Search Dictionary


Terms:

Browse Alphabetically (A-Z)

A  |   B  |   C  |   D  |   E  |   F  |   G  |   H  |   I  |   J  |   K  |   L  |   M  |   N  |   O  |   P  |   Q  |   R  |   S  |   T  |   U  |   V  |   W  |   X  |   Y  |   Z  |  

Most Popular Legal Definitions

booby trap

A device set up to be triggered to harm or kill anyone entering the trap, such as a shotgun which will go off if a room is entered, or dynamite which will explode if the ignition key on an auto is turned. If a person sets up such a trap to protect his/her property, he/she will be liable for any injury or death even to an unwanted intruder such as a burglar. Setting a booby trap to even protect one's property is a crime.

next of kin

The nearest blood relative of a deceased.

in loco parentis

Latin, a person who thought not the natural parent, has acted as a parent to a child and may thus be liable to legal obligations as if they were a natural parent.

merger

in corporate law, the joining together of two corporations.

unclean hands

A legal doctrine which is a defense to a complaint, which states that a party who is asking for a judgment cannot have the help of the court if he/she has done anything unethical in relation to the subject of the lawsuit.

democracy

form of government in which the people freely govern themselves; where the executive (or administrative) and law-making (or legislative) power is given to persons chosen by the population; the free people

arrest

1) to take or hold a suspected criminal with legal authority, as by a law enforcement office 2) To delay the enforcement of a judgment by a judge while errors in the record are corrected

letters rogatory

A request of a judge in one jurisdiction to a court of another, to examine a specific witness.

testator

The signatory of a valid will.

death

irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions and of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem