书城外语法律专业英语教程
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第77章 Appendix A Glossary of Legal Terms法律术语表(3)

Judg( e) ment A decision or declaration of the court, usually setting out the court s findings and details of any damages ( compensation) or other remedy which the court has decided to grant to any party in the case.

Jurisdiction The authority to decide and enforce the law. ( E.g. the County and High Courts have jurisdiction to try breach of contract cases in England and Wales.)

Jury Group of individuals ( usually 12) who make findings of fact in the most serious criminal cases ( usually in the Crown Court in England and Wales) .

Intellectual Property Law relating to copyright, rights to inventions ( patents) and trademarks etc.

Law A system of rules and regulations governing and determining permissible conduct within society.

Leading Question A question which suggests the answer or which implies the existence of some particular fact( s) or circumstances.

Leave Permission. ( E.g. to seek“leaveof the court”is to seek perm ission of thecourt.)

Legal Privilege A legal right to refuse to disclose or produce documentation or other evidence on the basis of some special interest recognized by law. ( Typically relating to the legally recognized right for discussions and correspondence between lawyer and client to remain“privileged”and thus protected from disclosure. )

Letter BeforeAction Correspondencesentby a prospectiveClaimant or his legal advisor intimating to another party an intention to commence legal action against that other party along with brief details of the proposed legal action. ( Note that a more modern equivalent is“letter of claim”.)

Letter of Claim Modern term for“letter before action”( see above) .

Liability Legal responsibility to comply with or discharge a legal obligation or indebtedness.

Limitation Period The time-limit prescribed by law in which a Claimant must commence a claim in court. Failure to issue the claim in court within this time-limit will usually result in the Claimant losing the legal right to pursue that particular claim. ( E.g. the limitation period for a personal injury claim is three years in the UK. )

Listing for Trial Procedure for providing the court with final documentation and information in order to enable the court to finalize a date for trial.

Litigant A party to legal proceedings ( i.e. to litigation—see below) .

Litigation Legal action / proceedings involving a dispute between parties.

Liquidated Damages A term used to refer to a specifically quantifiable amount of monetary compensation which a Claimant is seeking from another party. ( I.e. a sum which can be precisely calculated as opposed to an amount which is variable at the court s discretion.)

Locus Location of an incident, particularly of an accident.

Magistrates Court Criminal Court in England and Wales which tries the relatively less serious criminal cases. ( Usually conducted by a“Magistrate”.)

Member A company shareholder.

Minutes Record of matters discussed and decided in the course of directors and shareholders meetings.

Minor An individual under 18 years of age.

Mitigation A term used in criminal law to refer to submissions seeking to justify or at least provide some explanation for a party s conduct and aimed at persuading a court or tribunal to show some sympathy towards that party. ( See also“Mitigation of Damages”below. )

Mitigation of Damages A term used in civil law to refer to efforts madeby a Claimant to minimize or alleviate loss and damage sustained.

Negligence Used in a legal sense to refer to a failure to comply with a duty of care towards others imposed by law or by generally accepted standards.

Oral Evidence Spoken ( as opposed to documentary) evidence.

Party Person or organization entering into an agreem ent or engaged in legal proceedings.

Plaintiff Person or party commencing a legal action. Note that the term“Claimant”is now used in English courts in place of“Plaintiff”( the term“Plaintiff”still being in general use however in American courts) .

Pleadings A termpreviously used to refer to thecourt documents setting out each party s case and now largely superseded by the term“Statements of Case”.

Poll Means of voting at shareholders meetings whereby votes on a particular resolution are counted on the basis of the number of voting shares held by each person voting ( as opposed to“on a show of hands”) .

Precedent Existing document, draft or court decision which is relevant to and used as the basis for subsequent legal drafting or decisions. (“Doctrine of Precedent”refers to a concept whereby previous court decisions establish the general legal position for subsequent legal disputes involving similar circumstances.)

Privilege ( See“Legal Privilege”above.)

Proceedings Term used to refer to an ongoing court action ( known as court or legal proceedings) .