Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Arms, right to bear

see right to bear arms.

As of right

by virtue of a legal entitlement <the case is not one triable to a jury as of right>.

Assembly, right of

see right of assembly.

Assignable, adj. That can be assigned; transferable from one person to another, so that the transferee has the same rights as the transferor had <assignable right>. Cf. Negotiable. Assignable lease

see lease.

Assignment of rights

contracts. The transfer of rights from a party to a contract to a third party.

Attribution right.

see moral right

Back-in right

oil & gas. A reversionary interest .in an oil-and-gas lease entitling an assignor to a share of the working interest after the assignee has recovered specified costs from production.

Circuity of action is, when an action is rightfully brought for a duty, but yet about the bush, as it were, for that it might as well have been otherwise answered and determined, and the suit saved: a

Copyright

n. 1. A property right in an original work of authorship (such as a literary, musical, artistic, photographic, or film work) fixed in any tangible medium of expression, giving the holder the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform, and display the work. 2. The body of law relating to such works. Federal copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act of 1976. 17 USCA §§ 101-1332. -Abbr. c. - copyright, vb. - copyrighted, adj.

Copyright Clause

U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 8, which gives Congress the power to secure to authors the exclusive rights to their writings for a limited time.

Equal Rights Amendment

A failed constitutional amendment that, had it been ratified, would have constitutionally prohibited entirely sex-based discrimination. ( Congress passed the Amendment in 1972, but it failed in 1982, having been ratified by only 35 of the required 38 states. - Abbr. ERA.

European Court of Human Rights

The judicial body - established in 1950 and sitting at Strasbourg - of the Council of Europe. ( The Convention on Human Rights of 1950, in force as of 1953, does not necessarily form part of the domestic law of member nations, nor is a member nation obliged to accept this court's jurisdiction.

Goodright

Hist. A name sometimes used as a fictitious plaintiff in an ejectment action. "John Doe" was used more frequently. - Also termed Goodtitle. Cf. JOHN DOE.

Headright

In American Indian law, a tribemember's right to a pro rata portion of income from a tribal trust fund set up under the Allotment Act of 1906. ( This type of trust fund is funded largely by mineral royalties arising from land held or once held by the tribemember's tribe.

Patent and Copyright Clause

The constitutional provision granting Congress the authority to promote the advancement of science and the arts by establishing a national system for patents and copyrights. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 8.

Register of Copyrights

The federal official who is in charge of the U.S. Copyright Office, which issues regulations and processes applications for copyright registration. - Also termed (erroneously) Registrar of Copyrights.

Registrar of Copyrights

See REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS.

Right

n. 1. That which is proper under law, morality, or ethics <know right from wrong>. 2. Something that is due to a person by just claim, legal guarantee, or moral principle <the right of liberty>. 3. A power, privilege, or immunity secured to a person by law <the right to dispose of one's estate>. 4. A legally enforceable claim that another will do or will not do a given act; a recognized and protected interest the violation of which is a wrong <a breach of duty that infringes one's right>. 5. (often pl.) The interest, claim, or ownership that one has in tangible or intangible property <a debtor's rights in collateral> <publishing rights>.

Rightful

adj. 1. (Of an action) equitable; fair <a rightful dispossession>. 2. (Of a person) legitimately entitled to a position <a rightful heir>. 3. (Of an office or piece of property) that one is entitled to <her rightful inheritance>.

Rights arbitration

see grievance arbitration.

Title VIl of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

A federal law that prohibits employment discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, sex, pregnancy, religion, and national origin, as well as prohibiting retaliation against an employee who opposes illegal harassment or discrimination in the workplace. ( This term is often referred to simply as Title VII. 42 USCA §§ 2000e et seq.

Universal Copyright Convention

An international convention, first adopted in the United States in 1955, by which signatory countries agree to give the published works of a member country the same protection as that given to works of its own citizens. - Abbr. UCC.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

An international bill of rights approved by the United Nations in December 1948, being that body's first enumeration of human rights and fundamental freedoms. ( The preamble states that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." The Declaration contains a lengthy list of rights and fundamental freedoms. For the full text of the Declaration, see Appendix C."The Universal Declaration is the first comprehensive human rights instrument to he proclaimed by a universal international organization. Because of its moral status and the legal and political importance it has acquired over the years, the Declaration ranks with the Magna Carta, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the American Declaration of Independence as a milestone in mankind's struggle for freedom and human dignity. Its debt to all these great historical documents is unmistakable." Thomas Buergenthal, International Human Rights in a Nutshell 29-30 (2d ed. 1995).

Voting Rights Act

The federal law that guarantees a citizen's right to vote, without discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. ( The U.S. Attorney General is authorized to bring suit for preventive relief to protect this right. 42 USCA §§ 1971-1974.

absolute right

See RIGHT

absolute right.

A right that belongs to every human being, such as the right of personal liberty; a natural right. Cf. relative right.

abuse of rights

Int'l law. A country's exercise of a right either in a way that impedes the enjoyment by other countries of their own rights or for a purpose different from that for which the right was created (e.g., to harm another country).

abuse-of-rights doctrine

Civil law. The principle that a person may be liable for harm caused by doing something the person has a right to do, if the right (1) is exercised for the purpose or primary motive of causing harm, (2) is exercised without a serious and legitimate interest that is deserving of judicial protection, (3) is exercised against moral rules, good faith, or elementary fairness, or (4) is exercised for a purpose other than the one it was granted for.

accessory right.

A supplementary right that has been added to the main right that is vested in the same owner. ( For example, the right in a security is accessory to the right that is secured; a servitude is accessory to the ownership of the land for whose benefit the servitude exists. Cf. principal right.

accrued right

A matured right; a right that is ripe for enforcement (as through litigation).

acquired right

A right that a person does not naturally enjoy, but that is instead procured, such as the right to own property. civil right. See CIVIL RIGHT.

acquired right.

See RIGHT.

acre right.

Hist. In New England, a citizen' share in the common lands. 0 The value of the acre right varied among towns but was fixed in each town. A 10-acre lot in a certain town was equivalent to 113 acres of upland and 12 acres of meadow, and an exact proportion was maintained between the acre right and salable land.

action, right of.

See RIGHT OF ACTION.

adaptation right.

Copyright. A copyright holder's exclusive right to prepare derivative works based on the protected work. 0 For example, before a movie studio can make a film version of a book, it must secure the author's adaptation right. See DERIVATIVE WORK.

air right

the right to use all or a portrorri •rt l ite airspace above real property. air-services agreement see air-transport agreement.

appeal as of right

see appeal by right under appeal.

appeal by right

an appeal to a higher court from which permission need not be first obtained. - also termed appeal as of right; appeal of right.

appeal of right

see appeal by right under appeal.

approach, right of

see right of approach.

bill of rights

1 (usu. cap.) A section or addendum, usu. in a constitution, defining the situations in which a politically organized society will permit free, spontaneous, and individual activity, and guaranteeing that government powers will not be used in certain ways; esp., the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. 2. (cap.) One of the four great charters of English liberty (1 W. & M., 1689), embodying in statutory form all the principles of the other three charters, namely, Magna Carta, the Petition of Right (3 Car. 1, 1628), and the Habeas Corpus Act (31 Car. 2, 1679).

bright-line rule

A judicial rule of decision that tends to resolve issues, esp. ambiguities, simply and straightforwardly, sometimes sacrificing equity for certainty. bring to book To arrest and try (an offender) <the fugitives were brought to book and convicted > .

civil right

1. The individual rights of personal liberty guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and by the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments, as well as by legislation such as the Voting Rights Act. 0 Civil rights include esp. the right to vote, the right of due process, and the right of equal protection under the law. 2. CIVIL LIBERTY.

civil-rights

act. One of several federal statutes enacted after the Civil War (1861-1865) and, much later, during and after the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and intended to implement and give further force to the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and esp. prohibiting discrimination in employment and education on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, or age.

civil-rights removal

Removal of a case from state to federal court for any of these reasons: (1) because a person has been denied or cannot enforce a civil right in the state court, (2) because a person is being sued for performing an act under color of authority derived from a law providing for equal rights, or (3) because a person is being sued for refusing to perform an act that would be inconsistent with equal rights.

civil-rights removal.

See REMOVAL.

claim of right

Hist. A criminal plea, usu. to a theft charge, by a defendant asserting that the property was taken under the honest (but mistaken) belief that the defendant had a superior right to the property. 0 The claim of right could ' to be raised in defense against bigamy if a fendant honestly believed that an earlier marriage had been legally dissolved. It has been superseded by a defense of honesty.

claim-of-right doctrine

Tax. The rule that any income constructively received must be reported as income, whether or not the taxpayer has an unrestricted claim to it

common-law copyright

A property right that arose when the work was created, rather than when it was published. 0 Under the Copyright Act of 1976, which was effective on January 1, 1978, common-law copyright was largely abolished for works created after the statute's effective date, but it still applies in a few areas. Notably, a common-law copyright received before January 1, 1978, remains entitled to protection.

common-law copyright.

See COPYRIGHT,