Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.

caput comitatus

[Latin "head of the county"] Hist. The head of a county; a sheriff.

comitatus

[Latin] Hist. 1. A county or shire. 2. The territorial jurisdiction of a count or earl. 3. A county court. 4. The retinue accompanying a prince or high government official.

corpus comitatus

[Latin "the body of a county"] Hist. Places not part of the "high seas" and hence where admiralty jurisdiction did not originally extend.

curia comitatus

[Law Latin] See COUNTY COURT.

de corpore comitatus

[Law Latin] From the body of the county. ( This term was esp. used to distinguish a body of the county at large from a smaller area or de uicineto ("from a neighborhood").

infra corpus comitatus

adu. & adj. [Law Latin] Hist. Within the body of a county. ( In English law, this phrase referred to a body of water that was completely enclosed by land, and therefore exempt from admiralty jurisdiction.

lex comitatus

n. [Law Latin] Hist. The law of the county; the law administered in the county court before the earl and his deputies.

posse comitatus

n. [Latin "power of the county"] A group of citizens who are called together to assist the sheriff in keeping the peace. - Often shortened to posse.