Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Circumstance
n. (often. pl.) An accompanying or accessory fact, event, or condition, such as a piece of evidence that indicates the probability of an event. - circumstantial, adj.aggravating circumstance. 1. A fact or situation that increases the degree of liability or culpability for a tortious or criminal act. 2. A fact or situation that relates to a criminal offense or defendant and that is considered by the court in imposing punishment (esp. a death sentence). ( Aggravating circumstances in death-penalty cases are usu. prescribed by statute. - Also termed aggravating element; aggravating factor. Cf. mitigating circumstance.
aggravating circumstance.
see circumstance.
change of circumstances
Family law. A modification in the physical, emotional, or financial condition of one or both parents, used to show the need to modify a custody or support order. - Also termed changed circumstances.
changed circumstances
See change of circumstances under CIRCUMSTANCE.
duress of circumstances
See NECESSITY (1).
exigent circumstances
A situation that demands unusual or immediate action and that may allow people to circumvent usual procedures, as when a neighbor breaks through a window of a burning house to save someone inside.
extenuating circumstance
See mitigating circumstance.
extraordinary circumstances
A highly unusual set of facts that are not commonly associated with a particular thing or event.
failing circumstances
See INSOLVENCY.
incriminating circumstance
A situation or fact showing either that a crime was committed or that a particular person committed it.
material change in circumstances
Family law. An involuntary occurrence that, if it had been known at the time of the divorce decree, would have resulted in the court's issuing a different decree, as when an involuntary job loss creates a need to modify the decree to provide for reduced child-support payments.
mitigating circumstance
. A fact or situation that does not justify or excuse a wrongful act or offense but that reduces the degree of culpability and thus may reduce the damages y (in a civil case) or the punishment ( in a criminal case). 2. A fact or situation that,-a not bear on the question of a defendant guilt but that is considered by the court in imposing punishment and esp. in lessee .the severity of a sentence. 3. Contracts unusual or unpredictable event that prevents performance, such as a labor strike. -termed extenuating circumstance.
necessitous circumstances
The situation of one who is very poor; extreme want.
special-circumstances rule
See SPECIAL-FACTS RULE.
surrounding circumstances
The facts underlying an act, injury, or transaction - usu. one at issue in a legal proceeding.
totality-of-the-circumstances test
Criminal procedure. A standard for determining whether hearsay (such as an informant's tip) is sufficiently reliable to establish probable cause for an arrest or search warrant. ( Under this test - which replaced Aguilar-Spinelli's twopronged approach - the reliability of the hear- say is weighed by focusing on the entire situation as described in the probable-cause affidavit, and not on any one specific factor. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317 (1983). Cf. AGUILAR-SPINELLI TEST.