Terminology: Difference between revisions
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==A== | ==A== | ||
; | ;ab initio:A Latin phrase meaning "from the beginning." A marriage which is unlawful is void ''ab initio'', as if it never happened. | ||
; | ;abduction:The taking of a person by force or fraud. In family law, the taking of a child contrary to a court order or without the other parent's permission. In certain circumstances, this may also be a criminal offence. | ||
;access:A parent's time with their children following the breakdown of the parent's relationship. Access usually refers to the | ;abrogate:To revoke or annul. One "abrogates" a contract, like a family agreement, by doing something expressly contrary to the agreement. One party's act of abrogation may not void the agreement, but will give the other party a cause of action. | ||
; | ;access:A parent's time with their children following the breakdown of the parent's relationship. Access usually refers to the visits of a child with the parent who doesn't have the child's primary residence. | ||
;Act | ;account:In law, a lawyer's bill to his or her client. Also, a statement of one person's view of events. | ||
; | ;Act:A law passed by a government, also called "legislation" or a "statute." Also, the intentional doing of a thing. | ||
; | ;action:A law suit. or a legal proceeding in which one party sues another for a remedy or specific relief. In family law, an action for divorce is a court proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of an order for the parties' divorce. | ||
; | ;address for service:The address at which a party must accept delivery of legal documents. An address for service must be a proper street address within British Columbia; additional addreses for service may include postal addresses, fax numbers and email addresses. | ||
; | ;adoption:In family law, the act or process of one person taking another person's natural child as his or her own. The child then becomes the adopting parent's legal child as if the child were the adopting parent's natural child, and the child's biological parent loses all rights and obligations with respect to the child. | ||
; | ;''Adoption Act'':A provincial law dealing with entitlement to adopt and the adoption process. | ||
; | ;adoptive parent:A person who has formally assumed the status of parent to a child who is not his or her biological offspring. | ||
; | ;adultery:The act of a married person voluntarily engaging in sexual intercourse with a person other than his or her spouse; cheating; playing around; fishing out of season. Proof of adultery is grounds for an immediate divorce, providing that the other spouse has not consented to or forgiven the adulterous act. | ||
; | ;advance:In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a share of his or her portion of the family assets before those assets have been divided, whether following trial or a final settlement of the matter. | ||
; | ;advocate:A lawyer; sometimes a person other than a lawyer who presents and argues a case in court on behalf of a party to the proceeding. Also, to argue a debated position. | ||
; | ;affidavit:A legal document in which a person provides evidence of certain facts and events in writing, as if the evidence was given orally under oath. Affidavits must be notarized by a lawyer or notary public who takes the oath or affirmation of the person making the affidavit about the truth of its contents. Affidavits are used as evidence, just as if the deponent, the person making the affidavit, had made the statements orally before a judge at trial. | ||
; | ;affirm:To promise that a statement is true. When someone "swears" to tell the truth, they are considered to be taking an oath on their faith in a god. Affirming is a substitute for swearing something before a god, most often employed where person making the statement is an atheist or under a religious proscription from making oaths. | ||
;age of majority:The age at which someone becomes a legal adult with the full capacity to act on their own, independent of their parents, including the capacity to sue and be sued. In British Columbia, the age of majority is 19. The age of majority has nothing to do with being entitled to vote or buy alcohol, although federal and provincial laws sometimes link those privileges with the age at which one attains majority. | |||
;agent:In law, someone acting on behalf of someone else, with that person's express permission and normally their express direction. | |||
;alias:A name by which people know you other than your legal name. | |||
;alienation:In family law, the actions or statements of a parent which tend to sever, damage or harm the child's relationship with or affections for the other parent. | |||
;allegation:An assertion that a certain set of facts is true, such as "on Monday, I had soup for lunch" or "Bob drives a blue Camaro." Also called an allegation of fact or a statement of fact. | |||
;alternative dispute resolution:A phrase referring to processes for the resolution of disputes outside the court system, including mediation, negotiation and collaborative law. In family law, the purpose of ADR is to offer a less conflict-oriented and less expensive way to resolve a dispute than litigation. | |||
;Amend:To change or alter a pleading or document which has already been filed in court or given to the other party. The resulting document is a separate document from the original and is called, for example, the "Amended Notice of Family Claim" or the "Amended Counterclaim." | ;Amend:To change or alter a pleading or document which has already been filed in court or given to the other party. The resulting document is a separate document from the original and is called, for example, the "Amended Notice of Family Claim" or the "Amended Counterclaim." | ||
; | ;amicus curiae:A Latin phrase meaning "friend of the court." Usually refers to a lawyer who does not act for any of the parties and assists or brings relevant information to the attention of the presiding judge. | ||
; | ;annulment:A declaration by a judge that a marriage is invalid. The effect of such a declaration is to make it as if the marriage never occured. | ||
; | ;answer:A response to a claim or an allegation of fact. Usually refers to legal documents used to reply to the allegations or claims of another party, such as a Response to Family Claim, an Application Response or a Reply. | ||
; | ;appeal:An application to a court for a review of the decision of a lower court and, hopefully, the reversal of that decision. A decision of a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia is, for example, appealed to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. | ||
; | ;applicant:The party to an action who brings an application to court in the course of that action, usually an application for an interim order. | ||
;Application Response;Form F32:A legal document required by the Supreme Court Family Rules setting out the | ;application:A request to the court that it make an order for specific relief, usually on an interim or temporary basis. | ||
; | ;application respondent:The party to an action against whom an application has been brought in the course of that action. the party replying to the applicant's application, usually an application for an interim order. | ||
; | ;Application Response;Form F32:A legal document required by the Supreme Court Family Rules setting out the application respondent's position on the relief claimed in an application and the grounds on which that relief is opposed. | ||
; | ;arbitrator:A person selected by the parties to a dispute to resolve their dispute outside the court process and to whom the parties give the authority to impose a settlement. | ||
; | ;arbitration:A dispute resolution process subject to the principles of natural justice in which the parties pick the person who will resolve their dispute and agree to be bound by the arbitrator's decision. | ||
; | ;argument:In law, persuasion by logical reasoning. Usually refers to oral or written argument presented to a judge following the presentation of evidence about the facts of a case, or to a written brief of argument. | ||
; | ;arrears:Money owing for child support or spousal support as a result of an agreement or a court order which has not been paid. | ||
;assess:To determine the value or amount of something. A lawyer's bill may be assessed by a registrar to determine the proper amount the client should pay. a piece of property may be "assessed" to determine its likely sale price. | |||
;assign:To transfer an interest or right in something, such as property or a cause of action, to someone else. | |||
==B== | ==B== | ||
; | ;bad faith:Intentionally misleading someone else, whether by doing or not doing something. acting in a manner contrary to one's actual intention. an intentional failure to act honestly and openly. Also called ''male fides''. | ||
; | ;barrister & solicitor:A lawyer. a person licenced to practice law in a particular jursidiction. In England barristers do trial work and solicitors draft legal documents. In Canada, lawyers are both barristers and solicitors. | ||
; | ;beneficiary:The person for whose benefit a trustee holds property. the recipient or intended recipient of property passed in a will. | ||
; | ;bill:A lawyer's statement of account. Also, draft legislation presented by government to the Legislature or Parliament for approval. | ||
; | ;binding:A requirement or obligation to honour and abide by a contract or order of the court. for example, a judge's order is binding in the sense that it must be obeyed or a certain punishment will be imposed. Also refers to the principle that a higher court's decision on a point of law must be followed by a lower court. | ||
; | ;bona fide:A Latin phrase meaning "in good faith;" doing something honestly and openly, without the intention of misleading or causing harm to someone else. | ||
; | ;breach of contract:Acting or failing to act in a manner contrary to the terms of the agreement. In family law, a breach of a term of a family agreement may give rise to a cause of action for the other party, but the breach is unlikely to allow the other party to treat the agreement as if it were cancelled or void. | ||
; | ;brief:A written argument. a memorandum of law. A brief is usually presented to a judge as a summary of an argument or a summary of the law on a particular issue. | ||
; | ;business assets:In family law, property owned by a spouse's company or corporation and not used for family purposes. Business assets are not usually subject to division between spouses, unlike family assets. | ||
==C== | ==C== | ||
;Charter of Rights and Freedoms:A part of the ''Constitution Act, 1981'' which sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all Canadians, including the freedoms of religion and expression and the rights to life and liberty. Neither the federal nor the provincial governments can pass laws or act in ways contrary to the ''Charter''. Certain sections of the ''Charter'', particularly the portions dealing with equality rights, have a special importance for family law. For example, the way that the provincial ''Family Relations Act'' treats unmarried and married couples differently for the purposes of dividing their assets may be contrary to equality guarantees set out in the ''Charter''. | ;Charter of Rights and Freedoms:A part of the ''Constitution Act, 1981'' which sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all Canadians, including the freedoms of religion and expression and the rights to life and liberty. Neither the federal nor the provincial governments can pass laws or act in ways contrary to the ''Charter''. Certain sections of the ''Charter'', particularly the portions dealing with equality rights, have a special importance for family law. For example, the way that the provincial ''Family Relations Act'' treats unmarried and married couples differently for the purposes of dividing their assets may be contrary to equality guarantees set out in the ''Charter''. |