Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters.
An international convention, convened on October 26, 1968, that provides the formal procedures for obtaining evidence in a foreign country, such as taking a deposition abroad. ( More than 27 countries are parties, including the United States, which became a signatory on October 7, 1972.
Matter
n. 1. A subject under consideration, esp. involving a dispute or litigation; CASE (1) <this is the only matter on the court's docket today. 2. Something that is to be tried or proved; an allegation forming the basis of a claim or defense <the matters raised in the plaintiffs complaint are not actionable under state law>.
Matter en ley ne serra mise en bouche del jurors
Matter of law shall not be put into the mouths of jurors.
accredited investor. An investor treated under the Securities Act of 1933 as being knowledgeable and sophisticated about financial matters, esp. because of the investor's large net worth. 0 In a secur
See REPRESENTATIVE.
collateral matter
Evidence. Any matter on which evidence could not have been introduced for a relevant purpose. If a witness has erred in testifying about a detail that is collateral to the relevant facts, then another party cannot call witnesses to contradict that point - cross-examination alone must suffice.
composition of matter
Patents. A patentable compound of material composed of two or more different substances; a product containing two or more substances, including all composite articles, whether resulting from chemical union or from mechanical mixture, and whether the substances are gases, fluids, powders, or solids."[A] composition of matter describes what most people imagine to be the goal of the typical laboratory inventor, since it is usually a new chemical invention, although it can be any composition of materials, not limited solely to chemicals." Arthur R. Miller & Michael H. Davis, Intellectual Property in a Nutshell 21 (2d ed. 1990).
ecclesiastical matter
A matter that concerns church doctrine, creed, or form of worship, or the adoption and enforcement, within a religious association, of laws and regulations to govern the membership, including the power to exclude from such an association those deemed unworthy of membership.
impertinent matter
Procedure. In pleading, matter that is not relevant to the action or defense. ( A federal court may strike any impertinent matter from a pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f). Cf. SCANDALOUS MATTER.
judgment as a matter of law
See JUDGMENT.
jurisdiction of the subject matter
See subject-matter jurisdiction.
matter in Pais
A matter of fact that has not been recorded in writing and that must therefore be proved by parol evidence.
matter in controversy
See AMOUNT IN CONTROVERSY.
matter in deed
1. A matter that can be proved by a writing under seal. 2. See matter o f fact.
matter o f record
A matter that has been entered on a judicial or other public record and therefore can be proved by producing that record.
matter of course
Something done as a part of a routine process or procedure.
matter of fact
A matter involving a judicial inquiry into the truth of alleged facts. - Also termed matter in deed.
matter of form
A matter concerned only with formalities or noncritical characteristics <the objection that the motion was incorrectly titled related to a matter of form>. Cf. matter of substance.
matter of law
A matter involving a judicial inquiry into the applicable law.
matter of substance
A matter concerning the merits or critical elements, rather than mere formalities <the party objected because the motion was based on a repealed statute that related to a matter of substance>. Cf. matter of form.
matter of.
See IN RE.
motion for judgment as a matter of law.
A party's request that the court enter a judgment in its favor before the case is submitted to the jury, or after a contrary jury verdict, because there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis on which a jury could find for the other party. ( Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may move for judgment as a matter of law anytime before the case has been submitted to the jury. This kind of motion was formerly known as a motion for directed verdict (and still is in many jurisdictions). If the motion is denied and the case is submitted to the jury, resulting in an unfavorable verdict, the motion may be renewed within ten days after entry of the judgment. This aspect of the motion replaces the court paper formerly known as a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50.
new matter
A matter not previously raised by either party in the pleadings, usu. involving new issues with new facts to be proved.
new matter.
See MATTER.
nude matter.
A mere allegation."[N]ude matter is not of so high nature, as either a mater of Record or a speciality, otherwise there called mater in deede; which maketh mee to thinke, that nude mater is a naked allegation of a thing done, to be proved only by witnesses, and not either by Record, or other speciality in writing vnder seale." John Cowell, The Interpreter (1607).
scandalous matter
Civil procedure. A matter that is both grossly disgraceful (or defamatory) and irrelevant to the action or defense. ( A federal court - upon a party's motion or on its own - can order a scandalous matter struck from a pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f). Cf. IMPERM TINENT MATTER.
special matter
See MATTER.
subject matter
The issue presented for consideration; the thing in which a right or duty has been asserted; the thing in dispute. See CORPUS (2). - Sometimes written (as a noun) subjectmatter. - subject-matter, adj.
subject-matter jurisdiction
Jurisdiction over the nature of the case and the type of relief sought; the extent to which a court can rule on the conduct of persons or the statusof things. - Also termed jurisdiction of the subject matter.
subject-matter test
A method of determining whether an employee's communication with a corporation's lawyer was made at the direction of the employee's supervisors and in the course and scope of the employee's employment, so as to be protected under the attorney-client privi- lege, despite the fact that the employee is not a member of the corporation's control group. Harper & Row Pubs., Inc. v. Decker, 423 F.2d 487 (7th Cir. 1970), affd per curiam by equally divided Court, 400 U.S. 348, 91 S.Ct. 479 (1971). - Also termed Decker test. Cf. CONTROLGROUP TEST.