Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Constitution
1.The fundamental and organic law of a nation or state, establishing the conception, character, and organization of its government, as well as prescribing the extent of its sovereign power and the manner of its exercise.
Constitutiones tempore posteriores potiores sunt his quse ipsas praecesserunt
Later laws prevail over those that preceded them.
Constitutions of Clarendon
Hist. Statutes enacted in 1164, during the reign of Henry II, by which the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts was limited and the clerics' exemptions from secular jurisdiction were greatly narrowed.
Constitutum esse eam domum unicuique nostrum debere existimari, ubi quisque sedes et tabulas haberet, suarumque rerum constitutionem fecisset.
It is a settled principle that what ought to be considered the home of each of us is where he has his dwelling, keeps his records, and has established his business.
Dormant Commerce Clause. The constitutional principle that the Commerce Clause prevents state regulation of interstate commercial activity even when Congress has not acted under its Commerce Clause po
Commerce Court. See COURT
Nonconstitutional
adj. Of or relating to some legal basis or principle other than those of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution <the appellate court refused - on nonconstitutional procedural grounds - to hear the defendant's argument about cruel and unusual punishment. Cf. UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Novellae Constitutiones
See NOVELS.
Pacta quae contra leges constitutionesque vel contra bonos mores fount nullam vim habere, indubitati juris est
It is a matter of unquestionable law that contracts against the laws and statutes, or against moral standards, have no force.
Rigid constitution.
A constitution embodied in a special and distinct enactment, the terms of which cannot be altered by ordinary forms of legislation. 0 The U.S. Constitution, which cannot be changed without the consent of three-fourths of the state legislatures or through a constitutional convention, is of this type. unwritten constitution. The customs and values, some of which are expressed in statutes, that provide the organic and fundamental law of a state or country that does not have a single written law functioning as a constitution.2. The written instrument embodying this fundamental law.
Unconstitutional
adj. Contrary to or in conflict with a constitution, esp. the U.S. Constitution <the law is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee>. Cf. NONCONSTITUTIONAL.
comparative disparity. Constitutional law
The percentage of under representation of a particular group among potential jurors on a venire, in comparison with the group's percentage of the general population. ( Comparative disparity is calculated by subtracting a group's percentage of representation on the venire from the group's percentage of the population - that is, calculating the group's absolute-disparity representation - then dividing that percentage by the group's percentage-representation in the population, and multiplying the result by 100. For example, if African-Americans make up 12% of a county's population, and 8% of the potential jurors on the venire, the absolute disparity of African-Americans is 4%. And the comparative disparity is 33%, because 4 divided by 12 is .33, or 33%. Many courts criticize the comparative-disparity analysis, and favor an absolute-disparity analysis, because the comparative-disparity analysis is said to exaggerate the deviation. The reason for calculating the disparity is to analyze a claim that the jury was not impartial because it was not selected from a pool of jurors that fairly represented the makeup of the jurisdiction. See DUREN TEST; FAIR-CROSS-SECTION REQUIREMENT; STATISTICAL-DECISION THEORY. Cf. ABSOLUTE DISPARITY.
constitutional challenge
A lawsuit claiming that a law or governmental action is unconstitutional.
constitutional convention
An assembly of state or national delegates who meet to frame, amend, or revise their constitution.
constitutional court
A court named or described and expressly protected in a constitution.
constitutional freedom
A basic liberty guaranteed by the Constitution or Bill of Rights, such as the freedom of speech. - Also termed constitutional protection.
constitutional homestead
See HOMESTEAD,
constitutional homestead.
A homestead, along with its exemption from forced sale, conferred on the head of a household by a state constitution.
constitutional immunity
Immunity created by a constitution.
constitutional law
1 The body of law deriving from the U.S. Constitution and dealing primarily with governmental powers, civil rights, and civil liberties. 2. The body of legal rules that determine the constitution of a state with an flexible constitution.
constitutional limitation
A onstitutional provision that restricts the powers of a governmental branch, department, agency, or officer.
constitutional monarchy
See limited monarchy under MONARCHY.
constitutional office
A public position that is created by a constitution, rather than by a statute.
constitutional officer
A government official whose office is created by a constitution, rather than by a statute; one whose term of office is fixed and defined by a constitution. constitutional protection See CONSTITUTION AL FREEDOM.
constitutional question
A legal issue resolvable by the interpretation of a constitution, rather than a statute.
constitutional right
A right guaranteed by a constitution; esp., one guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or by a state constitution. -
constitutional taking
See TAKING (2),
constitutional tort
A violation of one's constitutional rights by a government officer, redressable by a civil action filed directly against the officer. ( A constitutional tort committed under color of state law (such as a civil-rights violation) is actionable under 42 USCA ยง 1983.
constitutional, adj
1 Of or relating to a constitution <constitutional rights>. 2. Proper under a constitution <constitutional actions>.
constitutional-fact doctrine
1. The rule that federal courts are not bound by an administrative agency's findings of fact when the facts involve whether the agency has exceeded constitutional limitations on its power, esp. regarding personal rights. * Instead, the courts are charged with making an independent inquiry based on the record. 2. The now discredited rule that a federal appellate court is not bound by a trial court's findings of fact when constitutional rights are implicated. Cf. JURISDICTIONALFACT DOCTRINE.
constitutionality
n. The quality or state of being constitutional <the constitutionality of the senator's bill is questionable>.
constitutionalize, ub
1 To provide with a constitution <constitutionalize the new government. 2. To make constitutional; to bring in line with a constitution <the court plans to constitutionalize the segregated school district > . 3. To make a constitutional question out of a question of law <the dissenter accused the majority of unnecessarily constitutionalizing its decision>.
constitutiones principum.
[Latin] Roman law. Roman imperial enactments, which were the sole form of legislation in the third century A.D.
flexible constitution
A constitution that is not defined or set apart in a distinct document and that is not distinguishable from other law in the way in which its terms can be legislatively altered. ( The British constitution is of this type.
flexible constitution.
See CONSTITUTION
legatine constitution
Hist. Eccles. law. A code of ecclesiastical laws enacted in English national synods in 1220 and 1268. ( The synods were held under papal legates during the reign of Henry III.
manifest constitutional error
An error by the trial court that has an identifiably negative impact on the trial to such a degree that the constitutional rights of a party are compromised. ( A manifest constitutional error can be reviewed by a court of appeals even if the appellant did not object at trial.
rigid constitution
See CONSTITUTION,
unconstitutional-conditions doctrine
The principle that a government may not condition the receipt of government benefits on the recipient's surrender of constitutional rights (esp. First Amendment rights). ( For example, a television station that receives public funds cannot be forced to refrain from endorsing political candidates.
unwritten constitution
See CONSTITUTION.