The main purpose of this glossary is to describe words related to the Law.
alibi
noun
A claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when an act, typically a criminal one, is alleged to have taken place.
Example: But Marie is quickly ticked off the list of suspects, when her alibi proves convincing to the police.
fr: alibi
award
noun
A grant made by a law court.
Example: In particular, courts may be reluctant to award remedies in cases that require government implementation of specific policies necessitating significant budgetary consequences.
fr: prix
brief
noun
A document stating the facts and points of law of a client's case.
Example: White House lawyers have a deadline of noon on Monday to file a brief outlining their argument defending the president, and Democrats will file another brief in response by noon Tuesday.
— David Jackson, USA TODAY, "House Democrats call Trump a 'danger' to U.S. national security in formal argument for his removal," 18 Jan. 2020
fr: dossier
countersuit
noun
A suit brought against someone who has sued you.
Example: Samsung has announced its intention to file a countersuit against American Apple. ITAR-TASS, referring to the Spokesperson of South Korean company.
fr: demande reconventionnelle
criminal law
noun
A system of law concerned with the punishment of those who commit crimes.
Example: On his death he was widely hailed as the pre-eminent figure in modern international criminal law.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
fr: Loi criminelle
criminal negligence
noun
Recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences).
Example: Rose LJ stated, "unless an identified individual's conduct characterized as gross criminal negligence can be attributed to the company, the company is not liable for manslaughter."
fr: négligence criminelle
derogation
noun
An exemption from or relaxation of a rule or law.
Example: This was the fundamental ground of the strong emotional dislike of older abolitionists for internal polemics in the movement and distaste for any derogation from a transcendent commitment to the cause.
fr: dérogation
jurisprudence
noun
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do.
Example: Matrimonial jurisprudence was primarily focused on this marital contract.
fr: jurisprudence
legislation
noun
Laws, considered collectively.
Example: The policy initiatives proposed in this study include: revised institutional approaches to the development process, new legislation to allow for greater flexibility in negotiating development arrangements and project procurements, and an innovative program intended to make authority-owned development parcels accessible to a broader real estate investment and development market by breaking down the existing barriers to entry in to authority-sponsored development processes.
fr: Législation
penal code
noun
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document which complies all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law.
Example: Demonstrated by the considerable efforts of the newly created United Nations, over the next few years, "an international momentum began to build" towards creating a comprehensive international penal code that would promote accountability and deter violations of international law.
fr: code pénal
Supreme Court
proper name
The highest judicial tribunal in a political unit (such as a nation or state).
Example: University of California, Davis, (1978) where the supreme court decided in favour of affirmative action but rejected the implementation of strict quotas in the college admissions and observed that "the attainment of a diverse student body clearly is a constitutionally permissible goal for an institution of higher education".
fr: Court suprême
will
noun
Legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die.
Example: Her father left her the house in his will.
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