Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Purgation
Hist. The act of cleansing or exonerating oneself of a crime or accusation by an oath or ordeal.
canonical purgation
Purgation by 12 oath-helpers in an ecclesiastical court. See COMPURGATION.
compurgation
n. [Latin con- "together" + purgare "to clear or purge"] Hist. A trial by which a defendant could have supporters (called compurgators), frequently 11 in number, testify that they thought the defendant was telling the truth. - Also termed wager of law; trial by oath. - compurgatory, adj."If a defendant on oath and in a set form of words will deny the charge against him, and if he can get a certain number of other persons (compurgators) to back his denial by their oaths, he will win his case. If he cannot get the required number, or they do not swear in proper form, the oath bursts,' and he will lose. Though oaths were used in the Roman law of procedure, this institution of compurgation was not known to it. It was, however, common to the laws of many of the barbarian tribes who overran the Roman empire. Because it wa
expurgation
n. The act or practice of purging or cleansing, as by publishing a book without its obscene passages. -expurgate (eks-par-gayt), ub. - expurgator (eks-par-gay-tar), n.
vulgar purgation
Purgation by fire, hot irons, battle, or cold water; purgation by means other than by oath-helpers. ( Vulgar purgation was so called because at first it was not sanctioned by the church.