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Legal explanations - Law terms Category: Legal Date & country: 25/02/2010, SG Words: 2570

Possess
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Possession
It is an act of possesing, holding, occupying or having a control over anything like asset, property or thing, with or without legal ownership.

Possession Of Stolen Goods
n.An act of keeping in possesion goods that have been obtained by illegal means like theft, fraud,smuggling etc.If the person is aware that the goods are stolen then it is considered a crime but if he is innocent than the goods are returned to the actual owner.

Possessory Interest
n.The right of aperson to retain,occupy and have rightsl over any property is called possessory interest in real estate.They vary in different states and in different circumstances for ex: mechanic can retain the car for unpaid repair bills.

Possibility Of A Reverter
The possibility of the ownership of the land or property being returned to the grantor/giver of the the same or to his/her heirs.For eg, a grantor of the land can have a condition in the deal that if his land is not used for a purpose of scientific research, in future, its ownership will be returned to him or his heirs. Here, there is a possibility...

Post
1) To put a legal notice in public area of the court. 2) To give a notice to someone ( for termination of employment, pay rent, placement for the duty) or to place a notice in common area where everyone can view. 3) mailing.

Post Hoc
It is the english conversion of the Latin phrase "post hoc ergo propter hoc" which simply means "after this, therefore because of this". It refers a illogical or false assumption of consequent occurence of the event due to or caused by happening of another event which took place prior to the second event .

Post Mortem
n.It is a latin word meaning "after death",an examination of a dead body to ascertain the cause of death,also called autopsy.It is conducted on a persons dead body who has died suddenly under mysterious circumstances or by any attack,accident or anything which is not natural.

Postdated Check
n.A check isuued at present but with a later maturity date so it cannot get encashed at the present date.The check is like a promissory note and no legal action can be taken if the account closes down or there is shoratge of funds.

Pot
Slang for the illegal narcotic, Marijuana.

Pour Over Will
It is someones Will and estate which is in custody of a trust created by him, for the purpose of legal distribution and management of his willl, upon his death. Pour over will is a legal and safety mechanism by which all the assets which were not included in the will or which was missed, can be bought in the custody of the trust and protected.

Power
It is an ability and capabilty of one to excecute certain acts with authority.It is also the right of one person on the other to make him act as per his will.

Power Of Acceptance
The power to analyse, judge and accept an offer and enter into a contract which is bound legally. In cases of real estates the period is specified in the contract, beyond which a counter offer be made and accepted.

Power Of Appointment
It is the right given by one person(creator of will) to the other (eg. Trust) to distribute, transfer or gift his assets upon his death.The two types of power of appointment are 1) General - Where the holder of the will creators property can distribute his assets to anyone and 2) Specific - where the holder or custodian of the property is designate...

Power Of Attorney
It is an instrument in writing and signed by a person (known as principal) who authorizes another person as his agent. The agent is given the right such as signing checks, tax audits, transact business, signing legal documents etc. The agent is also known as Attorney-in- Fact.The power of attorney or letter of attorney ceases to be effective on the...

Practicable
adj. Something that can be put into practice,is workable, feasible, possible to perform.

Practice
n.Traditional method of following ceratin specific ideas and principles to perform duties repeatedly is called practice. v.To keep on performing certain activity to improvise your skills is also called practice, a person who is in legal business is said to practice law.

Pray
v.It is request made to the judge for losses and damages suffered at the end of a complaint in a legal proceeding by the plaintiff.

Prayer
n.Prayer is seeking for compensation of the exact amont of losses incurred in total to the judge at the end of a complaint.

Precatory
adj.It is request or a desire for certain action to be carried out at will which if not obeyed no legal action can be taken.For ex- A person's will reads that he would be happy if some amount of his property is donated,but no legal action can be taken if his wishes are not obeyed.

Precedent
It is a judgement or a decision taken by an appeal court in some previous case, which would form a basis of all similar cases or trials in the future.A lower court must follow a precedent (also called stare decisis) to ease the trial as they may have ready guidance and example of some prior decisions of similar case.

Predecease
v.To pass away or meet death before someone else.Ex-if my wife should predecease me, her share of property would go to a trust.

Preemption
In United States, Federal law is the supreme law with highest authority. When there is a conflict between the Federal law and state law, the Federal law is said to preempt - win over - state law thereby displacing the effect of the state law. That`s known as premption..

Preemptive Right
n.In a corporate business when new stocks are issued the existing shreholders are given the right to purchase shares in proportion to the shares that they are already holding.

Preference
n.Accoring to laws of bankruptcy when a person goes bankrupt before writing a court order to declare it he might make a prefernce to pay off certain creditor rather then dividing his assets equally among his creditors.This is illegal and it is the court who decides to pay off the secured creditors before the general creditors.

Preferred Dividend
n.In a corporation priority given to group of shareholders of stocks in distribution of profits.

Preferred Stock
n.In a corporation priority given to a group of shareholders in payment of dividend which is a fixed percentage and does not depend upon the profits made or distribution of assets if the corporation is getting dissolved.They cannot demand higher dividend if the company makes higher profits and they dont exercise voting rights as they have minimum r...

Preliminary Hearing
In the court of law where criminal cases are concerned, the proceeding known as preliminary hearing, takes place before the judicial officer, after the prosecutor files a criminal lawsuit against the defendant.This initial hearing takes place to determine whether the accused defendant has commited any crime, and whether the crime has been commited ...

Preliminary Injunction
n An order passed by the court in the initial stages of proceedings to prevent the parties from getting into action where any controversy is involved so as to maintain situtaion as it is at present.

Premeditation
n.It is planning,scheming certain ideas with the intention of commiting a serious crime like murder.

Premises
n.A land or property with any kind of construction on it like a building,factory,shop,store etc is called premises in real estate. v.In legal term premises include whatever is written in the petition or compalint.

Premium
n.Amount pain in installments or in single payment to cover the insured amount specified in an insurance policy by the insured to the insurance company.

Prenuptial Agreement
n.A written agreement between two people who are about to get married.It states the list of their assets,liabilities,authority over each other's property,how their earnings and savings will be used and if the marriage does not last how would the property get divided and alimony be paid.This is common in people who are earning huge amount of money,h...

Preponderance Of The Evidence
The level or the standard of the proof that needs to be met for the plaintiff to have a superior position in the case by convincing the judicial officers that the proof or fact submitted is correct and true.

Prerogative Writ
These are the court orders(writs) issued to the bodies of individual or individuals of like government officials, lower courts or agencies , under certain circumstances.

Prescription
It is a type or method of acquiring property which is owned by someone else, by the way of using the land for a long and continuous specified period legally, thereby legally enforceable as well.That`s is also known as positive prescription. A negative prescription is a limitation of time after which the crime is not legally enforceable.

Prescriptive Easement
It is the right to use and acquire someone elses property by the way of using the land for a long and continuous specified period legally, without the permission of the owner, but by the rule of the state.Normally the location, the ownership documents and easement rules are not clear and precise.

Presentment
n.1)Claiming payment on a check or a promissory note when the maturity date arrives. 2)A written statement presented by the grand jury that a crime is commited either by a public servant or is against the welfare of the general public.The grand jury presents this report on its own without any request or demand of proof by the local prosecutor.

Presiding Judge
A public officer who either has been elected or chosen to manage the session in the court and the jury.

Presumption
It is a rule of law which states that a court is allowed to assume certain facts and proofs established earlier, to be true, unless someone else comes up to contest such facts and prove it otherwise.

Presumption Of Innocence
The legal right that the accused defendant is bestowed upon , by the judicial system. Under this principle of presumption of innocence, the defendant have no burden to prove his innocence. It is burden of the prosecution or the victim and his lawyer to bring a substantial proof to the court which can prove the accuse defendant as guilty. thus under...

Pretermitted Heir
Under the law of property, a child or a descendant of the will-maker who has unintentionally omitted the said heir from the will, possibily due to the fact that the will-maker did not know about him. These are common in cases where the will got excecuted before the birth of the pretermitted heir or that he/she is assumed to be dead or such reasons....

Prevailing Party
The party to the lawsuit in whose favour the verdict has been pronounced, thereby, titled as the winner of the case. The prevailing party has the right to claim the legal fees that he/she has met while the trial and hearing was in process.

Price Fixing
n.A method in which businesses who are in competition with each other set up a strategy to fix up prices of particular commodities to avoid price competition.It is a criminal act according to federal laws as it encourages unfair competition and the public is deprived of reasonbale prices..This arrangement can also be made between suppliers and manu...

Prima Facie
It is a latin word meaning "At first sight or glance" or "on its face". In common law, it is referred to the first piece of evidence or fact that is considered true unless revoked or contradicted .

Prima Facie Case
refers to the evidence provided by the plaintiff which looks sufficient and proving on the very first look or examination which if not rebutted, can bring the case to the end.

Prime Suspect
The investigation of the person by the law enforcement officers who is believed to be the one who could have committed the crime.

Primogeniture
Latin word meaning " first born". It refers to the common tradition of the first born child of the parents who, by this law, inherits the entire estate of the parents because he/she is the eldest of all the children. This law is no more in existence in most of the countries now.

Principal
1) one who commits the crime or is main accomplice in the crime 2) One who holds the high rank in business or job and who directs his/her subordinates to act as an agent on his behalf to ceate a legal relationship with the third party.

Principal Place Of Business
It is the actual location of the office of the business where the accounting and record books are maintained and where the top management meets and decides on the basis of the work.

Prior Restraint
It is a form of censorship by the government where it prevents or stops the publication of certain material or broadcasting of certain unwanted speeches.

Prior(S)
refers to the previous or past criminal involvements and records, convictions and acquittals of the defendant in criminal cases. It is a slang for the same. The previous verdicts on the same person/defendant is of importance to derive the nature of person he /she is.

Priority
Advantage in right to be ahead or going before the others in the claims.For eg. the oldest of the creditors has the right to claims ahead of newer creditors.

Privacy
The state of being away from the observation of others by being let alone as away from public notice without unwanted intrusion of public, government bodies, media etc unless he/she is in news.

Private Carrier
It is an organization or individual who provides services of transporting goods or communication for money. It varies from common carriers who are responsible to be equal to all customers perform the services on regular basis. Private carriers have right to refuse certain customers if they do not want to provide them the services.

Private Mortgage Insurance
(PMI) It refers to that insurance company with whom the mortgage lender is attached. If the borrower defaults the repayments, the PMI safeguards and protects the mortagage lenders by the way of compansation.

Private Nuisance
Using ones property in such a manner that it forms a nuisance which unlawfully and unreasonably interferes in the peaceful enjoyment of an individual or their property without physically tresspassing the property of the other.For eg. The fumes from the factory near the habitation.

Private Parts
It refers to external sex organ of either man or woman ( excluding the womans breast)

Private Property
n.It is a system to allocate the ownership of pieces of land to particular people,who exercise full control on it without the society or the government having any ownership or legal right unlike common property.

Private Road
n.Roads that are privately owned by an individual or a group of individuals are called private roads. The responsibilty of its maintenance is vested upon the owners without any support from the government.In some cases private roads can be used by the general public wothout any ownership rights.

Privilege
n.Privilges are certain benefits,rights, advantages, enjoyed by an individual or a group of individuals.It can also be in the form of exemtion from payment of certain duties or penalties.

Privileged Communication
n.These are conversations which are confidential in nature and are not to be disclosed in a legal proceeding under any circumstances.Such an information is shared with a lot of confidence and trust and cannot be disclosed without the consent of the client.It can be between husband and wife,doctor and patient,attorney and client,priest and any perso...

Privileges And Immunities
It refers to the excerpts from US constitution which states that every citizen of the all the states of US will have equal and at par privileges and immunities benefits in terms as a citizen.

Privity
n.The mutual, close and successive relationship between two parties for a particular transaction or property or contract where they both share a common interest.Thus, it`s a relationship close enough such that one party can support the legal claims for or against the party in above relation. In the absence of privity, the subcontractor cannot ...

Pro Bono
It is a short latin term for pro bono publico which means "for the public good" where lawyers render free legal service or assistance to poor people having legal problems and who cannot afford to pay the legal expenses.They also provide assistance to charitable and religious institutions working for social causes like poverty,child educat...

Pro Forma
It is known "as a matter of form" or " the sake of form" which could also mean, the formality to make things move along. It is used in accounting, business financials and statements which are based on certain facts and assumptions.

Pro Hac Vice
the Latin word which means " on this occasion" or "only this time". Usually it refers to the lawyers who are not a part of the jurisdiction where a certain case is being heard and he/she may want to be the part of the case by practcing in that jurisdiction for this particular case only. The lawyer has to take the permission from...

Pro Per
Short term for a latin word "propria persona" which means "for oneself or ownself". It refers to someone who is going to be his/her own lawyer or attorney in a case where he/she is either plaintiff or defendant.Rather than appointing a lawyer, he/she acts as lawyer for self.

Pro Rata
Latin word meaning Proportionate. It means the division of assets or amount in terms of certain rates, percentage or share in proportion of ownership. Say for instance, if a debtor goes bankrupt, each creditor is entitled to the remainings of the assets of the debtors, proportionately divided according to their debts.

Pro Se
It is appearing in the court as a lawyer or attorney to oneself or for himself/herself. It`s a Latin word meaning " "for himself" or "appearing on its owns behalf".

Pro Tanto
A latin word meaning - only to the extent of, so far, for so much". In legal term it refers to the partial payment done when a claim is made.

Pro Tem
Temporarily, provisional. Short for Latin word Pro Tempore.It refers to a reprentation of one person to the other as a subsitute on temporary basis. Eg. When a chief minister is represented by the deputy minister in a meeting, where the chief minister is not able to make it, is known as chief minister pro tem.

Pro Tempore
Latin word, meaning Temporarily or provisional or for time being.

Probable Cause
It refers to a resonable justifying facts that proves or makes an average intellegent man believe that the crime was committed by the accused or that the crime has been committed at a certain property and the accused is connected some way or the other. These facts justifies the police action thereafter as in arrest or issuing warrant or search of t...

Probate
It is a process of proving the genuineness and validity of the will in the court generally known as probate court. The will of the descendant ( dead) is sent to the probate court who manages the distribution, validates the will, collects the assets, administer it by the way of paying taxes and registering in the name of the heir, all this being the...

Probate Court
It is the court which overseas the administration of the will and validates it to genuineness. The probate court supervises and manages the distribution of the estate of the dead in most legal way possible.

Probation
It refers to an advantage, certain freedom or an oppurtunity given by the judicial officers to the convict in terms of shorter sentence, or early release from the prison. The judge can provide such an allowance on the basis of the good behavious of the convict, who would still be in the eye or vigil of law and has to report to special officer as di...

Probative
It means the tending to prove or actually proving something. In the court of law, evidence is a must, without which, the defence have right to request for the dismissal of case and the court would do so. So any evidence brought in has to be probative otherwise it would not hold any value in court of law.

Probative Facts
These are the facts which actually proves something and thereby supporting the issue of trials as it has effects of proving the other facts that exist.

Probative Value
evidences or facts which tends to prove the existence of other facts or issues in the trials. These evidences are first judged or assessed to make sure that they are not causing a hindrance in form of misleading the trial or leadng to unfair trial.

Procedure
In law, it refers to the series of tasks,activities and steps which if followed in sequence according to the law and rules, invokes certain judgement by managing the justice system of the court.

Proceeding
It refers to the legal process and steps in a lawful procedure includingly filing of lawsuits, hearing, trials, and finally outcome of judgement. It is collectively called the preceeding or legal proceedings.

Process
1) It refers to the entire manner and method of a legal proceeding. 2) A writ issued by the court to the defendant asking him/her to be present in the court while the trial takes place, failure of which may lead the case against him/her.

Process Server
It is the term given to a person who serves or delivers the legal court papers and documents to the defendant. Normally it`s the legal notice(process) sent to the defendant and carried by either sheriff, constable or a police officer.

Proctor
1)A person who is given the right by another person or party in writing to act as his legal representative in court proceedings.He acts as an agent and has the right to perform all actions on behalf of his client. 2)An attorney/lawyer who deals in maritime law.

Product Liability
n.Legal responsibility of the manufacturers,wholesellers,retailers to the buyers or users of the damages or injuries caused by the use of defective products.These can include contamination of food,improper label warnings,defective parts in automobile industry etc.Compensation can be claimed on the basis of negligence,absolute responsibility,breach ...

Professional Corporation
nAn organisation that is formed by a group of professionals practicing with proper licences like lawyers,medical practitioners,architects,certified public acoouants etc.Most states have certain federal rules that such corporations can operate with a director who should also be a professional.But the organisation is not legally responsible for any k...

Professional Negligence
n.An act or misconduct also called malpractice where professionals like medical practitioners, lawyers accountants,architects etc fail to exercise their duties effectively and which results in damages to clients.It can be due to negligence,ignorance or intentionallly.It cannot be proved just by the patients judgement unless it is very obvious but a...

Proffer
v.To offer any document or piece of information which acts as proof or evidence in a trial.

Prohibition
It`s a law which forbids or prevents certain activity by the order of the court ( also known as writ of prohibition)

Promise
An agreement between two people to perform a course of action or to hold oneself back from doing certain action or to make a payment or delivery.In contract law failure to keep the promise as agreed is a breach of contract for which legal action can be taken.

Promissory Estoppel
It refers to the promise wrongly or falsely made by a person to another person, depending on which, the other person relied on the promise and suffered an economic loss.The sufferer can enforce such false promise in court and judge would believe the statement made by the promisor as promise and order for the payment for the value of work of the suf...

Promissory Note
n.A written promise made by oner person to another to pay certain amount of money on demand or at a specified time in the future.It can also give other details like interst amount, installment payments,penalties for late payments,provision for legal fees if legal action involved.

Promoter
n.a person who initiates a business undertaking or corporation and is responsible to raise capital or funds for the new undertaking.He is either the major stock holder or the person responsible for management of the undertaking and receives stock for his efforts called "promational stock" which is limited as it is supported by effort and ...

Promotional Stock
a share in the stock of a newly formed corporation given to the prmoter for his efforts in setting up the organisation,raising capital by obtaining stock subsriptions or other sorts of finance.Promational stock is limited by most states as support is in the form of effort and not cash or assets.

Proof
It is a confirmation, persuation and establishment of the existence of the fact with the help of evidence. In the court of law, the judge has to be convinced or persuaded to believe a theory by presenting the evidence which is a proof whether certain things or act of opponent party is true or false.

Proper Party
A person or a firm who has an interest in the litigation (lawsuit) and therefore can be brought in or join the trial with their own wishes, is known as Proper party of the lawsuit. It differs from the term "necessary party" in which the party who has an interest in the litigation must be ordered by the court to join the lawsuit so that a ...

Property
Anything tangible or non tangible owned or possesed by someone in his/her own title. It can be real estate, land, factory, trademarks, etc. Property can be real, private, public, common, personal, separate with each has different meanings as per the name suggest.

Property Damage
Any form of injury or damage caused to the property, either personal or real, due to negligence or intentionally by the person who is not the owner or that can happen naturally.The wilful damage to any form of property is usually malicious.The intentional damages done to the real property differs from that to the personal property. The real propert...

Property Tax
It is a tax levied on the personal or real property on an annual basis as per the establishment of the value of tax by the assesors or municipal councils.