Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Court of Magistrates and Freeholders
Hist. A South Carolina court with criminal jurisdiction over alleged offenses committed by slaves and free persons of color.
Free
adj. 1. Having legal and political rights; enjoying political and civil liberty <a free citizen> <a free populace>. 2. Not subject to the constraint or domination of another; enjoying personal freedom; emancipated <a free person >. 3. Characterized by choice, rather than by compulsion or constraint <free will>. 4. Unburdened <the land was free of any encumbrances > . 5. Not confined by force or restraint <free from prison>. 6. Unrestricted and unregulated <free trade>. 7. Costing nothing; gratuitous <free tickets to the game>. - freely, adu.
Free Exercise Clause.
The constitutional provision (U.S. Const. amend. I) prohibiting the government from interfering in people's religious practices or forms of worship. - Also termed Exercise Clause. Cf. ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE. free fishery. See FISHERY (1).
Freedom
1. The state of being free or liberated. 2. A political right.
Freedom of Information Act
The federal statute that establishes guidelines for public disclosure of documents and materials created and held by federal agencies. :i ITSC-1 ยง 552. Abbr. FOIA.
Freehold
n. 1. An estate in land held in fee simple, in fee tail, or for term of life. 0 At common law, these estates were all created by enfeoffment with livery of seisin. 2. The tenure by which such an estate is held. - Also termed freehold estate; freehold interest; franktenement; liberum tenementum. Cf LEASEHOLD.
Freeze
ub. 1. To cause to become fixed and unable to increase <to freeze interest rates> <to freeze prices>. 2. To make immobile by government mandate or banking action <to freeze assets>. 3. To cease physical movement, esp. when ordered by a law enforcement officer <the police officer shouted at the suspect to freeze>.
Freezee
n. A person or entity subjected to a freeze-out.
North American Free Trade Agreement
A trilateral treaty - entered into on January 1, 1994 between the United States, Canada, and Mexico - that phases out all tariffs and eliminates many nontariff barriers (such as quotas) inhibiting the free trade of goods between the participating nations. - Abbr. NAFTA.
Wreckfree
adj. (Of a port, etc.) exempt from the forfeiture of shipwrecked goods and vessels to the Crown.
academic freedom
The right (esp. of a university teacher) to speak freely about political or ideological issues without fear of loss of position or other reprisal.
administrative freeze.
Bankruptcy. The refusal by a debtor's bank to permit withdrawals from the debtor's bank account after the bank learns that the debtor has filed bankruptcy, usu. because the debtor owes money to the bank in addition to maintaining funds on deposit.
constitutional freedom
A basic liberty guaranteed by the Constitution or Bill of Rights, such as the freedom of speech. - Also termed constitutional protection.
contract, freedom of
See FREEDOM OF CON. TRACT.
credit freeze
A period when the government restricts bank-lending.
customary freehold
See COPYHOLD.
drug-free zone
An area in which the possession or distribution of a controlled substance results in an increased penalty. ( Drug-free zones are often established, for example, around public schools.
duty-free, adj
Of or relating to products of foreign origin that are not subject to import or export taxes.
estate freeze
An estate-planning maneuver whereby an owner of a closely held business exchanges common stock for dividend-paying preferred stock and gives the common stock to his or her children, thus guaranteeing a pension and avoiding estate tax.
estate less than freehold
See ESTATE.
expression, freedom of
See FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
free agency
n. A professional athlete's ability to negotiate an employment contract with any team in the league, rather than being confined to the league's collective system. (Free agency is usu. granted to veteran players who have been in the league for a certain number of years. - free agent, n. Cf. RESERVE CLAUSE. free alms. See FRANKALMOIN.
free alongside ship
A mercantile term designating that the seller is responsible for delivering the goods to the dock and for paying the costs of delivery there. 0 When the seller delivers the goods to the specified dock, the risk of loss passes to the buyer. The abbreviation F.A.S. is more common than the full phrase; it is sometimes erroneously thought to stand for free along side as opposed to free alongside ship. Cf. FREE ON BOARD; COST, INSURANCE, AND FREIGHT.
free and clear
adj. Unencumbered by any liens; marketable <free and clear title>.
free and common socage.
See free socage under SOCAGE.
free and equal
adj. (Of an election) conducted so that the electorate has a reasonable opportunity to vote, with each vote given the same effect.
free bench
Hist. A widow's (and occasionally a widower's) interest in the deceased spouse's estate. ( Free bench gave the surviving spouse a half interest in the estate until death or remarriage. - Also termed francus bancus; frank bank; liber bancus. "The bench in question was, we may guess . . . a bench at the fireside. The surviving spouse has in time past been allowed to remain in the house along with the children. In the days when families kept together, the right of the widower or widow to remain at the fireside may have borne a somewhat indefinite character .... By way of 'free bench' the surviving spouse now has the enjoyment of one-half of the land until death or second marriage, whether there has ever been a child of the marriage or no." 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward 1419 (2d ed. 1899).
free chapel
Hist. Eccles. law. A church founded by the Crown (or by a person under royal grant) and not subject to the bishop's jurisdiction."[T]hose onely are Free-chappels, which are of the King's Foundation, and by him exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Ordinary; but the King may licence a Subject to found such a Chappel, and by his Charter exempt it from the Ordinaries Visitation also .... [Ilt is called free, in respect of its exemption from the Jurisdiction of the Diocesan ...." Thomas Blount, Nomo-Lexicon: A LawDictionary (1670).
free city.
Int'l law. A country-like political and territorial entity that, although independent in principle, does not have the full capacity to act according to general international law but is nevertheless a subject of international law.
free election
An election in which the political system and processes guarantee that each voter will be allowed to vote according to conscience.
free election.
See ELECTION.
free enterprise.
A private and consensual system of production and distribution, usu. conducted for a profit in a competitive environment that is relatively free of governmental interference. See CAPITALISM.
free entry, egress, and regress
Hist. A person's right to go on land as often as reasonably necessary. ( A tenant could go on land to gather crops still growing after the tenancy expired.
free fishery.
An exclusive right of fishery, existing by grant or prescription from the monarch, to take fish in public water such as a river or an arm of the sea. - Also termed libera piscaria.
free ice.
Hist. Ice in navigable streams that does not belong to the adjacent riparian owner or to another with the right to appropriate it, but that belongs to the person who first appropriates it.
free law.
Hist. The civil rights enjoyed by a freeman (as opposed to a serf). ( Free law could be forfeited if the freeman was convicted of treason or an infamous crime.
free market
See open market.
free market.
See open market under MARKET
free of all average
Maritime law. Insurance that covers a total loss only. - Abbr. FAA.
free on board
A mercantile term denoting that the seller is responsible for delivering goods on board a ship or other conveyance for carriage to the consignee at a specified location <FOB Indianapolis plant>. ( The seller must deliver the goods to the vessel named and has the risk of loss until the goods reach that location. -Abbr. FOB. Cf. FREE ALONGSIDE SHIP; COST, INSURANCE, AND FREIGHT.
free port.
A port located outside a country's customs frontier, so that goods may be delivered usu. free of import duties or taxes, without being subjected to customs-control procedures; FREE-TRADE ZONE.
free rider
One who obtains an economic benefit at another's expense without contributing to it. - Also spelled freerider.
free socage
Socage in which the services were both certain and honorable. ( By the statute 12 Car. 2, ch. 24 (1660), all the tenures by knight-service were, with minor exceptions, converted into free socage. - Also termed free and common socage; liberum socagium.
free trade
n. The open and unrestricted import and export of goods without barriers, such as quotas or tariffs, other than those charged only as a revenue source, as opposed to those designed to protect domestic businesses. Cf. protective tariff under TARIFF (2
free warren
A warren privilege giving the grantee the sole right to kill the wildlife to the extent of the grantee's warren area. -Also termed libera warrena. "Free warren is a . . . franchise, erected for preservation or custody ... of beasts and fowls of warren; which being ferae naturae, every one had a right to kill as he could; but upon the introduction of the forest laws . . . these animals being looked upon as royal game and the sole property of our savage monarchs, this franchise of free warren was invented to protect them; by giving the grantee a sole and exclusive power of killing such game . . . on condition of his preventing other persons. A man therefore that has the franchise of warren is in reality no more than a royal gamekeeper; but no man, not even a lord of a manor, could by common law justify sporting on another's soil, or even on his own, unless he had the liberty of free warren." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 38-39 (1766).
free warren.
See WARREN.
free-bord
Hist. 1. A small strip of land (usu. 2'k feet wide and lying just outside a fence) that the owner of the fenced property was allowed to claim and use. 2. The right of claiming that quantity of land. - Also spelled freebord; free bord; free-board. - Also termed francbordus.
free-trade zone.
A duty-free area within a country to promote commerce, esp. transshipment and processing, without entering into the country's market. Also termed foreign trade zone; free port.
freedman
Hist. An emancipated slave.
freedom of assembly
See RIGHT OF ASSEMBLY.