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Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.

Flag

n. 1. A usu. rectangular piece of cloth, bunting, or other material decorated with a distinctive design and used as a symbol or signal. 2. Something symbolized by the display of a flag, such as a ship or nationality. See DUTY OF THE FLAG; LAW OF THE FLAG.

duty of the flag.

Hist. A maritime ceremony by which a foreign vessel struck her flag and lowered her topsail upon meeting the British flag. ( The ceremony was an acknowledgment of British sovereignty over the British seas.

flag desecration.

The act of mutilating, defacing, burning, or flagrantly misusing a flag. ( Flag desecration is constitutionally protected as a form of free speech. United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310, 110 S.Ct. 2404 (1990).

flag of convenience

Int'l law. A national flag flown by a ship not because the ship or its crew has an affiliation with the nation, but because the lax controls and modest fees and taxes imposed by that nation have attracted the owner to register it there. 0 After World War II, ship owners began registering their ships in countries such as Panama, Liberia, and Honduras to avoid expensive and restrictive national regulation of labor, safety, and other matters. Since the late 1950s, there has been increasing international pressure to require a "genuine link" between a ship and its flag state, but this reform has been slow in coming. - Abbr. FOC.

flag of truce

Int'l law. A white flag used as a signal when one belligerent wishes to communicate with the other in the field. 9 The bearers of such a flag may not be fired on, injured, or taken prisoner, as long as they carry out their mission in good faith.

flag state.

The state under whose flag a ship sails. A ship may fly the flag of one state only.

flagrans bellum

[Latin "raging war"] A war currently being waged.

flagrans crimen

[Latin] A crime in the very act of its commission or of recent occurrence; a fresh crime.

flagrante bello

[Latin] During an actual state of war.

flagrante delicto

See IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO.

furca et flagellum

[Law Latin] Hist. Gallows and whip. 0 This referred to the basest of servile tenures - the tenant was completely at the mercy of the lord.

law of the flag

Maritime law. The law of the nation whose flag is flown by a particular vessel. ( A shipowner who sends a vessel into a foreign port gives notice by the flag to all potential contracting parties of the owner's intent for that law to regulate all contracts made involving the ship or its cargo.

tenure ad furcam et flagellum

[Latin] Hist. Tenure by gallows and whip. ( This was the meanest of the servile tenures - the bondman was at the disposal of the lord for life and limb.