Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Demeanor
Outward appearance or behavior, such as facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, and the hesitation or readiness to answer questions. ( In evaluating a witness's credibility, the jury may consider the witness's demeanor.
Misdemeanor
1. A crime that is less serious than a felony and is usu. punishable by fine, penalty, forfeiture, or confinement (usu. for a brief term) in a place other than prison (such as a county jail). - Also termed minor crime; summary offense. Cf. FELONY. "'Misdemeanor' was the label ultimately adopted to apply to all offenses other than treason or felony. The term included a wide variety of wrongs and misprisions. Many of the substantive legal principles and procedures applicable to felonies were not applied in the case of misdemeanors. The difference in treatment between felo vies and misdemeanors has carried over from common law to current practice, and today misdemeanors are often treated differently than felonies [in] the procedures employed in trying such cases as well as [in] the consequences of a conviction. The traditional distinction between felonies and misdemeanors has been abolished in England." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 15 (3d ed. 1982).
demeanor evidence
The behavior of a witness on the witness stand, to be considered by the fact-finder on the issue of credibility.
gross misdemeanor
A serious misdemeanor, though not a felony.
gross misdemeanor.
See MISDEMEANOR.
misdemeanor in office.
See official misconduct under MISCONDUCT.
misdemeanor-manslaughter rule.
The doctrine that a death occurring during the commission of a misdemeanor (or sometimes a nondangerous felony) is involuntary manslaughter. Many states and the Model Penal Code have abolished this rule. Cf. FELONY-MURDER RULE "Companion to the felony-murder rule is the so-called misdemeanor-manslaughter rule[:J ... Homicide resulting from the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an unlawful act, less than a dangerous felony, is manslaughter if the unlawful act is malum in se." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 108 (3d ed. 1982).
treasonable misdemeanor
See TREASONABLE MISDEMEANOR. 2. Archaic. Any crime, including a felony. "A crime, or misdemeanor, is an act committed, or omitted, in violation of a public law, either forbidding or commanding it. This general definition comprehends both crimes and misdemeanors; which, properly speaking, are mere synonymous terms: though, in common usage, the word, 'crimes,' is made to denote such offences as are of a deeper and more atrocious dye; while smaller faults, and omissions of less consequence, are comprised under the gentler names of 'misdemeanors' only." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 5 (1769).