Legal dictionary
Available entries: 385 entries
Entries: 385
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Legal dictionary
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Bifurcated trial
A legal proceeding that is divided into two separate phases to separately address issues such as liability and damages, or guilt and punishment. Legal dictionary
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Blasphemy
The act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious persons or things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Legal dictionary
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Boilerplate
Standard wording in a contract or other legal document that cannot be renegotiated. Legal dictionary
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Bona fide
Made or carried out in good faith; without deception or fraud. Legal dictionary
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Breach of confidence
A common law tort that protects private information that is conveyed in confidence. A claim for breach of confidence typically requires the information to be of a confidential nature, which was communicated in confidence and was disclosed to the detriment of the claimant. Legal dictionary
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Break clause
A section or paragraph of a contract, usually between a landlord and a tenant, that allows a party to end the contract early. Legal dictionary
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Causation
The causal relationship between conduct and result, especially when proving legal responsibility. This is a key component in establishing liability in both criminal and civil law. Legal dictionary
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Caveat emptor
Literally, ‘let the buyer beware’. Used as a warning to anyone buying something that there might be unforeseen faults or problems with what is bought. In the case of purchasing real property, the buyer is responsible for finding out the condition of the property by survey, carrying out proper searches and checking any matters that affect the legal title. Legal dictionary
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Certificate of occupancy
A document issued by a local government agency or building department certifying a building’s compliance with applicable building codes and other laws, and indicating it to be in a condition suitable for occupancy. Legal dictionary
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Charge
To formally accuse of a crime. A formal legal interest that another person or institution has in a particular asset, especially one used as a guarantee to secure payment. Legal dictionary
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Charter party
A written, or partly written and partly printed, contract between a ship owner and a merchant, by which a ship is let or hired for the conveyance of goods on a specific voyage, or for a defined period. A vessel might also be hired to carry passengers on a journey. Where the vessel is hired for a single voyage, and the vessel’s owner provides the master, crew, bunker and supplies, the arrangement is known as a voyage charter. Legal dictionary
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Chattel
Moveable or personal property that is capable of being owned, or any property that is not land. Legal dictionary
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Chinese wall
A way of protecting a client from a conflict of interest by preventing one or more lawyers within an organisation from working on any matter involving the client. Legal dictionary
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Chose in action
Is essentially a right to sue. It is an intangible personal property right recognised and protected by the law, which has no existence apart from the recognition given by the law, and which confers no present possession or tangible object. For example, personal property that you own but which another possesses can only be legally recovered by court proceedings. Legal dictionary
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Circumstantial
Based on information which suggests that something is true but does not prove that it is true. When the existence of the principal fact is only inferred from one or more circumstances which have been established directly, the evidence is said to be circumstantial. Legal dictionary
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