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Most Popular Legal Definitions

lex scripta

Latin, written law; statutes.

public policy

The principle that injury to the public good or public order constitutes a basis for setting aside acts or transactions.

crime

an act or omission which is prohibited by criminal law and punished, usually by fine or imprisonment

misdemeanor

A crime of lesser seriousness than a felony where the punishment might be a fine or prison for less than one year.

assumption

act of taking over the liability for a debt as part of a payment for property which secures that debt

pedophile

A person afflicted with pedophilia, a sexual perversion in which children are preferred as sexual partners.

quo warranto

Latin, referring to a special legal procedure taken to stop a person or an organization from doing something for which it may not have the legal authority by demanding to know by what right they exercise the controversial authority.

variance

1) An exception to a zoning ordinance, authorized by the appropriate governmental body. 2) a difference between what the prosecution has charged and what it has proved. 3) a difference between what is alleged and what is proved in a civil complaint.

overrule

1) providing a decision on a case that is in opposition to previous decisions 2) reject an opposition in a court proceeding 3) to nullify or make void 

conversion

a legal action against a person who found and converted someone else's property to his own use