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Most Popular Legal Definitions

franchise

1)  to grant freedoms or rights to an individual or party 2) a business relationship in which a primary owner grants license or permits other businesses to utilize space or trademarks

estate law

A term used by the law to describe that part of the law which regulates wills, probate and other subjects related to the distribution of a deceased person's estate

rape

The act of having non-consensual sex with a woman.

complaint

an issue or formal statement brought against another individual or party

embargo

port, city or territory and may be enforced by military threat of destroying any vehicle that attempts to break it or by trade penalties

fiat

A shortly-worded court order.

concubinage

Civil law term for an unmarried couple living nonetheless as husband and wife or, where same-sex relationships are recognized by law, such similar cohabitation relationships.

case law

Reported decisions of appeals courts and other courts which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents. These interpretations are distinguished from "statutory law," which is the statutes and codes (laws) enacted by legislative bodies.

civil liability

The potential responsibility for payment of damages or other court-mandated conditions in a lawsuit, as opposed to criminal liability, which means open to punishment in accordance to criminal law.

vacate

1) For a judge to set aside or annul an order or judgment which he/she finds was improper. 2) to move out of real estate and cease occupancy.