Key: "S:" = Show Synset (semantic) relations, "W:" = Show Word (lexical) relations
Display options for sense: (gloss) "an example sentence"
Noun
S: (n) due process, due process of law ((law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards)
S: (n) foreclosure (the legal proceedings initiated by a creditor to repossess the collateral for loan that is in default)
S: (n) intervention ((law) a proceeding that permits a person to enter into a lawsuit already in progress; admission of person not an original party to the suit so that person can protect some right or interest that is allegedly affected by the proceedings) "the purpose of intervention is to prevent unnecessary duplication of lawsuits"
S: (n) procedure (a mode of conducting legal and parliamentary proceedings)
S: (n) objection ((law) a procedure whereby a party to a suit says that a particular line of questioning or a particular witness or a piece of evidence or other matter is improper and should not be continued and asks the court to rule on its impropriety or illegality)
S: (n) recusation ((law) an objection grounded on the judge's relationship to one of the parties)
S: (n) legal action, action, action at law (a judicial proceeding brought by one party against another; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wrong)
S: (n) antitrust case (a legal action brought against parties who are charged with limiting free competition in the market place)
S: (n) civil action (legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution))
S: (n) counterclaim (a claim filed in opposition to another claim in a legal action)
S: (n) custody case (a legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce))
S: (n) double jeopardy (the prosecution of a defendant for a criminal offense for which he has already been tried; prohibited in the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution)
S: (n) test case, test suit (a representative legal action whose outcome is likely to become a precedent)
S: (n) lawsuit, suit, case, cause, causa (a comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy) "the family brought suit against the landlord"
S: (n) civil suit (a lawsuit alleging violations of civil law by the defendant)
S: (n) class action, class-action suit (a lawsuit brought by a representative member of a large group of people on behalf of all members of the group)
S: (n) criminal suit (a lawsuit alleging violations of criminal law by the defendant)
S: (n) moot (a hypothetical case that law students argue as an exercise) "he organized the weekly moot"
S: (n) paternity suit, bastardy proceeding (a lawsuit filed to determine the father of a child born out of wedlock (and to provide for the support of the child once paternity is determined))
S: (n) adoption (a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; the adopted child is entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child of the adoptive parents (including the right to inherit))
S: (n) appeal ((law) a legal proceeding in which the appellant resorts to a higher court for the purpose of obtaining a review of a lower court decision and a reversal of the lower court's judgment or the granting of a new trial) "their appeal was denied in the superior court"
S: (n) bankruptcy (a legal process intended to insure equality among the creditors of a corporation declared to be insolvent)
S: (n) receivership (a court action that places property under the control of a receiver during litigation so that it can be preserved for the benefit of all)
S: (n) custody battle (litigation to settle custody of the children of a divorced couple)
S: (n) vexatious litigation (litigation shown to have been instituted maliciously and without probable cause) "he got an injunction against vexatious litigation by his enemies"
S: (n) trial ((law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law) "he had a fair trial and the jury found him guilty"; "most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial"
S: (n) ordeal, trial by ordeal (a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence)
S: (n) Scopes trial (a highly publicized trial in 1925 when John Thomas Scopes violated a Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school; Scopes was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan and defended by Clarence Darrow; Scopes was convicted but the verdict was later reversed)
S: (n) show trial (a trial held for show; the guilt of the accused person has been decided in advance)
S: (n) retrial (a new trial in which issues already litigated and to which the court has already rendered a verdict or decision are reexamined by the same court; occurs when the initial trial is found to have been improper or unfair due to procedural errors)
S: (n) review ((law) a judicial reexamination of the proceedings of a court (especially by an appellate court))
S: (n) bill of review (a proceeding brought to obtain an explanation or an alteration or a reversal of a decree by the court that rendered it)
S: (n) judicial review (review by a court of law of actions of a government official or entity or of some other legally appointed person or body or the review by an appellate court of the decision of a trial court)
S: (n) hearing ((law) a proceeding (usually by a court) where evidence is taken for the purpose of determining an issue of fact and reaching a decision based on that evidence)
S: (n) administrative hearing (a hearing that takes place outside the judicial process before hearing examiners who have been granted judicial authority specifically for the purpose of conducting such hearings)
S: (n) competence hearing (a hearing to determine legal capacity (to determine whether the defendant can understand the charges and cooperate with a lawyer in preparing a defense))
S: (n) fair hearing (a hearing that is granted in extraordinary situations where the normal judicial process would be inadequate to secure due process because the person would be harmed or denied their rights before a judicial remedy became available (as in deportation or loss of welfare benefits))
S: (n) quo warranto (a hearing to determine by what authority someone has an office or franchise or liberty)
S: (n) non prosequitur, non pros (a judgment entered in favor of the defendant when the plaintiff has not continued his action (e.g., has not appeared in court))
S: (n) final judgment, final decision (a judgment disposing of the case before the court; after the judgment (or an appeal from it) is rendered all that remains is to enforce the judgment)
S: (n) judgment in rem, judgement in rem (a judgment pronounced on the status of some particular subject or property or thing (as opposed to one pronounced on persons))
S: (n) arbitration, arbitrament, arbitrement (the act of deciding as an arbiter; giving authoritative judgment) "they submitted their disagreement to arbitration"
S: (n) opinion, ruling (the reason for a court's judgment (as opposed to the decision itself))
S: (n) fatwa (a ruling on a point of Islamic law that is given by a recognized authority)
S: (n) Bakke decision (a ruling by the Supreme Court on affirmative action; the Court ruled in 1978 that medical schools are entitled to consider race as a factor in their admission policy)
S: (n) finding (the decision of a court on issues of fact or law)
S: (n) verdict, finding of fact ((law) the findings of a jury on issues of fact submitted to it for decision; can be used in formulating a judgment)
S: (n) compromise verdict (a verdict resulting from improper compromises between jurors on material issues)
S: (n) directed verdict (a verdict entered by the court in a jury trial without consideration by the jury) "there cannot be a directed verdict of guilty in a criminal trial"
S: (n) actual eviction (the physical ouster of a tenant from the leased premises; the tenant is relieved of any further duty to pay rent)
S: (n) retaliatory eviction (an eviction in reprisal for the tenant's good-faith complaints against the landlord; illegal in many states)
S: (n) plea (an answer indicating why a suit should be dismissed)
S: (n) defense, defence, denial, demurrer (a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him) "he gave evidence for the defense"
S: (n) entrapment (a defense that claims the defendant would not have broken the law if not tricked into doing it by law enforcement officials)
S: (n) law, jurisprudence (the collection of rules imposed by authority) "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"