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Jactitation |
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A false boast designed to increase standing at the
expense of another. This used to form the basis of an ancient legal
petition called "jactitation of marriage" wherein a person could be
ordered by the courts to cease claims of being married to a certain person
when, in fact, they were not married. The
tort of
slander of title
is a form of jactitation. |
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Jellicoe Procedure
(Special Public Bill Procedure) |
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The Special Public Bill procedure (the Jellicoe Procedure) is
available in the House of Lords, but has had limited success. It was
used for two Law Commission Bills in 1995 and apparently none since. The
Jellicoe procedure is still available but was certainly not used between
1998 and 2003.
In 2004, Lord Brightman said in the
Lords that Jellicoe had been unused since 1995. |
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The procedure is available for Law
Commission Bills, to examine non-controversial but technical Bills which
receive appropriate expert scrutiny without delaying business on the floor
of either House.
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When the
Jellicoe Procedure
is used in the House of Lords the committee stage is taken in a committee
room and not on the floor of the House. Witnesses can attend and be heard.
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Sometimes it is referred to as ‘fast
track’ which is a misnomer, as the speed of a Bill through Parliament is
not necessarily quicker.
Experience of Jellicoe has been
disappointing, particularly because the evidence stage was found to
consume considerable amounts of Ministerial and official resource, without
sufficiently beneficial reduction in time on the floor of the House. |
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The Family Homes and Domestic
Violence Bill in 1995 was considered under the
Jellicoe Procedure.
The Bill had been proposed by the Law Commission, following extensive
consultation, However it was not possible to resolve issues with the Bill in time
for the Bill to complete its stages in the last Session. The Bill was
later considered by Parliament under the usual procedure. |
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Joint custody |
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A child
custody decision which means that both parents share joint
legal custody and joint
physical custody. This is not very common and many professionals have
taken to referring to "joint legal custody but sole maternal physical
custody" as "joint custody". |
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Joint tenancy |
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If two or more people have identical shares in land
they are joint tenants. When two or more persons are equal owners
of some property. The unique aspect of joint tenancy is that as the joint
tenancy owners die, their shares accrue to the surviving owner(s) so that,
eventually, the entire share is held by one person. A valid joint tenancy
is said to require the "four unities": unity of interest (each joint
tenant must have an equal interest including equality of duration and
extent), unity of title (the interests must arise from the same document),
unity of possession (each joint tenant must have an equal right to occupy
the entire property) and unity of time: the interests of the joint tenants
must arise at the same time. |
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Judicial review |
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When a court decision is appealed, it is known as an
"appeal." There are many administrative agencies or
tribunals which make decisions or deliver government services of one
sort or another, the decisions of which can also be "appealed." In many
cases, the "appeal" from administrative agencies is known as "judicial
review" which is essentially a process where The High Court is asked to
rule on the appropriateness of the administrative agency or
tribunal's decision. Judicial review is a fundamental principle of
administrative law. A distinctive feature of judicial review is that
the "appeal" is not usually limited to errors in law but may be based on
alleged errors on the part of the administrative agency on findings of
fact. A distinguishing feature of judicial review is that it reviews the
process of the decision making and not the decision itself, therefore it
is not really an appeal. Government minister's decisions can, and often
are, judicially reviewed. |
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Judicial activism |
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"Judicial
activism" and "activist judges" describe the role of the judiciary when
considering judges in their constitutional role.
Dictionary
definitions describe activism as “a policy of taking direct and often
militant action to achieve an end, esp. a political or social one.”
the Oxford
English Dictionary "A philosophical theory which assumes the objective
reality and active existence of everything. A doctrine or policy of
advocating energetic action."
Judicial activism would denote a judiciary which discharges its functions
in a vigorous and decisive manner to achieve an end. |
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Jure |
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[Latin: from
Roman law: by right,
under legal authority or by the authority of the law] A variation, "juris"
means "of right" or "of the law." See
jurisprudence below which means "science of the law." |
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Jurisdiction |
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Refers to a court's authority to judge over a situation
usually acquired in one of three ways: over acts committed in a defined
territory (e.g.. the jurisdiction of the UK courts is limited to acts
committed or originating in the UK unless conventions existed to extend
the jurisdiction, e.g. in the EU), over certain types of cases (the
jurisdiction of a bankruptcy court is limited to bankruptcy cases), or
over certain persons (a military court has jurisdiction limited to actions
of enlisted personnel). |
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Jurisprudence |
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Technically, jurisprudence means the "science of law".
Statutes articulate the bland rules of law, with only rare reference
to factual situations. The actual application of these statutes to facts
is left to judges who consider not only the statute but also other legal
rules which might be relevant to arrive at a judicial decision; hence, the
"science". Thus, "jurisprudence" has, to some writers, come to refer to
case law, or the legal decisions which have developed and which
accompany statutes in applying the law against situations of fact. |
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Jury |
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A group of citizens randomly selected from the general
population and brought together to assist justice by deciding which
version, in their opinion, constitutes "the truth" given different
evidence by opposing parties. Normally 12, except in Coroner's Courts and
civil cases. |
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Jus |
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[Latin: word which, in Roman law, meant the law or a
right] Also spelt "ius" in some English translations. For example, public
law was called "jus publicum" and private law was called "jus privatum."
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Jus
primae noctis |
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Latin: “law of the first night,” an alleged law
that in medieval times allowed lords or Catholic priests to sleep with a
bride before she was married to a serf, or on her wedding night.
There is no evidence that this law actually existed and is probably
folklore to describe the power of feudalism, or a myth created by persons
who wanted to end feudalism and criticise the lords. |
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Jus spatiandi et
manendi |
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Latin: referring to a legal right of way, and to
enjoyment, granted to the public but only for the purposes of recreation
or education, such as upon parks or public squares. Very similar to an
easement of which some courts have said a jus spatiandi is a special
type. |
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Justice |
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Fairness. A state of affairs in which conduct or action
is both fair and right, given the circumstances. In law, it more
specifically refers to the paramount obligation to ensure that all persons
are treated fairly. Litigants "seek justice" by asking for compensation
for wrongs committed against them; to right the inequity such that, with
the compensation, a wrong has been righted and the balance of "good" or
"virtue" over "wrong" or "evil" has been corrected. |
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K |
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K.C. |
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Kings Counsel. A senior barrister when the monarch is a
king. When the monarch is a queen he/she will be a Q.C. They are chosen
each year, about 75 from the ranks of successful barristers. All other
barristers are called juniors no matter how old they might be |
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Kidnap |
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It is an offence at common law punishable by fine and
imprisonment at the discretion of the court to kidnap any person. |
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Kidnapping consists of the taking or carrying away of
one person by another by force or fraud without the consent of the person
so taken or carried away and without lawful excuse. Even in the case of a
child victim, it is the absence of the victim's consent which is material,
whatever the victim's age may be. |
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The common law offence of kidnapping exists in the
case of a victim under the age of 14; and it may be committed by a parent
who takes away by force or fraud his own unmarried child under the age of
18, without the child's consent and without lawful excuse, or by a husband
on his wife if he treats her with hostile force and carries her away from
the place where she wishes to remain. |
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Where the offence is committed against a child under
the age of 16 by a person connected with the child, no prosecution may be
instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public
Prosecutions. |
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Know How
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Technical information having technical significance; not
strictly speaking an intellectual property right. |
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