Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Legislative
adj. Of or relating to lawmaking or to the power to enact laws. legislative apportionmentSee APPORTION. MENT.
dormant legislative intent
See LEGISLATIVE INTENT.
legislative branch
The branch of government responsible for enacting laws; LEGISLATURE. Cf. EXECUTIVE BRANCH; JUDICIAL BRANCH.
legislative committee
A group of legislators appointed to help a legislature conduct its business, esp. by providing careful consideration of proposals for new legislation within a particular field so that the entire body can handle its work efficiently without wasting time and effort on unmeritorious submissions.
legislative council
1 A state agency that studies legislative problems and plans legislative strategy between regular legislative sessions. 2. In some English-speaking jurisdictions, the upper house of a legislature (corresponding to an American senate). 3. In some English-speaking jurisdictions, the lower house of a legislature (corresponding to an American House of Representatives).
legislative counsel
A person or group charged with helping legislators fulfill their legislative duties, as by performing research, drafting bills, and the like.
legislative court
A court created by a statute, as opposed to one authorized by a constitution. - Also termed (in federal law) Article 1 court.
legislative district
See DISTRICT,
legislative districting
The process of dividing a state into territorial districts to be represented in the state or federal legislature. See APPORTIONMENT; GERRYMANDERING; REAPPORTIONMENT.
legislative divorce
See DIVORCE
legislative divorce. Hist
1. The legal termination of a particular marriage, enacted by the legislature rather than by a court. o Legislative divorces once existed in New England, but now courts perform all divorces. 2. See parliamentary divorce.
legislative fact
See FACT,
legislative function
1 The duty to determine legislative policy. 2. The duty to form and determine future rights and duties. See LEGISLATIVE POWER.
legislative history
The background and events leading to the enactment of a statute, including hearings, committee reports, and floor debates. ( Legislative history is sometimes recorded so that it can later be used to aid in interpreting the statute. legislative immunitySee IMMUNITY (1),
legislative immunity
The immunity of a legislator from civil liability arising from the performance of legislative duties. See congressional immunity.
legislative intent
The design or plan that the legislature had at the time of enacting a statute. - Also termed intention of the legislature; intent of the legislature; congressional intent; parliamentary intent. "The intention of the legislature is a common but very slippery phrase, which, popularly understood, may signify anything from intention embodied in positive enactment to speculative opinion as to what the legislature probably would have meant, although there has been an omission to enact it. In a court of law or equity, what the legislature intended to be done or not to be done can only be legitimately ascertained from that which it has chosen to enact, either in express words or by reasonable and necessary implication." Soloman v. Salomon & Co., [1897] A.C. 22, at 38 (as quoted in Rupert Cross, Statutory Interpretation 36-37 (1976)).
legislative intent.
See LEGISLATIVE INTENT.
legislative investigation
A formal inquiry conducted by a legislative body incident to its legislative authority. ( A legislature has many of the same powers as a court to support a legislative inquiry, including the power to subpoena and cross-examine a witness and to hold a witness in contempt.
legislative jurisdiction
A legislature's general sphere of authority to enact laws and conduct all business related to that authority, such as holding hearings.
legislative law
See STATUTORY LAW
legislative officer
See OFF 1R (1
legislative officer.
1. A member of a federal, state, or municipal legislative body. 2. A government official whose duties relate primarily to the enactment of laws, such as a federal or state congressman. ( State and federal constitutions generally restrict legislative officers' duties to the enactment of legislation. But legislative officers occasionally exercise judicial functions, such as presenting or hearingcases of impeachment of other government officers.
legislative power
Constitutional law. The power to make laws and to alter them at discretion; a legislative body's exclusive authority to make, amend, and repeal laws. 0 Under federal law, this power is vested in Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A legislative body may delegate a portion of its lawmaking authority to agencies within the executive branch for purposes of rulemaking and regulation. But a legislative body may not delegate its authority to the judicial branch, and the judicial branch may not encroach on legislative duties.
legislative privilege
Defamation. The privilege protecting (1) any statement made in a legislature by one of its members, and (2) any paper published as part of legislative business. - Also termed (in a parliamentary system) parliamentary privilege.
legislative rule
An administrative rule created by an agency's exercise of delegated quasi-legislative authority. ( A legislative rule has the force of law. - Also termed substantive rule. Cf. INTERPRETATIVE RULE.
legislative veto
A veto that allowed Congress to block a federal executive or agency action taken under congressionally delegated authority. 9 The Supreme Court held the legislative veto unconstitutional in INS u. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 103 S.Ct. 2764 (1983). See DELEGATION DOCTRINE.
legislative-equivalency doctrine
The rule that a law should be amended or repealed only by the same procedures that were used to enact it.
quasi-legislative
adj. (Of an act, function, etc.) not purely legislative in nature <the administrative agency's rulemaking, being partly adjudicative, is not entirely legislative - that is, it is quasi-legislative>.
quasi-legislative power
See POWER.