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A common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions.
stare decisis (pronounced ster-ay-dih-si-ses)
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A federal, state, or local government agency established to perform a specific function. ________ are authorized by legislative acts to make and enforce rules to administer and enforce the acts.
Administrative Agency
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The body of law created by administrative agencies (in the form of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions) in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities.
Administrative Law
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To state, recite, assert, or charge.
Allege
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In logical reasoning, an assumption that if two things are similar in some respects, they will be similar in other respects also. Often used in legal reasoning to infer the appropriate application of legal principles in a case being decided by referring to previous cases involving different facts but considered to come within the policy underlying the rule.
Analogy
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The party who takes an appeal from one court to another.
Appellant
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The party against who takes an appeal from one court to another.
Appellee
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Any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case. _______ include constitutions, statutes, and regulations that govern the issue being decided, as well as court decisions that are controlling precedents within the jurisdiction.
Binding Authority
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To violate a law, by an act or an omission, or to break a legal obligation that one owes to another person or to society.
Breach
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The rules of law announced in court decisions. _____ includes the aggregate of reported cases that interpret judicial precedents, statutes, regulations, and constitutional provisions.
Case Law
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A previous case involving factual circumstances and issues that are similar to the case before the court.
Case on Point
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An adviser to the king at the time of the early king's courts of England. Individuals petitioned the king for relief when they could not obtain an adequate remedy in a court of law, and these petitions were decided by the ______.
Chencellor
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A reference to a publication in which a legal authority - such as a statute or a court decision - or other source can be found.
Citation
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The branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters.
Civil Law
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That body of law developed from custom or judicial decisions in English and U.S. courts, not attributable to a legislature.
Common Law
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Law that is based on the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states.
Constitutional Law
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A court that decides controversies and administers justice according to the rules, principles, and precedents of equity.
Court of Equity
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A court in which the only remedies that could be granted were things of value, such as money damages. In the early English king's courts, _____ were distinct from courts of equity.
Court of Law
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Law that defines and governs actions that constitute crimes. Generally, _____ has to do with wrongful actions committed against society for which society demands redress.
Criminal Law
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An informal term used to refer to all laws governing electronic communications and transactions, particularly those conducted via the internet.
Cyberlaw
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A legally recognized authority that can certify the validity of digital signatures.
Cybernotary
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Money sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or for a tortious act.
Damages
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One against whom a lawsuit is brought; the accused person in a criminal proceeding.
Defendant
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Reasons that a defendant offers in an action or suit as to why the plaintiff should not obtain what he or she is seeking.
Defense
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General propositions or principles of law that have to do with fairness (equity).
Equitable Maxims
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An administrative agency within the executive branch of government. At the federal level, ____ are those within the cabinet departments.
Executive Agency
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A school of legal thought that emphasizes the evolutionary process of law and that looks to the past to discover what the principles of contemporary law should be.
Historical School
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An administrative agency that is not considered part of the government's executive branch and is not subject to the authority of the president. ______ cannot be removed without cause.
Independent Regulatory Agency
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The science or philosophy of law.
Jurisprudence
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The equitable doctrine that bars a party's right to legal action if the party has neglected for an unreasonable length of time to act on his or her rights.
Laches
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A body of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and their society.
Law
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A school of legal thought that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s and that challenged many existing jurisprudential assumptions, particularly the assumption that subjective elements play no part in judicial reasoning. ______ generally advocated a less abstract and more pragmatic approach to the law, an approach that would take into account customary practices and the circumstances in which transactions take place. The school left a lasting imprint on American jurisprudence.
Legal Realism
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The process of reasoning by which a judge harmonizes his or her decision with the judicial decisions of previous cases.
Legal Reasoning
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The belief the government and the legal system should reflect universal moral and ethical principles that are inherent in human nature. The ______ school is the oldest and one of the most significant schools of legal thought.
Natural Law
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A Statement by the court expressing the reasons for its decision in a case.
Opinion
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A law passed by a local governing unit, such as a municipality or a county.
Ordinance
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In equity practice, a pary that initiates a lawsuit.
Petitioner
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One who initiates a lawsuit.
Plaintiff
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The body of conventional, or written, law of particular society of a particular point in time.
Positive Law
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A school of legal thought whose adherents believe that there can be no higher law than a nation's positive law or the body of conventional, or written, law of a particular society at a particular time.
Positivist School
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A court decision that furnishes an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts.
Precedent
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Rules that define the manner in which the rights and duties of individuals may be enforced.
Procedural Law
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A government policy based on widely held societal values and (usually) expressed or implied in law or regulations.
Public Policy
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The relief given to an innocent party to enforce a right or compensate for the violation of a right.
Remedy
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A remedy available in a court of law. Money damages are awared as a __________.
Remedy at Law
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A remedy allowed by courts in situations where remedies at law are not appropriate. _____ are based on settled rules of fairness, justice, and honesty, and include injunction, specific performance, rescission and restitution, and reformation.
Remedy in Equity
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A publication in which court cases are published or reported.
Reporter
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In equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding.
Respondent
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A school of legal thought that views the law as a tool for promoting justice in society.
Sociological School
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A federal or state statute setting the maximum time period during which a certain action can be brought or certain rights enforced.
Statute of Limitations
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The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to constitutional law, administrative law, or case law).
Statutory Law
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Law that defines the rights and duties of individuals with respect to each other, as opposed to procedural law, which defines the manner in which these rights and duties may be enforced.
Substantive Law
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A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
Syllogism
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A model law created by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and/or the American Law institute for the states to consider adopting. If the state adopts the law, it becomes statutory law in that state. Each state has the option of adopting or rejecting all or part of a ______.
Uniform Law
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