup, Ct. 580, 37 L. Ed. 397. Historically considered. With reference to its origin, "law" is derived either from judicial precedents, from legislation, or from custom. That part of the law which Is derived from judicial precedents is called "common law," "equity," or "admiralty," "probate," or "ecclesiastical law," according to the nature of the courts by which it was originally enforced. (See the respective titles.) That part of the law which is derived from legislation is called the "statute law." Many statutes are classed under one of the divisions above mentioned because they have merely modified or extended portions of it, while others have created altogether new rules. That part of the law which is derived from custom is sometimes called the "customary law," as to which, see CUSTOM. Sweet. The earliest notion of law was not an enumeration of a principle, but a judgment in a particular case. When pronounced in the early ages, by a king, it was assumed to be the result of direct divine inspiration. Afterwards came the notion of a custom which a judgment affirms, or punishes its breach. In the outset, however, the only authoritative statement of ht and wrong is a judicial sentence render-after the fact has occurred. It does not presuppose a law to have been violated, but is enacted for the first time by a higher form into the judge's mind at the moment of adjudication. Maine, Anc Law, (Dwight's Ed.) pp. xv, 5. ^Synonyms and distinctions. According to the usage in the United States, the name "constitution" is commonly given to the organic or fundamental law of a state, and the term "law* is used In contradistinction to the former, to denote a statute or enactment of the legislative body. "Law," as distinguished from "equity," denotes the doctrine and procedure of the common law of England and America, from which equity is a departure. The term Is also used in opposition to o.fact" Thus questions of law are to be decided by the court, while it Is the province of the jury to solve questions of fact. Classification. With reference to its subject-matter, law is either public or private. Public law is that part of the law which deals with the state, either by itself or in its relations with individuals, and Is divided into (1) constitutional law; (2) administrative law; (3) criminal law; (4) criminal procedure; (5) the law of the state considered in its quasi private personality; (0) the procedure relating to the state as so considered. Holl. Jur. 300. Law is also divided into substantive and adjective. Substantive law is that part of the law which creates rights and obligations, while adjective law provides a method of enforcing and protecting them. In other words, adjective law is the law of procedure. Holl. Jur. 61, 238. The ordinary, but not very useful, division of law into written and unwritten rests on the same principle. The written law Is the statute law; the unwritten law is the common law, (q. v.) 1 Steph. Comm. 40, following Blackstone. Kinds of statutes. Statutes are called "general" or "public" when they affect the community at large; and local or special when their operation is confined to a limited region, or particular class or interest statutes are also either prospective or retrospective; the former, when they are intended to operate upon future cases only; the latter, when they may also embrace transactions occurring before their passage. Statutes are called "enabling" when they confer new powers; "remedial" when their effect is to provide relief or reform abuses; "penal" when they Impose punishment, pecuniary or corporal, for a violation of their provisions. 5. In old English jurisprudence, "law" is used to signify an oath, or the privilege of being sworn; as in the phrases "to wage one's law," "to lose one's law." -Absolute law. The true and proper law of nature, immutable 'in the abstract or in principle, in theory, but not in application; for very often the object, the reason, situation, and other circumstances, may vary its exercise and obligation. 1 Steph. Comm. 21 et seq.-Foreign laws. The laws of a foreign country, or of a sister state. People v. Martin. 38 Misc. Rep. 67, 76 N. Y. Supp. 953: Bank of Chillicothe v. Dodge, 8 Barb. (N. Y.) 233. Foreign laws are often the suggesting occasions of changes in, or additions to. our own laws, and in that respect are called "jus receptum." Brown.-General law. A general law as contradistinguished from one that is special or local, is a law that embraces a class of subjects or places, and does not omit any subject or place naturally belonging to such class. Van Riper v. Parsons, 40 N. J. Law, 1: Ma this v. Jones. 84 Ga. 804. 11 S. E. 1018; Brooks v. Hyde, 37 Cal. 376; Arms v. Ayer. 192 111. 601, 61 N. E. 851, 58 L. R. A. 277, 85 Am. St Rep. 357: State v. Davis, 55 Ohio St. 15, 44 N. E. 511. A law, framed in general terms, restricted to no locality, and operating equally upon all of a group of objects, which, having regard to the purposes of the legislation, are distinguished y characteristics sufficiently marked and important to make them a class by themselves, is not a special or local law, but a general law. Van Riper v. Parsons, 40 N. J. Law, 123, 21 Am. Rep. 210. A special law is one relating to particular persons or things; one made for individual cases or for particular places or districts; one operating upon a selected class, rather than upon the public generally. Ewing v. Hoblitselle, &5 Ma 78: State v. Irwin, 5 Nev. 120: Sargent v. Union School Dist., 63 N. H. 528. 2 Atl. 641; Earle v. Board of Education, 55 Cal. 489; Dundee Mortgage, etc.. Co. v. School Dist. (C. C.) 21 Fed. 158.-Law agents. Solicitors practicing in the Scotch courts.-Law arbitrary. Opposed to immutable, a law not founded in the nature of things, but imposed by the mere will of the legislature. -Law burrows. In Scotch law. Security for the peaceable behavior of a party; security to keep the peace. Properly, a process for obtaining such security. 1 Forb. Inst. pt. 2, p. 198.-Law charges. This phrase is used, under the Louisiana Civil Code, to signify costs incurred in court in the prosecution of a suit, to be paid by the party cast. Rousseau v. His Creditors. 17 La. 206: Barkley v. His Creditors, 11 Rob. (La.) 28.-Law oonrt of appeals. In American law. An appellate tribunal, formerly existing in the state of South Carolina, for hearing appeals from the courts of law.-Law day. See DAY.-Law French. The Norman French language, introduced into England by William the Conqueror, and which, for several centuries, was, in an emphatic sense, the language of the English law, being that in which the proceedings of the courts and of parliament were carried on, and in which many of the ancient statutes, reports, abridgments, and treatises were written and printed. It is called by Blackstone a "barbarous dialect," and the later specimens of it fully warrant the appellation, but at the time of its introduction it was, as has been observed, the best form of the language spoken in Normandy. Burrill.-Law Latin. The corrupt form of the Latin language employed in the old English law-books and legal proceedings. It contained many barbarous words and combinations.-Law list. An annual English publication of a quasi official character, comprising various statistics of interest in connection with the legal profession. It includes (among other information) the following matters: A list of judges, queen's counsel, and serjeants at law; the judges of the county courts; benchers of the inns of court; barristers, in alphabetical order; the names of ocounsel practicing in the several circuits of England and Wales; London attorneys: country attorneys; officers of .the courts of chancery and common law; the magistrates and law officers of the city of London; the metropolitan magistrates and police; recorders; county court officers and circuits; lord lieutenants and sheriffs; colonial judges and officers; public notaries. Mozley & Whitley.-Law lords. Peers in the British parliament who have held high judicial office, or have been distinguished in the legal profession. Mozley A Whitley.- Law martiaL See MARTIAL LAW.-Law merchant. See MERCANTILE LAW.-Law of nations. See INTERNATIONAL LAW.-Law of nature. See NATURAL LAW.-Law of arms. That law which gives precepts and rules concerning war; how to make and observe leagues and truce, to punish offenders in the camp, and such like. Cowell; Blount. Now more commonly called the "law of war" -Law of citations. In Roman law. An act of Valentinian, passed A. D. 426, providing that the writings of only five jurists, vis.. Pa-pinian, Paul, Gaius, Ulpian, and Modestinus, should be quoted as authorities. The majority was binding on the judge. If they were equally divided the opinion of Papinian was to prevail; and in such a case, if Papinian was silent upon the matter, then the judge was free to follow his own view of the matter. Brown. -Law of evidence. The aggregate of rules and principles regulating the admissibility, relevancy, and weight and sufficiency of evidence in legal proceedings. See Bellinger's Ann. Codes & St Or. 1001. fi 678.-Law of marque. A sort of law of reprisal, which entitles him who has received any wrong from another and cannot get ordinary justice to take the shipping or goods of the wrong-doer, where he can find them within his own bounds or precincts, in satisfaction of the wrong. Cowell ; Brown.-Laws of Oleron. See OLERON, LAWS OF.-Law of the case. 4 ruling or decision once made in a particular case by an appellate court, while it may be overruled in other cases, is binding and conclusive both upon the inferior court in any further steps or proceedings in the same litigation and upon the appellate court itself in any subsequent appeal or other proceeding for review. A ruling or decision so made is said to be "the law of the case." See Hastings v. Foxworthy, 45 Neb. 676, 63 N. W. 955, 34 L. R. A. 321; Standard Sewing Mach. Co. v. Leslie, 118 Fed. 559. 55 C. C. A. 323; McKinney v. State, 117 Ind. 26, 19 N. E. 613; Wilson v. Binford. 81 Ind. 591.-Law of the flag. In maritime law. The law of that nation or country whose flag is flown by a particular vessel. A shipowner who sends his vessel into a foreign port gives notice by his flag to all who enter into contracts with the master that he intends the law of that flag to regulate such contracts, and that they must either submit to its operation or not contract with him. Ruhstrat v. People, 185 111. 133, 57 N. E. 41. 49 L. R. A. 181, 76 Am. St. Rep. 30.-Law of the land. Due process of law, (q. v.) By the law of the land is most clearly intended the general law which hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only after trial. The meaning is that every citizen shall hold his life, liberty, property, and immunities under the protection of general rules which govern society. Everything which may pass under the form of an enactment is not the law of the land. Sedg. St. A Const Law, (2d Ed.) 475. When first used in Magna Charta, the phrase "the law of the land" probably meant the established law of the kingdom, in opposition to the civil or Roman, law, which was about being introduced. It is now generally regarded as meaning general public laws binding on all members of the community, in contradistinction from partial or private laws. Janes v. Reynolds, 2 Tex. 251; State v. Burnett, 6 Heisk. (Tenn.) 186. It means due process of law warranted by the constitution, by the common law adopted by the constitution, or by statutes passed in pursuance of the constitution. Mayo v. Wilson. 1 N. H. 53.-Law of the road. A general custom in America (made obligatory by statute in some states) for pedestrians and vehicles, when meeting in a street or road, to turn to the right in order to avoid danger of collision. See Riepe v. Siting, 89 Iowa, 82, 56 N. W. 285, 26 L. R. A. 769. 48 Am. St. Rep. 356; Wright v. Flelsch-man, 41 Misc. Rep. 533, 85 N. Y. Supp, 62: Decatur v. Stoops, 21 Ind. App. 397, 52 N. B. Law of tne staple. Law administered in the court of the mayor of the staple; the law-merchant 4 Inst. 235. See STAPLE.- Laws of war. This term denotes a branch ox public international law, and comprises the body of rules and principles observed by civilised nations for the regulation of matters inherent in, or Incidental to, the conduct of a public war; such, for example, as the relations of neutrals and belligerents, blockades, captures, prizes, truces and armistices, capitulations, prisoners, and declarations of war and peace.-Laws of Wisby. See WISPY, LAWS OF.-Law reports. Published volumes containing the reports of cases argued and adjudged in the courts of law.-Law spiritual. The ecclesiastical law, or law Christian. Co. Litt 344.-Law worthy. Being entitled to, or having the benefit and protection of, the law.- Local law. A law which, instead of relating to and binding all persons, corporations, or institutions to which it may be applicable, within the whole territorial jurisdiction of the lawmaking power, is limited in its operation to certain districts of such territory or to certain individual persons or corporations. See GENERAL LAW.-Personal law, as opposed to territorial law, is the law applicable to persons not subject to the law of the territory in which they reside. It is only by permission of the territorial law that personal law can exist at the present day; e. p., it applies to British subjects resident in the Levant and in other Mohammedan and barbarous countries. Under the Roman Empire, it had a very wide application. Brown. As to the different kinds of law, or law regarded In its different aspects, see ADJECTIVE LAW; ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; BANKRUPTCY LAW; CANON LAW; CASE LAW; CIVIL LAW; COMMERCIAL LAW; COMMON LAW; CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; CRIMINAL LAW; FOREST LAW; INTERNATIONAL LAW; MARITIME LAW; MARTIAL LAW; MERCANTILE LAW; MILITARY LAW; MORAL LAW; MUNICIPAL LAW; NATURAL LAW; OBGANIO LAW; PARLIAMENTARY LAW; PENAL LAW; POSITIVE LAW; PRIVATE LAW; PUBLIC LAW; RETROSPECTIVE LAW; REVENUE LAW; ROMAN LAW; SUBSTANTIVE LAW; WRITTEN LAW. Law always eonstrueth things to the best* Wing. Max. p. 720, max. 193. Law eonstrueth ?very act to bo lawful, when it standoth indifferent whether it should be lawful or not. Wing. Max. p. 722, max. 194; Finch, Law, b. 1, c 3, n. 76. Law eonstmeth things aooording to eonunon possibility or intendment. Wing. Max. p. 705, max 189. Law [the law]' oonstrnoth things with eqnity and moderation. Wing. Max. p. 685, max. 183; Finch, Law, b. 1, c 3, n. 74. Law disfavoreth impossibilities. Wing. Max. p. 606, max. 155. Law disfavoreth improbabilities. Wing. Max. p. 620, max. 161. Law [the law] favoreth charity. Wing. Max. p. 497, max. 135. Law favoreth common right. Wing. Max. p. 547, max. 144. Law favoreth diligenoo, and therefore hatoth folly and negligence. Wing. Max. p. 665, max. 172; Finch, Law, b. 1, c 3, no. 70. Law favoreth honor and order. Wing. Max. p. 739, max. 199. Law favoreth justice and right. Wing. Max. p. 502, max. 141. Law favoreth life, liberty, and dower. 4 Bacon's Works, 345. Law faToreth mutual recompense. Wing. Max. p. 411, max. 108; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 42. aeree. Wing. Law [the law] faToreth possession, where the right is equal. Wing. Max. p. 375, max. 98; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 36. Law faToreth public oai Max. p. 738, max. 198. Law faToreth public quiet. Wing. Max. p. 742, max. 200; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 8, no. 54. Law faToreth speeding of men's causes. Wing. Max. p. 673, max. 175. Law [the law] faToreth things for the commonwealth, [common weal.] Wing. Max. p. 729, max. 197; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 8, no. 53. Law faToreth truth, faith, and certainty. Wing. Max. p. 604, max. 154. Law hateth delays. Wing. Max. p. 674, max. 176; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 7L Law hateth new inventions and innovations. Wing. Max. p. 756, max. 204. Law hateth wrong. Wing. Max. p. 563, max. 146; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 62. Law of itself prejndiceth no man. Wing. Max. p. 575, max. 148; Finch, Law, b. 1, c 3, no. 63. Law respectcth matter of substance more than matter of oircums tanoe o Wing. Max. p. 382, max. 101; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 39. Law respectcth possibility of things. Wing. Max. p. 403, max. 104; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 40. Law [the law] respectcth the bonds of nature. Wing. Max. p. 268, max. 78; Finch, Law, b. 1, c. 3, no. 29. Less...

Legal; warranted or authorised by the law; having the qualifications prescribed by law; not contrary to nor forbidden by the law.

Legal; warranted or authorised by the law; having the qualifications prescribed by law; not contrary to nor forbidden by the law. Less...

The principal distinction between the terms "lawful" and "legal" is that the former contemplates the substance of law, the latter the form of law. To say of an act that it is "lawful" implies that it is authorized, sanctioned, or at any rate not forbidden, by law. To say that More...

The principal distinction between the terms "lawful" and "legal" is that the former contemplates the substance of law, the latter the form of law. To say of an act that it is "lawful" implies that it is authorized, sanctioned, or at any rate not forbidden, by law. To say that it is "legal" implies that it is done or performed in accordance with the forms and usages of law, or in a technical manner. In this sense "illegal" approaches the meaning of "invalid." For example, a contract or will, executed without the required formalities, might be said to be invalid or illegal, but could not be described as unlawful. Further, the word "lawful" more clearly implies an ethical content than does "legal." The latter goes no further than to denote compliance, with positive, technical, or formal rules; while tbe former usually imports a moral substance or ethical permissibility. A further distinction is that the word "legal" is used as the synonym of "constructive." which "lawful" is not. Thus "legal fraud" is fraud implied or inferred by law, or made out by construction. "Lawful fraud" would be a contradiction of terms. Again, "legal" is used as the antithesis of "equitable." Thus, we speak of "legal assets, "legal estate," etc., but not of "lawful assets," or "lawful estate." But there are some connections in which the two words are used as exact equivalents. Thus, a "lawful" writ, warrant, or process is the same as a "legal" writ, warrant, or process. Less...

-Lawful age. Full age; majority; generally the age of twenty-one years, though sometimes eighteen as to a female. See McKim v. Handy. 4 Md. Oh. 237.-Lawful authorities, The expression "lawful authorities," used in our treaty with Spain, refers to persons

-Lawful age. Full age; majority; generally the age of twenty-one years, though sometimes eighteen as to a female. See McKim v. Handy. 4 Md. Oh. 237.-Lawful authorities, The expression "lawful authorities," used in our treaty with Spain, refers to persons Less...

law of the" country, even though it be contraband of war ; for a neutral has a right to carry such goods at his own risk. Seton v. Low,

law of the" country, even though it be contraband of war ; for a neutral has a right to carry such goods at his own risk. Seton v. Low, Less...

1 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 1; Skidmore v. Desdoity,

1 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 1; Skidmore v. Desdoity, Less...

2 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 77; Juhel v. Rhineland-er. 2 Johns. Cas, (N. Y.) 120.-Lawful heirs. See HEIR.-Lawful man. A freeman, unat-tainted. and capable of bearing oath: a legate homo.-Lawful money. Money which is a legal tender in payment of debts; 6. g., gold and silver coined at the mint.

2 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 77; Juhel v. Rhineland-er. 2 Johns. Cas, (N. Y.) 120.-Lawful heirs. See HEIR.-Lawful man. A freeman, unat-tainted. and capable of bearing oath: a legate homo.-Lawful money. Money which is a legal tender in payment of debts; 6. g., gold and silver coined at the mint. Less...

n. A share of the profits of a fishing or whaling voyage, allotted to the officers and seamen, in the nature of wages. Coffin v. Jenkins, 5 Fed. Cas. 1190; Thomas v. Os-born, 19 How. 33, 15 L. Ed. 534.

n. A share of the profits of a fishing or whaling voyage, allotted to the officers and seamen, in the nature of wages. Coffin v. Jenkins, 5 Fed. Cas. 1190; Thomas v. Os-born, 19 How. 33, 15 L. Ed. 534. Less...

v. To state or allege in pleading. -Lay damages. To state at the conclusion of the declaration the amount of damages which the plaintiff claims.-Lay out. This term has come to be used technically in highway laws as embracing all the series of acts necessary to the complete establishment of More...

v. To state or allege in pleading. -Lay damages. To state at the conclusion of the declaration the amount of damages which the plaintiff claims.-Lay out. This term has come to be used technically in highway laws as embracing all the series of acts necessary to the complete establishment of a highway. Cone v. Hartford, 28 Conn. 375.-" Laying the venue. Stating in the margin of a declaration the county in which the plaintiff proposes that the trial of the action shall take place. Less...

adj. Relating to persons or things not clerical or ecclesiastical; a person not in ecclesiastical orders. Also non-professional. -Lay corporation. See CORPORATION.- Lay days. In the law of shipping. Days allowed in charter-parties for loading and unloading the cargo. 3 Kent, Comm. 202, 203.- Lay fee. A fee held by More...

adj. Relating to persons or things not clerical or ecclesiastical; a person not in ecclesiastical orders. Also non-professional. -Lay corporation. See CORPORATION.- Lay days. In the law of shipping. Days allowed in charter-parties for loading and unloading the cargo. 3 Kent, Comm. 202, 203.- Lay fee. A fee held by ordinary feudal tenure, as distinguished from the ecclesiastical tenure of frankalmoign, by which an ecclesiastical corporation held of the donor. The tenure of frankalmoign is reserved by St. 12 Car. II., which abolished military tenures. 2 Bl. Comm. 101.-Lav impropriator. In English ecclesiastical law. A lay person holding a spiritual appropriation. 3 Steph. Comm. 72.-Lay investiture. In ecclesiastical law. The ceremony of putting a bishop in possession of tbe temporalities of his diocese.-Lay judge. A judge who is not learned In the law, t. e., not a lawyer; formerly employed in Borne of the states as assessors or assistants to the presiding judges in the nisi prius courts or courts of first instance.-Lay people. Jurymen.-Lay-man. One of the people, and not one of the clergy; one who is not of the legal profession; one who is not of a particular profession. Less...