Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Express malice
See malice
Malice
n. 1. The intent, without justification or excuse, to commit a wrongful act. 2. Reckless disregard of the law or of a person's legal rights. 3. Ill will; wickedness of heart. ( This sense is most typical in nonlegal contexts. -malicious, adj. "Malice means in law wrongful intention. It includes any intent which the law deems wrongful, and which therefore serves as a ground of liability. Any act done with such an intent is, in the language of the law, malicious, and this legal usage has etymology in its favour. The Latin malitia means badness, physical or moral -wickedness in disposition or in conduct - not specifically or exclusively ill-will or malevolence; hence the malice of English law, including all forms of evil purpose, design, intent, or motive. [But] intent is of two kinds, being either immediate or ulterior, the ulterior intent being commonly distinguished as the motive. The term malice is applied in law to both these forms of intent, and the result is a somewhat puzzling ambiguity which requires careful notice. When we say that an act is done maliciously, we mean one of two distinct things. We mean either that it is done intentionally, or that it is done with some wrongful motive." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 384 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947). "[M]alive in the legal sense imports (1) the absence of all elements of justification, excuse or recognized mitigation, and (2) the presence of either (a) an actual intent to cause the particular harm which is produced or harm of the same general nature, or (b) the wanton and wilful doing of an act with awareness of a plain and strong likelihood that such harm may result .... The Model Penal Code does not use 'malice' because those who formulated the Code had a blind prejudice against the word. This is very regrettable because it represents a useful concept despite some unfortunate language employed at times in the effort to express it." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 860 (3d ed. 1982).
actual malice
1 The deliberate intent to commit an injury, as evidenced by external circumstances. - Also termed express malice; malice in fact. Cf. implied malice. 2. Defamation. Knowledge (by the person who utters or publishes a defamatory statement) that a statement is false, or reckless disregard about whether the statement is true. 0 To recover for defamation, a plaintiff who is a public official or public figure must overcome the defendant's qualified privilege by proving the defendant's actual malice. And for certain other types of claims, a plaintiff must prove actual malice to recover presumed or punitive damages. - Also termed New York Times malice; constitutional malice.
common-law malice
See actual malice (2).
constructive malice
See implied malice.
express malice
1. Criminal law. The intent to kill or seriously injure arising from a deliberate, rational mind. 2. See actual malice (1). 3. Defamation. The bad-faith publication of defamatory material.
implied malice
Malice inferred from a person's conduct. - Also termed constructive malice; legal malice; malice in law. Cf. actual malice (1). malice in fact. See actual malice.
malice aforethought
The requisite mental state for common-law murder, encompassing any one of the following: (1) the intent to kill, (2) the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, (3) extremely reckless indifference to the value of human life (the so-called "abandoned and malignant heart"), or (4) the intent to commit a felony (which leads to culpability under the felony-murder rule). - Also termed premeditated malice; preconceived malice; malice prepense; malitia praecogitata. "Malice aforethought is the term which came into use during medieval times to indicate the mental element necessary in the felony of murder. It has been the subject of voluminous jurisprudential enquiry ...." J.W. Cecil Turner, Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law 27 (16th ed. 1952). "Every intentional killing is with malice aforethought unless under circumstances sufficient to constitute (1) justification, (2) excuse, or (3) mitigation." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 58 (3d ed. 1982).
malice exception
A limitation on a public official's qualified immunity, by which the official can face civil liability for willfully exercising discretion in a way that violates a known or well-established right. See qualified immunity under IMMUNITY (1).
malice in fact
See actual malice (1) under MALICE.
malice in law
See implied malice under MALICE.
malice prepense
See MALICE AFORETHOUGHT.
particular malice
See MALICE.
preconceived malice
See MALICE THOUGHT.
premeditated malice
See MALICE AFORETHOUGHT.
special malice
See particular malice under MALICE.
transferred malice
Malice directed to one person or object but instead harming another in the way intended for the first. °[IJf A shoots at B intending to kill him, but the shot actually kills C, this is held to be murder of C. So also if A throws a stone at one window and breaks another, it is held to be malicious damage to the window actually broken. This doctrine, which is known as the doctrine of transferred malice, applies only where the harm intended and the harm done are of the same kind. If A throws a stone at a human being and unintentionally breaks a window, he cannot be convicted of malicious damage to the window." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 382 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947).
universal malice
The state of mind of a person who determines to take a life on slight provocation, without knowing or caring who may be the victim.