Law glossary

21 terms

Later, I would like to study law to become a lawyer. This work interested me because it allows me to defend the interests of others and to be able to express myself in front of several people. This job allows you to work with clients but also to be able to work in an office. As a lawyer, I can open up several opportunities to protect several clienteles, such as women's victims of assault, children or even business managers, which means that our clientele is diversified. To be a lawyer, I have to use beautiful words and be a serious person. This glossary will be useful to people who deal with the legal system or who have to go to courthouses. This glossary will help them understand the vocabulary of justice. For example, a person who owns a business and files a complaint against someone or a business has to go to courthouses, so they need to know the language of justice.

Acquittal
An official decision in a court of law that someone is not guilty of a particular crime
Alibi
A proof that someone who is thought to have committed a crime could not have done it, esp. the fact or claim that the person was in another place at the time the crime happened
Arrest
To use legal authority to catch and take someone to a place where the person may be accused of a crime
Bail
An amount of money that a person who has been accused of a crime pays to a law court so that they can be released until their trial. The payment is a way of making certain that the person will return to court for trial
Case
A matter to be decided by a judge in a law court
Charge
To make a formal statement saying that someone is accused of a crime
Claimant
A person who goes to court to make a legal complaint against someone else
Déposition
A formal written statement made or used in a law court
Felony
A serious crime that can be punished by one or more years in prison
Guilty
Responsible for breaking a law
Impeachment
The action of formally accusing a public official of a serious offense in connection with their job.
Injunction
An official order given by a law court, usually to stop someone from doing something.
Jurisdiction
The authority of a court or official organization to make decisions and judgments
Juror
Someone who is a member of a jury
Jury
A group of people who have been chosen to listen to all the facts in a trial in a law court and to decide if a person is guilty or not guilty, or if, a claim has been proved.
Litigation
The process of taking a case to a court of law so that a judgment can be made.
Misdemeanor
A crime considered to be one of the less serious types of crime.
Precedent
A decision about a particular legal case that makes it likely that other similar cases will be decided in the same way
Subpoena
A legal document ordering someone to appear in a law court
Testimony
A spoken or written statement that something is true, esp. one given in a court of law, or the act of giving such a statement.
Witness
A person in a law court who says what they know about a legal case or a particular person.