Criminal Law Dicnonary Essay Research Paper Entrapment

Criminal Law Dicnonary Essay, Research Paper

Entrapment

The inducement, by law enforcement officers or their agents, of another person to commit

a crime for the purposes of bringing charges for the commission of that

artificially-provoked crime. This technique, because it involves the commission of a crime,

which is itself a crime, is severely curtailed under the constitutional law of many states.

Estoppel

a rule of law that when person A, by act or words, gives person B reason to

believe a certain set of facts upon which person B takes action, person A cannot later,

to his (or her) benefit, deny those facts or say that his (or her) earlier act was

improper. A 1891 English court decision summarized estoppel as “a rule of evidence

which precludes a person from denying the truth of some statement previously made

by himself”.

certiorari

A writ of certiorari is a form of judicial review whereby a court is asked to

consider a legal decision of an , judicial office or organization (eg. government) and to

decide if the decision has been regular and complete or if there has been an error of law.

For example, a certiorari may be used to wipe out a decision of an administrative tribunal

which was made in violation of the rules of natural justice, such as a failure to give the

person affected by the decision an opportunity to be heard.

Circumstantial evidence

which may allow a judge or jury to deduce a certain fact from other facts which have been

proven. In some cases, there can be some that can not be proven directly, such as with an

eye-witness. And yet that may be essential to prove a case. In these cases, the lawyer will

provide the judge or juror with of the circumstances from which a juror or judge can

logically deduct, or reasonably infer, the fact that cannot be proven directly; it is proven by

the of the circumstances; hence, “circumstantial” . Fingerprints are an example of

circumstantial evidence: while there may be no witness to a person’s presence in a certain

place, or contact with a certain object, the scientific evidence of someone’s fingerprints is

persuasive proof of a person’s presence or contact with an object.

Case law

The entire collection of published legal decisions of the courts which, because of ,

contributes a large part of the legal rules which apply in modern society. If a rule of law

cannot be found in written laws, lawyers will often say that it is a rule to be found in “case

law”. In other words, the rule is not in the books but can be found as a principle of law

established by a judge in some recorded case. The word has become synonymous for case

law.

Class action

When different persons combine their lawsuits because the facts and the defendant are so

similar. This is designed to save Court time and to allow one judge to hear all the cases at

the same time and to make one decision binding on all parties. Class action lawsuits would

typically occur after a plane or train accident where all the victims would sue the

transportation company together in a class action suit.

Ad hoc

Latin: for this purpose; for a specific purpose. An ad hoc , for example, is created with a

unique and specific purpose or task and once it has studied and reports on the matter, it

stands disbanded (compare with ).

Ad litem

Latin: for the suit. A person appointed only for the purposes of prosecuting or defending

an action on behalf of another such as a child or mentally-challenged person. Also called a

guardian ad litem.

Res judicata

Latin: A matter which has already been conclusively decided by a court.

Nolo contendere

Latin for “I will not defend it.” Used primarily in criminal proceedings whereby the

defendant declines to refute the evidence of the prosecution. In some jurisdictions, this

response by the defendant has same effect as a plea of guilty.

Writ

An official court document, signed by a judge or bearing an official court seal, which

commands the person to whom it is addressed, to do something specific. That “person” is

typically either a sheriff (who may be instructed to seize property, for example) or a

defendant (for whom the writ is the first notice of formal legal action. In these cases, the

writ would command the person to answer the charges laid out in the suit, or else

judgment may be made against them in their absence).

Mootness

Also called a “moot point”: a side issue, problem or question which does not have to

be decided to resolve the main issues in a dispute

Pardon

A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime,

to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if never convicted. It is typically used to

remove a criminal record against a good citizen for a small crime that may have been

committed during adolescence or young adulthood. Although procedures vary from one

state to another, the request for a pardon usually involves a lengthy period of time of

impeccable behavior and a reference check. Generally speaking, the more serious the

crime, the longer the time requirement for excellent behavior. In the USA, the power to

pardon for federal offenses belongs to the President.

Mandamus

A writ which commands an individual, organization (eg. government), or court to

perform a certain action, usually to correct a prior illegal action or a failure to act in the

first place.

Demurrer

This is a motion put to a trial judge after the plaintiff has completed his or her case, in

which the defendant, while not objecting to the facts presented, and rather than responding

by a full defence, asks the court to reject the petition right then and there because of a lack

of basis in law or insufficiency of the evidence. This motion has been been abolished in

many states and, instead, any such arguments are to be made while presenting a regular

defence to the petition.

De Novo

Latin: new. This term is used to refer to a trial which starts over, which wipes the slate

clean and begins all over again, as if any previous partial or complete hearing had not

occurred.

Deposition

The official statement by a taken in writing (as opposed to which where a witnesses give

their perception of the facts verbally). are the most common kind of depositions.

Duces tecum

Latin: bring with you. Used most frequently for a species of (as in ” duces tecum”) which

seeks not so much the appearance of a person before a court of law, but the surrender of a

thing (eg. a document or some other evidence) by its holder, to the court, to serve as

evidence in a trial.

Punitive damages

Special and highly exceptional damages ordered by a court against a defendant where the

act or omission which caused the suit, was of a particularly heinous, malicious or

highhanded nature. Where awarded, they are an exception to the rule that damages are to

compensate not to punish. The exact threshold of punitive damages varies from

jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some countries, and in certain circumstances, punitive

damages might even be available for breach of contract cases but, again, only for the

exceptional cases where the court wants to give a strong message to the community that

similar conduct will be severely punished. They are most common in intentional torts such

as rape, battery or defamation. Some jurisdictions prefer using the word “exemplary

damages” and there is an ongoing legal debate whether there is a distinction to be made

between the two and even with the concept of .

Guardian ad litem

A guardian appointed to assist an infant or other mentally incapable defendant or plaintiff,

or any such incapacitated person that may be a party in a legal action.

Habeas corpus

Latin: a court petition which orders that a person being detained be produced before a

judge for a hearing to decide whether the detention is lawful. Habeas corpus was one of

the concessions the British Monarch made in the and has stood as a basic individual right

against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.

Immunity

An exemption that a person (individual or corporate) enjoys from the normal operation of

the law such as a legal duty or liability, either criminal or civil. For example, enjoy

“diplomatic immunity” which means that they cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed

during their tenure as . Another example of an immunity is where a witness agrees to

testify only if the testimony cannot be used at some later date during a hearing against the