Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Attesting witness
See witness.
Attorney-witness rule.
see lawyer-witness rule.
Earwitness
A witness who testifies about something that he or she heard but did not see. Cf. EYEWITNESS.
Eyewitness
One who personally observes an event. Cf. EARWITNESS.
Witness
n. 1. One who sees, knows, or vouches for something < a witness to the accident>. 2. One who gives testimony, under oath or affirmation (1) in person, (2) by oral or written deposition, or (3) by affidavit <the prosecution called its next witness>. - witness, vb. "The term 'witness,' in its strict legal sense, means one who gives evidence in a cause before a court; and in its general sense includes all persons from whose lips testimony is extracted to be used in any judicial proceeding, and so includes deponents and affiants as well as persons delivering oral testimony before a court or jury." 97 C.J.S. Witnesses § 1, at 350 (1957). "Every witness is an editor: he tells you not everything he saw and heard, for that would be impossible, but what he saw and heard and found significant, and what he finds significant depends on his preconceptions." Patrick Devlin, The Criminal Prosecution in England 66 (1960).
Witnesseth
ub. Shows; records. ( This term, usu. set in all capitals, commonly separates the preliminaries in a contract, up through the recitals, from the contractual terms themselves, but modern drafters increasingly avoid it as an antiquarian relic. Traditionally, the subject of this verb was This Agreement: the sentence, boiled down, was This Agreement witnesseth [i.e., shows or records] that, whereas [the parties have agreed to contract with one another], the parties therefore agree as follows . . . . Many modern contracts erroneously retain the ZVitnesseth even though a new verb appears in the preamble: This Agreement is between [one party and the other party]. After the preamble is a period, followed by an all-capped WITNESSETH. It is an example of a form retained long after its utility, and most lawyers do not know what it means or even what purpose it once served.
accomplice witness
An accomplice in a criminal act. ( A codefendant cannot be convicted solely on the testimony o€ an accomplice witness. adverse witness. See hostile witness.
accomplice witness.
See WITNESS.
adverse witness
see hostile witness under witness.
alibi witness.
A witness who testifies that the defendant was in a location other than the scene of the crime at the relevant time; a witness that supports the defendant's alibi.
attesting witness
. One who vouches for the authenticity of another's signature by signing an instrument that the other has signed <proof of the will requires two attesting witnesses .
character witness
See WITNESS.
character witness.
A witness who testifies about another person's character traits or community reputation. See character evidence under EVIDENCE.
commission to examine a witness
A judicial commission directing that a witness beyond the court's territorial jurisdiction be deposed. Cf. LETTER OF REQUEST.
competent witness
. A witness who is legally qualified to testify. ( A lay witness who has personal knowledge of the subject matter of the testimony is competent to testify. Fed. R. Evid. 601-602.
corroborating witness
See WITNESS.
corroborating witness.
A witness who confirms or supports someone else's testimony.
credible witness
. A witness whose testimony is believable.
disinterested witness
See WITNESS.
disinterested witness.
A witness who is legally competent to testify and has no private interest in the matter at issue.
expert witness
A witness qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to provide a scientific, technical, or other specialized opinion about the evidence or a fact issue. Fed. R. Evid. 702-706. - Also termed skilled witness. See EXPERT; DAUBERT TEST.
expert-witness fee
A fee paid for the professional services of an expert witness.
eyewitness identification
A naming or description by which one who has seen an event testifies from memory about the person or persons involved. eygne (ayn), n. See EIGNE.
going witness
Archaic. A witness who is about to leave a court's jurisdiction, but not the country. ( An example is the witness who leaves one state to go to another.
grand jury witness
A witness who is called to testify in a matter under inquiry by a grand jury.
grand-jury witness.
See WITNESS.
hostile witness
A witness who is biased against the examining party or who is unwilling to testify. ( A hostile witness may be asked leading questions on direct examination. Fed. R. Evid. 611(c). - Also termed adverse witness.
hostile witness.
See WITNESS.
in witness whereof
The traditional beginning
interested witness
A witness who has a direct and private interest in the matter at issue.
lawyer-witness rule
The principle that an attorney who will likely be called as a fact witness at trial may not participate as an advocate in the case, unless the testimony will be about an uncontested matter or the amount of attorney's fees in the case, or if disqualifying the attorney would create a substantial hardship for the client. 0 The rule permits an attorney actively participating in the case to be a witness on merely formal matters but discourages testimony on other matters on behalf of a client. Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 3.7 (1987). - Also termed advocate-witness rule; attorney-witness rule.
lay witness
A witness who does not testify as an expert and who therefore may only give an opinion or make an inference that is based on firsthand knowledge and helpful in understanding the testimony or in determining facts. Fed. R. Evid. 701.
material witness
A witness who can testify about matters having some logical connection with the consequential facts, esp. if few others, if any, know about those matters.
missing-witness rule
The doctrine that, when a party fails to present a witness at trial who is available only to that party and whose testimony would have been admissible, the jury is entitled to infer that the witness's testimony would have been unfavorable to that party.
no-eyewitness rule
Torts. The largely defunct principle holding that if no direct evidence shows what a dead person did to avoid an accident, the jury may infer that the person acted with ordinary care for his or her own safety. ( In a jurisdiction where the rule persists, a plaintiff in a survival or wrongful-death action can assert the rule to counter a defense of contributory negligence.
pass the witness
See TAKE THE WITNESS.
prosecuting witness
A person who files the complaint that triggers a criminal prosecution and whose testimony the prosecution usu. relies on to secure a conviction.
qualified witness
A witness who, by explaining the manner in which a company's business records are made and kept, is able to lay the foundation for the admission of business records under an exception to the hearsay rule. Fed. R. Evid. 803(6).
qualified witness.
See WITNESS.
rebuttal witness
See WITNESS.
res gestae witness
A witness who, having been at the scene of an incident, can give a firsthand account of what happened. See RES GESTAE.
res gestae witness.
See WITNESS.
separation of witnesses
The exclusion of witnesses (other than the plaintiff and defendant) from the courtroom to prevent them from hearing the testimony of others.
silent-witness theory
Evidence. A method of authenticating and admitting evidence (such as a photograph), without the need for a witness to verify its authenticity, upon a sufficient showing of the reliability of the process of producing the evidence, including proof that the evidence has not been altered.
skilled witness
See expert witness.
subscribing witness
One who witnesses the signatures on an instrument and signs at the end of the instrument to that effect
swift l.' witness
See zealous witness.
swift witness
See WITNESS.
take the witness
You may now question the witness. ( This phrase is a lawyer's courtroom announcement that ends one side's questioning and prompts the other side to begin its questioning. Synonymous phrases are your witness and pass the witness.
target witness
1. The person who has the knowledge that an investigating body seeks. 2. A witness who is called before a grand jury and against whom the government is also seeking an indictment.