Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Scotch verdict
See NOT PROVEN
Verdict
1. A jury's finding or decision on the factual issues of a case. 2. Loosely, in a nonjury trial, a judge's resolution of the issues of a case.
aider by verdict
the cure of a pleading defect by a trial verdict, based on the presumption that the record contains adequate proof of the necessary facts even if those facts were not specifically alleged.
chance verdict
See VERDICT.
chance verdict.
A now-illegal verdict, arrived at by hazard or lot. - Also termed gambling verdict; verdict by lot.
compromise verdict
A verdict that is reached when jurors concede some issues so they can settle other issues in their favor.
cure by verdict
See AIDER BY VERDICT.
defective verdict
A verdict on which a judgment cannot be based because of irregularities or legal inadequacies.
directed verdict
A judgment entered on the order of a trial judge who takes over the fact finding role of the jury because the evidence is so compelling that only one decision can reasonably follow or because it fails to establish a prima facie case. - Also termed instructed verdict.
estoppel by verdict
See COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL.
excessive verdict
A verdict that results from the jury's passion or prejudice and thereby shocks the court's conscience.
false verdict
A verdict so contrary to the evidence and so unjust that the judge may set it aside
gambling verdict
See chance verdict under VERDICT.
general verdict
See VERDICT.
general verdict subject to a special case
Archaic. A court's verdict rendered without regard to the jury's general verdict, given when a party does not want to put the legal question on the record but merely wants the court to decide on the basis of a written statement of all the facts in the case, prepared for the opinion of the court by counsel on either side, according to the principles of a special verdict, whereupon the court decides the special case submitted and gives judgment accordingly.
general verdict with interrogatories
See VERDICT.
general-verdict rule
The principle that when a general verdict is returned on multiple causes of action (or theories of recovery), it is presumed on appeal that the jury found in the prevailing party's favor on each cause of action.
guilty verdict
A jury's formal pronouncement that a defendant is guilty of the charged offense.
impeachment of verdict
A party's attack on a verdict, alleging impropriety by a member of the jury.
instructed verdict
See directed verdict.
joint verdict
A verdict covering two or more parties to a lawsuit.
judgment notwithstanding the verdict
A judgment entered for one party even though a jury verdict has been rendered for the opposing party. - Also termed judgment non obstante veredicto (non ahb-Stan-tee ver-a-diktoh). - Abbr. JNOV. See judgment as a matter of law.
judgment on the verdict.
See JUDGMENT.
legally inconsistent verdict
A verdict in which the same element is found to exist and not to exist, as when a defendant is acquitted of one offense and convicted of another, when the offenses arise from the same set of facts and an element of the second offense requires proof that the first offense has been committed.
motion for directed verdict
A party's request that the court enter judgment in its favor before submitting the case to the jury because there is no legally sufficient evidentiary foundation on which a reasonable jury could find for the other party. ( Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the equivalent court paper is known as a motion for judgment as a matter of law. - Also termed motion for a directed verdict. - Abbr. MDV. See MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW; directed verdict under VERDICT.
motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
A party's request that the court enter a judgment in its favor despite the jury's contrary verdict because there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a jury to find for the other party. ( Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, this procedure has been replaced by the provision for a motion for judgment as a matter of law, which must be presented before the case has been submitted to the jury but can be reasserted if it is denied and the jury returns an unfavorable verdict. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50. - Also termed motion for j.n.o.v. See MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW.
open verdict
See VERDICT.
partial verdict
See VERDICT.
perverse verdict
A jury verdict so contrary to the evidence that it justifies the granting of a new trial.
privy verdict
. Hist. A verdict given after the judge has left or adjourned the court, and the jury, having agreed, obtain leave to give their verdict privately to the judge out of court so that the jurors can be delivered from their confinement. ( Such a verdict was of no force unless afterwards affirmed by a public verdict given in -open court. This practice has been superseded by that of rendering a sealed verdict.
public verdict
A verdict delivered by the jury in open court.
quotient verdict
See VERDICT.
repugnant verdict
A verdict that contradicts itself in that the defendant is convicted and acquitted of different crimes having identical elements. ( Sometimes the inconsistency occurs in a single verdict (repugnant verdict), and sometimes it occurs in two separate verdicts (repugnant verdicts). Both terms are mainly used in New York.
responsive verdict
See VERDICT.
sealed verdict
A written verdict put into a sealed envelope when the jurors have agreed on their decision but when court is not in session at the time. o Upon delivering a sealed verdict, the jurors may separate. When court convenes again, this verdict is officially returned with the same effect as if the jury had returned it in open court before separating. This type of verdict is useful to avoid detaining the jurors until the next session of court.
special verdict
A verdict that gives a written finding for each issue, leaving the application of the law to the judge. Cf. general verdict.
split verdict
1. A verdict in which one party prevails on some claims, while the other party prevails on others. 2. Criminal law. A verdict finding a defendant guilty on one charge but innocent on another. 3. Criminal law. A verdict of guilty for one defendant and of not guilty for a codefendant.
true verdict
A verdict that is reached voluntarily - even if one or more jurors freely compromise their views - and not as a result of an arbitrary rule or order, whether imposed by the jurors themselves, the court, or a court officer.
verdict by lot
See chance verdict.
verdict contrary to law
A verdict that the law does not authorize a jury to render because the conclusion drawn is not justified by the evidence.
verdict subject to opinion of court
A verdict that is subject to the court's determination of a legal issue reserved to the court upon the trial, so that judgment is ultimately entered depending on the court's ruling on a point of law.