Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
A federal agency that carries out the nonjudicial business of the federal courts.The Administrative Office collects statistics on the courts, supervises the administrative personnel, disburses the payroll, and performs other similar functions.
Archdeacon s court
see court of archdeacon.
Archdiaconal court
see court of archdeacon.
Arches court of canterbury
see court of arches.
Article 1 Court
See legislative court.
Article 111 Court
See ARTICLE III COURT.
Article i court
see legislative court under court.
Article iii court
a federal court that, deriving its jurisdiction from u.s. const. Art. Iii, § 2, hears cases arising under the constitution and the laws and treaties of the united states, cases in which the united states is a party, and cases between the states and between citizens of different states.
BCD special court-martial
A special court-martial in which a possible punishment is a bad-conduct discharge (a "BCD").
Bail court
hist. An ancillary court of queen's bench responsible for ensuring that bail sureties were worth the sums pledged (i.e., hearing justifications) and handling other procedural matters. 0 the court was established in 1830 and abolished in 1854. - also termed practice court.
Bankruptcy court
1. A u.s. district court that is exclusively concerned with administering bankruptcy proceedings. 2. The bankruptcy judges within a given district, considered as making up a court that is a subunit of a u.s. district court.
Baronial court
Hist. A feudal court established by the owner of extensive lands held directly of the king under military tenure.
Base court.
see court
Basement court
slang. A low-level court of limited jurisdiction, such as a police court, traffic court, municipal court, or small-claims court.
Bishop's Court.
Hist. Eccles. law. A court held in the cathedral of each diocese, the judge being the bishop's chancellor, who applied civil canon law. 0 The jurisdiction included appeals from the Court of Archdeacon. In a large diocese, t 1 bishop's chancellor would have commissaries remote parts who held consistory courts. See CONSISTORY COURT.
Central American Court of Justice
A court created by a 1908 convention between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, to guarantee the rights of the various republics to maintain peace and harmony in their relations and to prevent recourse to the use of force. ( The convention expired after ten years, and the court ceased to exist in 1918.
Central Criminal Court
The Crown Court sitting in London, formerly known as the Old Bailey. ( The Central Criminal Court, created in 1834, has jurisdiction to try all indictable offenses committed in London. See CROWN COURT.
Central Criminal Court Act
See PALMER'S ACT.
Chancery Court of York
Eccles. law. The ecclesiastical court of the province of York, responsible for appeals from provincial diocesan courts. Cf. COURT OF ARCHES.
Claims Court
U.S. See UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS. claims-made policy See INSURANCE POLICY. See INSURANCE POLICY.
Commerce Court
Hist. A federal court having the power to review and enforce determinations of the Interstate Commerce Commission. ( The Commerce Court existed from 1910 to 1913.
Coram Rege Court
See KING'S BENCH.
Court
n.1.A governmental body consisting of one or more judges who sit to adjudicate disputes and administer justice <a question of law for the court to decide>. "A court ... is a permanently organized body, with independent judicial powers defined by law, meeting at a time and place fixed by law for the judicial public administration of justice." 1 William J. Hughes, Federal Practice, Jurisdiction & Procedure § 7, at 8 (1931). 2. The judge or judges who sit on such a governmental body < the court asked the parties to approach the bench>. 3. A legislative assembly <in Massachusetts, the General Court is the legislature>. 4. The locale for a legal proceeding < an out-of-court statement>. 5. The building where the judge or judges convene to adjudicate disputes and administer justice <the lawyers agreed to meet at the court at 8:00 a.m.>. - Also termed (in sense 5) courthouse.
Court for Consideration of Crown Cases Reserved
Hist. A court established in 1848 to review questions of law arising in criminal cases. 9 Trial judges posed the postverdict questions of law to the Court, which decided whether error had been committed. The Court was abolished in 1907, and its jurisdiction was transferred to the Court of Criminal Appeal. -Also termed Court for Crown Cases Reserved . "It was an old practice for the judge, in case of a conviction, if he felt a doubt as to the law, to respite judgment or sentence, and discuss the matter informally with the other judges. If they thought that the prisoner had been improperly convicted, he was pardoned. Statutory authority was given to this practice in 1848 by the establishment of the court for Crown Cases Reserved. All the judges were members of this court; and five, of whom the Lord Chief Justice must be one, formed a quorum." 1 William Holdsworth, A History of English Law 217 (7th ed. 1956).
Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes
Hist. A court exercising jurisdiction over family issues, such as legitimacy and divorce. ( The Court, which was established in 1857, acquired the matrimonial jurisdiction previously exercised by the ecclesiastical courts. It consisted of the Lord Chancellor, the Chief Justices of the Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of Exchequer, the senior puisne judges of the last three courts, and the Judge Ordinary. In most instances, the Judge Ordinary heard the cases. The Judicature Act of 1873 abolished the Court and transferred its jurisdiction to the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division (now Family Division) of the High Court of Justice.
Court for the Correction of Errors
A court having jurisdiction to review a lower court. ( The name was formerly used in New York and South Carolina.
Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors
Hist. A court located in London with jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters. ( The Bankruptcy Act of 1861 abolished the Court.
Court of Admiralty
See HIGH COURT OF ADMI. RALTY.
Court of Appeal
An English court of civil and criminal appellate jurisdiction established by the Judicature Acts of 1873 and( 1875. The court is made up of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, President of the Family Division, Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division, former Lord Chancellors, Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and Lords Justices of Appeal. In practice it is made up of the Master of Rolls and the Lords Justices. It sits in several divisions, each having three members.
Court of Appeal in Chancery
Hist. An English court of intermediate appeal in equity cases, established in 1851 and abolished in 1873-1875, when its jurisdiction was transferred to the Court of Appeal.
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
See UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ARMED FORCES.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
See UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT.
Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
Hist. A court responsible for reviewing state-court decisions concerning British ships captured by American privateers during the War of Independence. ( The Court was established by Congress under the Articles of Confederation and served as the chief U.S. court from 1780 to 1787. It was the first federal court in the United States.
Court of Appeals, U.S
See UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS.
Court of Archdeacon
Hist. Eccles. law. An inferior ecclesiastical court with jurisdiction over cases arising within the archdeaconry and probate matters. 9 Appeal was to the Bishop's Court. The Court of Archdeacon was abolished in 1967. - Also termed Archdeacon's Court; Archidiaconal Court (ahr-ka-dI-akan-al).
Court of Arches
Eccles. law. The ecclesiastical court of the province of Canterbury, responsible for various appeals from provincial diocesan courts. ( The court handled probate cases until the Court of Probate acquired jurisdiction in 1857. The Pope heard appeals from the Court of Arches until the break with Rome prompted a transfer of the appellate jurisdiction to the royal courts. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council now hears certain appeals from the Court of Arches. - Also termed Arches Court of Canterbury; Court of Canterbury; Court of the Official Principal. Cf. CHANCERY COURT OF YORK. "The Court of Arches is the provincial court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is held by a judge generally called the Dean of the Arches. Its jurisdiction was important while testamentary cases were dealt with in the Ecclesiastical Courts. The name is derived from the fact that the court was originally held in the Church of St. Mary-Le-Bow (Ecclesia Beatae Mariae de Areubus), the steeple of which is raised on stone pillars formed archwise like bent bows." W.J.V. Windeyer, Lectures on Legal History 184 n.11 (2d ed. 1949).
Court of Assistants
Hist. A colonial body organized in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 to act as a legislature and court for the colony. See GENERAL COURT. "The court of assistants, made up of governor, deputy governor, and magistrates, heard appeals from lower courts, and took original jurisdiction in certain cases -for example, cases of divorce. Below it were the county courts." Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law 40 (2d ed. 1985).
Court of Attachments
Hist. An inferior forest court with jurisdiction over trespasses of the royal forests. ( The judges of this court (the uerderers) met every 40 days to hear charges made by the royal foresters. Major trespass cases were heard by the justices in eyre. - Also termed wood-mote. See VERDERER.
Court of Audience
Hist. Eccles. law. A court in which the two archbishops exercise personal jurisdiction. ( This court was abolished in 1963. "Just as the bishop did not deprive himself of all jurisdiction by delegation to an official or commissary, so the archbishop did not originally deprive himself of all jurisdiction by delegation to the official principal. He possessed a jurisdiction concurrent with that of the court of the Arches, which was exercised in the court of Audience. In later times this jurisdiction was exercised by the judge of the court of Audience. At one time the archbishop may have exercised a considerable part of this jurisdiction in this court." 1 William Holdsworth, A History of English Law 601 (7th ed. 1956).
Court of Augmentations
Hist. A court established in 1536 by Henry VIII to determine controversies arising from the royal policy of taking over property owned by monasteries.The court was merged into the Court of Exchequer in 1554.
Court of Canterbury
See COURT OF ARCHES.
Court of Cassation
The highest court of France. ( The court's name derives from its power to quash (casser) the decrees of inferior courts. - Also termed (more formally) Cour de Cassation.
Court of Civil Appeals
An intermediate appellate court in some states, such as Alabama and (formerly) Texas.
Court of Common Pleas
1. Hist. A superior court having jurisdiction of all real actions and common pleas (i.e., actions between subjects). ( The Court was presided over by a chief justice with four (later five) puisne judges. In 1873 it became the Common Pleas Division of the High Court of Justice. In 1881 it merged into the Queen's Bench Division. 2. An intermediatelevel court in some states, such as Arkansas. 3. A trial court of general jurisdiction in some states, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. - Also termed Court of Common Bench. - Abbr. C.P. "Common pleas is the kings Court now held in W estminster hall, but in auncient time moveable, as appeareth by the statute called Magna charta .... [U]ntill the time that Henry the third granted the great charter, there were but two courts in all, called the Kings courts: whereof one was the Exchequer, and the other, the kings bench, which was then called (curia Domini regis) and (aula regis) because it followed the court or king: and that upon the grant of that charter, the court of common pleas was erected and setled in one place certaine: viz. at Westminster .... All civill causes both reall and personall are, or were in former times, tryed in this court, according to the strict laws of the realms: and by Fortescue, cap. 50 it seemeth to have bene the onely court for reall causes." John Cowell, The Interpreter (1607).
Court of Convocation
Eccles. law. An assembly of high-ranking provincial officials and minor clergy having jurisdiction over cases of heresy, schism, and other purely ecclesiastical matters.
Court of Criminal Appeals
1. For each armed service, an intermediate appellate court that reviews court-martial decisions. ( The court was established by the Military Justice Act of 1968. 10 USCA §§ 859-876. - Formerly termed Court of Military Review (abbr. CMR). 2. In some jurisdictions, such as Texas and Oklahoma, the highest appellate court that hears criminal cases.
Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
Hist. An Article III court created in 1929 to hear appeals in customs and patent cases. ( This court was abolished in 1982 and was superseded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Court of Delegates
Hist. Eccles. law. A court serving as the final court of appeal for admiralty and ecclesiastical matters. ( The Court was established in 1534 to serve in the stead of the Papal Curia when the English Church severed its ties with the Papacy. Six delegates made up the Court, usu. three persons trained in common law and three in civil law. This mixture led to confused rulings and unreliable precedents that hindered the Court's credibility and ultimately led to its dissolution. The Court was abolished in 1833 and its jurisdiction transferred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. - Also termed High Court of Delegates. "The crown had an absolute discretion as to the person to be appointed. But, as the lawyers of Doctors' Commons were the only lawyers acquainted with canon or civil law, certain of them were usually included in the commission .... It is not surprising to find that the [Court of Delegates] was unsatisfactory. It was a shifting body, so that no general rules of procedure could be established. It did not as a rule give reasons for its decisions. Its members were only paid a guinea a day; and consequently it was usually composed of the junior civilians. On them, the judges of the common law courts, appointed as delegates, were obliged to rely for their law. In consequence of the dissatisfaction felt at its working the Ecclesiastical Commission of 1832, in a special report, recommended the transfer of its jurisdiction to the Privy Council ...." 1 William Holdaworth, A History of English Law 605 (7th ed. 1956).
Court of Earl Marshal
See HIGH COURT OF CHIVALRY.
Court of Errors and Appeals
Hist. Formerly, the court of last resort in New Jersey and New York. - Also termed High Court of Errors and Appeals.