Self-help
Available entries: 405 entries
Entries: 405
Sort by:
Date (newest first)
Hire a lawyer online
Save time and money. Buy fixed-fee legal services or submit your request and get multiple competitive offers from qualified lawyers.
Popular Q&A
View all Looking for something else?
Ask for advice from a lawyer
Legal dictionary
All countries
Specific performance
An order of a court which requires a party to perform a specific act, which will often be what is stated in a contract and which the party against whom the order is made has so far failed to perform. It is an alternative to awarding damages, and is classed as an equitable remedy. While specific performance can be in the form of any type of forced action, it is usually used to complete a previously established transaction, ensuring that the innocent party to the contract receives what they had expected to receive from the transaction. Legal dictionary
All countries
Acceptance
The demonstration of agreement with the terms and conditions of another person’s offer so that the offer becomes a formal contract between the two parties. Legal dictionary
All countries
Dactylography
The scientific study of fingerprints for the purposes of identification. Legal dictionary
All countries
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
All countries
Natural justice
Refers to the rule against bias and the right to a fair hearing. While the term is often used as a general concept, it has been largely replaced and extended by the general duty to act fairly. Legal dictionary
All countries
Limitation of liability clause
A clause in a contract that restricts the amount of money that can be claimed in court by a party to the contract that has suffered financial loss as a result of a breach of contract by the other to the contract. Legal dictionary
All countries
Guardian
A person lawfully invested with the power, and charged with the duty, of taking care of a person and/or managing the property rights of another person. Guardians are typically used in three situations; for an incapacitated senior (due to old age or infirmity), for a minor and for developmentally disabled adults. Legal dictionary
All countries
Fatwa
An official statement or order issued by a Muslin religious leader or cleric, usually regarded as being legally binding or creating a legal duty. Legal dictionary
All countries
Asylum
Commonly used to describe the protection given to someone who has left their own country as a political refugee. Legal dictionary
All countries
Inalienable
Unable to be taken away or remove. Legal dictionary
All countries
Entrapment
The practice whereby a law enforcement officer induces a person to commit a criminal offence that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit. It is a defence to criminal charges when it is established that the law enforcement officer originated the idea of the crime and induced the accused to engage in it. If the crime was promoted by a private person who has no connection with government law enforcement agencies, it is not entrapment. Legal dictionary
All countries
Insolvency
The state or condition of being unable to pay money owed, by a person or a company, on time. Those in a state of insolvency are referred to as insolvent. Legal dictionary
All countries
Debenture
A medium to long term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money, at a fixed rate of interest. It originally referred to a document that either creates a debt or acknowledges it, but in some countries the term is now used interchangeably with bond, loan stock or note. A debenture is like a certificate of loan evidencing the fact that the company is liable to pay a specified amount with interest, and although the money raised by the debentures becomes part of the company’s capital structure, it does not become share capital. Legal dictionary
All countries
Patent
A set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor for a limited period of time (usually twenty years) in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. Usually patents constitute four different classes: machine (a device or apparatus for the performance of a specific task); process; manufacture (any fabricated or manufactured product); or the composition of matter (a chemical mixture or compound). Legal dictionary
All countries
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
All countries