Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Merchant
One whose business is buying and selling goods for profit; esp., a person or entity that holds itself out as having expertise peculiar to the goods in which it deals and is therefore held by the law to a higher standard of expertise than a nonmerchant is held. ( Because the term relates solely to goods, a supplier of services is not considered a merchant.
Merchant Shipping Acts
English statutes to improve shipping conditions by, among other things, vesting the superintendence of merchant shipping in the board of trade. merchet (mar-chet). See MARCHET.
Merchantman
Archaic. A vessel employed in foreign or interstate commerce or in the merchant service.
commission merchant
See FACTOR.
foreign merchants
( In exchange for paying customs duties, merchants received extensive trading rights throughout England, the power to export their merchandise, the liberty to dwell where they pleased, and certain legal rights. - Also termed Statutum de Nova Custuma. cart-bote. See plowbote under BOTE (1
good and merchantable abstract of title
An abstract of title showing clear, good, and marketable title, rather than showing only the history of the property. See clear title, good title, and marketable title under TITLE (2).
implied warranty of merchantability
See WARRANTY (2).
law merchant
A system of customary law that developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and regulated the dealings of mariners and merchants in all the commercial countries of the world until the 17th century. ( Many of the law merchant's principles came to be incorporated into the common law, which in turn formed the basis of the Uniform Commercial Code. - Also termed commercial law; lex mercatoria.
merchant exception
Contracts. An exemption from the statute of frauds making a contract between merchants enforceable if, within a reasonable time after they reach an oral agreement, a written confirmation of the terms is sent, to which the recipient does not object within ten days of receiving it. ( The only effect of failing to object to the written confirmation is that the recipient will be precluded from relying on the statute of frauds - or the lack of a formal, written agreement - as a defense to a breach-of-contract claim. The party seeking to enforce an agreement must still prove that an agreement was reached. UCC § 2-201(2).
merchant lessee
A lessee who is a merchant of goods similar to those being leased. UCC § 2A-102(a)(31).
merchant seaman
A sailor employed by a private vessel, as distinguished from one employed in public or military service.
merchant's accounts
Current, mutual accounts between merchants showing debits and credits for merchandise.
merchant's defense
The principle that a store owner will not be held liable for reasonably detaining a suspected shoplifter, to facilitate an investigation by a law-enforcement officer, if probable cause exists to suspect the detained person of wrongfully removing merchandise from the store.
merchant's firm offer
See irrevocable offer under OFFER.
merchantable
, adj. Fit for sale in the usual course of trade at the usual selling prices; MARKETABLE. - Also termed salable. - merchantability, n. See implied warranty of merchantability under WARRANTY (2).
merchantable title
See marketable title under TITLE (2).
nonmerchantable title
See unmarketable title.
statute merchant
Hist. 1. (cap.) One of two 13th-century statutes establishing procedures to better secure and recover debts by, among other things, providing for a commercial bond that, if not timely paid, resulted in swift execution on the lands, goods, and body of the debtor. 13 Edw., ch. 6 (1283); 15 Edw., ch. 6 (1285). 0 These statutes were repealed in 1863. 2. The commercial bond so established. Cf. STATUTE STAPLE. "It is not a little remarkable that our common law knew no process whereby a man could pledge his body or liberty for payment of a debt Under Edward I, the tide turned. In the interest of commerce a new form of security, the so-called 'statute merchant,' was invented, which gave the creditor power to demand the seizure and imprisonment of his debtor's body." 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward 1 596-97 (2d ed. 1899).
transient merchant
A trader who sells merchandise at a temporary location without intending to become a permanent merchant in that place.
unmerchantable title
See unmarketable title under TITLE (2).
warranty of merchantability
See implied warranty of merchantability.