Difference between revisions of "Terminology"

;common law:The legal principle under which courts are bound to follow the principles established by previous courts in similar cases dealing with similar facts; the system of justice used in non-criminal cases in all provinces and territories except Quebec.

;common-law marriage:A form of marriage without government or church licence, and often without ceremony, in which a couple acquired certain rights and obligations toward each other under the common law, banned as a result of the 1753 English ''Marriage Act''. Common-law marriages have never been lawful in British Columbia. See "unmarried spouse."

;competent:In law, having the capacity, ability or authorization to do a thing. A person who is competent to give evidence is sane and able to understand the issues and results of his or her evidence. A court that is competent has the authority to deal with the issues in a case and authority over the parties to that case.

;conclusion of fact:A judge's decisions as to what the facts of a case are, based on the evidence he or she has heard and his or her evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses giving the evidence. See "conclusion of law," "evidence," "question of fact," and "witness."

;conclusion of law:A judge's decision as to how the law, including any relevant legislation or principles of the common law, should be applied to the facts of a particular case. See "common law," "conclusion of fact," "question of law," and "legislation."

;concur:To agree.

;conjugal rights:A somewhat outdated idea involving each spouse’s entitlement to the benefits of the different aspects of married life from the other, including the comforts of living together, eating at the same table, sympathy, mutual confidence, sex and so forth.

;connivance:Intentionally causing or permitting a wrongful act to happen to obtain a goal. In family law, a married spouse conspiring towards the adultery of the other spouse for the purpose of claiming adultery as a ground of divorce. A divorce will not be granted where connivance as to the ground of divorce relied on is found. See "adultery," "collusion," "condonation," and "divorce, grounds of."

;consent order:An order resolving all or part of a court proceeding, on an interim or final basis, that the parties agree the court should make.

;consortium:The marital relationship between spouses, specifically the right of each spouse to the company and aid of the other. See "conjugal rights."

;constitution:The rules that set out the political and legal organization of a state. The power and authority of the governments and the courts, as well as their limits, stem from the constitution. In Canada, there are two primary constitutional documents, the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' and the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is part of the ''''Constitution Act, 1982''.

;construction:In law, the interpretation of something, like a document or a set of circumstances, so as to give it meaning. For example, if a separation agreement stated that one guardian "will have the children on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday" but didn’t say anything about the other guardian, the agreement would be ''constructed'' to mean that the other guardian would have the children on the days that weren't mentioned.