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Legal Dictionary
P
- Paralegal
- A person who is not a lawyer or is not acting in that capacity but who provides a
limited number of legal services. Each country differs in the authority it gives
paralegals in exercising what traditionally would be lawyers' work.
- Pardon
- A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime,
to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if never convicted. It is typically used to
remove a criminal record against a good citizen for a small crime that may have been
committed during adolescence or young adulthood. Although procedures vary from one state
to another, the request for a pardon usually involves a lengthy period of time of
impeccable behavior and a reference check. Generally speaking, the more serious the crime,
the longer the time requirement for excellent behavior. In the USA, the power to pardon
for federal offenses belongs to the President.
- Parens patriae
- Latin: A British common law creation whereby the courts have the right to make
unfettered decisions concerning people who are not able to take care of themselves. For
example, court can make custody decisions regarding a child or an insane person, even
without statute law to allow them to do so, based on their residual, common law-based parens
patriae jurisdiction.
- Pari delicto
- Latin for "of equal fault." For example, if two parties complain to a judge of
the non-performance of a contract by the other, the judge could refuse to provide a remedy
to either of them because of "pari delicto": a finding that they were equally at
fault in causing the contract's breach.
- Pari passu
- Latin: Equitably and without preference. This term is often used in bankruptcy
proceedings where creditors are said to be "pari passu" which means that they
are all equal and that distribution of the assets will occur without preference between
them.
- Parole
- An early release from incarceration in which the prisoner promises to heed certain
conditions (usually set by a parole board) and under the supervision of a parole officer.
Any violation of those conditions would result in the return of the person to prison.
- Parricide
- Killing one's father or another a family member or close relative.
- Partnership
- A business organization in which two or more persons carry on a business together.
Partners are each fully liable for all the debts of the enterprise but they also share the
profits exclusively. Many states have laws which regulate partnerships and may, for
example, require some form of registration and allow partnership agreements. One of the
basic advantages of partnerships is that they tend to allow business losses to be deducted
from personal income for tax purposes (see also limited
partner).
- Par value shares
- Shares issued by a company which have a minimum price. Shares which are without par
value or "non par value shares" are shares which may be sold at whatever price
the company's board of directors decides.
- Patent
- An exclusive privilege granted to an inventor to make, use or sale an invention for a
set number of years (eg. in Canada, 17 years). Normally, no one company can retain a monopoly over a product or service because this is
considered to economically harmful to society. But as a financial incentive to potential
inventors, the state grants a temporary monopoly to that inventor through the issuance of
a patent.
- Paternity
- Being a father. "Paternity suits" are launched when a man denies paternity of
a child born out of wedlock. New technology of DNA testing can establish paternity thus obliging the father to
provide child support.
- Payee
- The person to whom payment is addressed or given. In family law, the term usually refers
to the person who receives or to whom support or maintenance is owed. In commercial law,
the term refers to the person to whom a bill of
exchange is made payable. On a regular check, the space
preceded with the words "pay to the order of" identifies the payee.
- Payor
- The person who is making the payment(s). Again, in the context of family law, the word
would typically refer to the person to a support or maintenance debtor. In commercial law,
the word refers to the person who makes the payment on a check
or bill of exchange.
- Pedophile
- A person afflicted with "pedophilia", a sexual perversion in which children
are preferred as sexual partner.
- Pen register
- An electronic surveillance device which attaches to a phone line and which registers
every number dialed from a specific telephone. This surveillance device is not as
effective as wire-tapping.
- Pendente lite
- Latin: during litigation. For example, if the
validity of a will is challenged, a court might appoint an administrator pendente lite with limited powers
to do such things as may be necessary to preserve the assets of the deceased until a
hearing can be convened on the validity of the will.
Another example is an injunction pendente lite, to
last only during the litigation and, again, designed simply to preserve something until
the decisive court order is issued.
- Percolating water
- Water which seeps or filters through the ground without any definite channel and not
part of the flow of any waterway. The best example is rain water.
- Perjury
- An intentional lie given while under oath or in a sworn affidavit.
- Perpetuating testimony
- The recording of evidence when it is feared that the person with that evidence may soon
die or disappear and that this person's evidence, if recorded, could then be used in the
future to prevent a possible injustice or to support a future claim of property.
- Perpetuity
- Forever; of unlimited duration. There is a strong bias in the law against things that
are to last in perpetuity. Rights that are to last forever are said to hinder commerce as
an impediment to the circulation of property. That is why there is a rule against perpetuities.
- Person
- An entity with legal rights and existence including the ability to sue and be sued, to
sign contracts, to receive gifts, to appear in court either by themselves or by lawyer
and, generally, other powers incidental to the full expression of the entity in law.
Individuals are "persons" in law unless they are minors or under some kind of
other incapacity such as a court finding of mental incapacity. Many laws give certain
powers to "persons" which, in almost all instances, includes business
organizations that have been formally registered such as partnerships, corporations or associations.
- Personal representative
- In the law of wills, this is the general name given
to the person who administers the estate of a deceased person. There are two kinds of
personal representatives. Where a person dies without a will, the court must appoint an administrator. Where a personal representative is
named in a will, the personal representative is known as an executor.
- Petition
- The formal, written document submitted to a court, and which asks for the court to
redress what is described in the petition as being an injustice of some kind. Petitions
set out the facts, identifies the law under which the court is being asked to intervene,
and ends with a suggested course of action for the court to consider (eg. payment of
damages to the plaintiff). Petitions are normally filed by
lawyers because courts insist on complicated forms but most states will allow citizens to
file petitions provided they conform to the court's form. Some states do not use the word
"petition" and, instead, might refer to an "application", a
"complaint" or the "writ."
- Pettifogger
- A petty or underhanded lawyer or an attorney who sustains a professional livelihood on
disreputable or dishonorable business. The word has also taken on an common usage
definition referring to anyone prone to quibbling over details.
- Petty offense
- A minor crime and for which the punishment is usually
just a small fine or short term of imprisonment.
- Physical custody
- A child custody decision which grants the right to
organize and administer the day to day residential care of a child. This is usually
combined with legal custody.
- Picket
- To object publicly, on or adjacent to the employer's premises, to an employer's labor
practices, goods or services. The most common form of picketing is patrolling with signs.
- Pillory
- A medieval punishment and restraining device made of moveable and adjustable boards
through which a prisoner's head or limbs were pinned. Pillories were often fixed to the
ground in a city's main square and on market days, local criminals were exhibited.
Citizens were given license to throw things at the prisoners. As such, this method of
punishment was not just humiliating but often led to serious injury or death. For the
government, this was a public statement serving to warn others of the consequences of
crime. England abolished the pillory as a form of punishment in 1837.
- Plaintiff
- The person who brings an case to court; who sues. May also be called
"claimant", "petitioner" or "applicant. The person being sued is
generally called the "defendant" or the
"respondent."
- Plea bargaining
- Negotiations during a criminal trial, between an accused person and a prosecutor in
which the accused agrees to admit to a crime (sometimes a lesser crime than the one set
out in the original charge), avoiding the expense of a public trial, in exchange for which
the prosecutor agrees to ask for a more lenient sentence than would have been recommended
if the case had of proceeded to full trial. The normal rule of law is that judges are not
bound by plea bargains although, as past lawyers themselves, they are generally aware of
plea bargains and a reasonable recommendation of a prosecutor on sentencing is always
heavily considered.
- Pleadings
- That part of a party's case in which he or she formally sets out the facts and legal
arguments which support that party's position. Pleadings can be in writing or they can be
made verbally to a court, during the trial.
- Poach
- To kill or take an animal or fish from the property of another.
- Polygamy
- Being married to more than one person. Illegal in most countries.
- Polygraph
- A lie-detector machine which records even the slightest variation in blood pressure,
body temperature and respiration as questions are put to, and answers elicited from a
subject.
- Postal rule
- A rule of contract law that makes an exception to the general rule that an acceptance is only created when communicated directly to
the offeror. An acceptance is binding and the contract is said to be perfected when the
acceptor places this acceptance in the mail box for return mail even if, in fact, it never
reaches the offeror. An 1892 British case summarized it as follows: "Where the
circumstances are such that it must have been within the contemplation of the parties
that, according to the ordinary usages of mankind, the post might be used as a means of
communicating the acceptance of an offer, the acceptance is complete as soon as it is
posted."
- Power of attorney
- A document which gives a person the right to make binding decisions for another, as an agent. A power of attorney may be specific to a certain kind
of decision or general, in which the agent makes all major
decisions for the person who is the subject of the power of attorney. The person signing
the power of attorney is usually referred to, in law, as the donor
and the person that would exercise the power of attorney, the donee.
- Pręcipe or precipe
- Latin: used to refer to the actual writ that would be
presented to a court clerk to be officially issued on behalf of the court but now mostly
refers to the covering letter from the lawyer (or plaintiff) which accompanies and
formally asks for the writ to be issued by the court
officer. The precipe is kept on the court file, but does not accompany the writ when the
latter is served on the defendant.
- Praemunire
- An offence against the King or Parliament, in old English law, which led to serious
penalties but not capital punishment.
- Precatory words
- Words that express a wish or a desire rather than a clear command. "Precatory
words" are often found in trusts or wills and cause great difficulties when courts try to find the
real intention of the settlor or testator, For example, the words "all my property to
my wife to be disposed of as she may deem just and prudent in the interest of my
family" were found to be "precatory" and did not constitute a trust for family members other than the wife.
- Precedent
- A case which establishes legal principles to a certain set of facts, coming to a certain
conclusion, and which is to be followed from that point on when similar or identical facts
are before a court. Precedent form the basis of the theory of stare decisis which prevent "reinventing the
wheel" and allows citizens to have a reasonable expectation of the legal solutions
which apply in a given situation.
- Preferred shares
- A share in a company that has some kind of special
right or privilege attached to it, such as that it is distinguished from the company's common shares.
The most common special right is a preference over holders of common shares when dividends are declared. Another, is
for the preferred shares to be redeemable at the option of either the holder or the company. Still another might be to disallow voting rights to
preferred shareholders. Depending on the local laws in your state, there may be no limit
to the qualifications a company can attach to preferred
shares. For example, a family company may only allow
holders of preferred shares to use a recreational property belonging to the company.
- Preponderance
- A word describing evidence that persuades a judge or jury to lean to one side as opposed
to the other during the course of litigation. In
many states, criminal trials require evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. But in civil
trials, evidence is required only by preponderance of the evidence. The judge (or jury,
where applicable) will perceive the evidence of one side as outweighing the other based on
which side has the most persuasive or impressive evidence. The strength or
"weight" of evidence is not decided by the sheer number of witnesses because the
judge decides on the credibility of witnesses and give their testimony weight accordingly.
The side with the preponderance of evidence wins the case.
- Prescription
- A method of acquiring rights through the silence of the legal owner. Known in common law
jurisdiction as "statute of limitations." When used in a real property context,
the term refers to the acquisition of property rights, such as an easement, by long and continued use or enjoyment. The
required duration of continued use or enjoyment, before legal rights are enforceable, is
usually written in a state's law known as "statute of limitations."
- Presumption of advancement
- A presumption in trust, contract and family law which suggests that property transferred
from a parent to a child, or spouse to spouse, is a gift and would defeat any presumption
of a resulting trust.
- Prima facie
- (Latin) A legal presumption which means "on the face of it" or "at first
sight". Law-makers will often use this device to establish that if a certain set of
facts are proven, then another fact is established prima facie. For example, proof of
mailing a letter is prima facie proof that it was received by the person to whom it
was addressed and will accepted as such by a court unless proven otherwise. Other
situations may require a prima facie case before proceeding to another step in the
judicial process so that you would have to at least prove then that at first glance, there
appears to be a case.
- Principal
- An agent's master; the person for whom an agent has received instruction and to whose benefit the agent is expected to perform and make decisions.
- Private law
- Law which regulates the relationships between
individuals. Family, commercial and labor law are examples of private law because the
focus of those kinds of laws is the relationships between individuals or between
corporations or organizations and individual, with the government a bystander. They are
the counter part to public law.
- Privilege
- A special and exclusive legal advantage or right such as a benefit, exemption, power or immunity. An example would be the special privileges that
some persons have in a bankruptcy to recoup their
debts from the bankrupt's estate before other, non-privileged creditors.
- Probate
- The formal certificate given by a court that certifies that a will has been proven, validated and registered and which, from
that point on, gives the executor the legal authority to execute the will. A "probate
court" is a name given to the court that has this power to ratify wills.
- Probation
- A kind of punishment given out as part of a sentence which means that instead of jailing
a person convicted of a crime, a judge will order that the person reports to a probation
officer regularly and according to a set schedule. It is a criminal offence not to obey a
probation order and is cause for being immediately jailed. If someone is "on
probation", that means that they are presently under such a Court order. These orders
may have special conditions attached to them such as not to leave the city, drink alcohol,
consume drugs, not to go to a specific place or contact a certain person.
- Pro bono
- Provided for free. Pro bono publico means "for the public good."
- Profit ą prendre
- A servitude which resembles an easement and which allows the holder to enter the land of
another and to take some natural produce such as mineral deposits, fish or game, timber,
crops or pasture.
- Pro forma
- As a matter of form; in keeping with a form or practice. Something done pro forma
may not be essential but it facilitates future dealings. For example, an invoice might be
sent to a purchaser even before the goods are delivered as a matter of business practices.
- Prohibition
- A legal restriction against the use of something or against certain conduct. For
example, in the 1920s, both the USA and Canada enacted liquor prohibitions, outlawing the
manufacture or use of alcoholic beverages.
- Promisee
- A person whom is to be the beneficiary of a promise, an obligation or a contract.
Synonymous to "obligee."
- Promisor
- The person who has become obliged through a promise (usually expressed in a contract) towards another, the intended beneficiary of the
promise being referred to as the promisee. Also sometimes referred
to a "obligor."
- Promissory note
- An unconditional, written and signed promise to pay a certain amount of money, on demand
or at a certain defined date in the future. Contrary to a bill of exchange, a promissory note is not drawn on
any third party holding the payor's money; it is a direct promise
from the payor to the payee.
- Property
- Property is commonly thought of as a thing which belongs to someone and over which a
person has total control. But, legally, it is more properly defined as a collection of
legal rights over a thing. These rights are usually total and fully enforceable by the
state or the owner against others. It has been said that "property and law were born
and die together. Before laws were made there was no property. Take away laws and property
ceases." before laws were written and enforced, property had no relevance. Possession
was all that mattered. There are many classifications of property, the most common being
between real property or immoveable property (real
estate such as land or buildings) and "chattel", or "moveable" (things
which are not attached to the land such as a bicycle, a car or a hammer) and between
public (property belonging to everybody or to the state) and private property.
- Propinquity
- Nearness in place; close-by. Also used to describe relationships as synonymous for
"kin."
- Pro possessore
- As a possessor. For example, a person may exercise certain rights over a thing not as
owner but pro possessore: as a person who possesses, but does not own, the thing.
- Propound
- To offer a document as being authentic or valid. Used mostly in the law of wills; to propound a will means to take legal action, as part
of probate, including a formal inspection of the will, by the
court.
- Pro rata
- Latin: to divide proportionate to a certain rate or interest. For example, if a company
with two shareholders, one with 25% and the other with 75% of the shares, received a gift
of $10,000 and desired to split it "pro rata" between the shareholders, the
shareholder with 25% of the shares would receive $2,500 and the 75% shareholder, $7,500.
- Proprietor
- Owner.
- Pro se
- Latin: in one's personal behalf. Contrast with pro socio.
- Pro socio
- Latin: on behalf of a partner; not on one's personal behalf.
- Prosecute
- To bring judicial proceedings against a person and to administer them until the
conclusion of the court proceedings. Lawyers are hired by the government to administer the
prosecution of criminal charges in the courts.
- Prospectus
- A document in which a corporation sets out the material details of a share or bond issue
and inviting the public to invest by purchasing these financial instruments.
- Prostitute
- A person who offers sexual intercourse for hire.
- Pro tempore
- Latin: something done temporarily only and not intended to be permanent.
- Proxy
- A right which is signed-over to an agent. Proxies are
used frequently at annual meetings of corporations where the right to exercise a vote is
"proxied" from the shareholder to the agent.
- Public domain
- A term of American copyright law referring to works that are not copyright protected,
free for all to use without permission. Examples include works that were originally
non-copyrightable (items that by their very nature are not eligible for copyright such as
ideas, facts or names), copyright that has been lost or expired, where copyright is owned
or authored by the federal government (federal documents and publications are not
copyrighted and so are public domain), and those works which have been specifically
granted to the public domain.
- Public law
- Those laws which regulate (1) the structure and administration of the government, (2)
the conduct of the government in its relations with its citizens, (3) the responsibilities
of government employees and (4) the relationships with foreign governments. Good examples
are criminal and constitutional law. It can be distinguished from private law, which regulates the private conduct between
individuals, without direct involvement of the government. For example, an unsolicited
punch in the nose would constitute a crime for which the government would prosecute under
criminal law but for which there would also be a private legal action possible by the
injured party under tort law, which is private law although governments can be held
responsible under tort law. As you can see, the line is often hard to draw between public
and private law.
- Puisne
- Junior or lower in rank, as opposed to the chief justice. For example, there are 8
puisne judges on the Supreme Court of Canada and a chief justice.
- Punitive damages
- Special and highly exceptional damages ordered by a court against a defendant where the
act or omission which caused the suit, was of a particularly heinous, malicious or
highhanded nature. Where awarded, they are an exception to the rule that damages are to
compensate not to punish. The exact threshold of punitive damages varies from jurisdiction
to jurisdiction. In some countries, and in certain circumstances, punitive damages might
even be available for breach of contract cases but, again, only for the exceptional cases
where the court wants to give a strong message to the community that similar conduct will
be severely punished. They are most common in intentional torts such as rape, battery or
defamation. Some jurisdictions prefer using the word "exemplary damages" and
there is an ongoing legal debate whether there is a distinction to be made between the two
and even with the concept of aggravated
damages.
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