Contradistinction

A distinction drawn on the basis of contrast.

Standard of Proof

The amount of evidence which a plaintiff (or prosecuting attorney, in a criminal case) must present in a trial in order to win is called the standard of proof. Different cases require different standards of proof depending on what is at stake.

Character Evidence

Evidence introduced in a trial which bears on the truth and honesty of a witness or party is termed character evidence. Evidence of a person's good or bad character; such evidence may give rise to reasonable doubt.

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists if:

(1) the representation of one client will be directly adverse to another client; or

(2) there is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to another client, a former client or a third person or by a personal interest of the lawyer.

Concurrent Representation

The propriety of concurrent representation can depend on the nature of the litigation. For example, a suit charging fraud entails conflict to a degree not involved in a suit for a declaratory judgment concerning statutory interpretation.

Compulsory Joinder

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19, there are some instances where parties must be joined. This compulsory joinder of parties is an exception to the usual practice that leaves a plaintiff free to decide who shall be the parties to his lawsuit. Whether a party must be joined is determined by whether the party is classified as merely necessary or on the other hand indispensable.

Article Two

The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.

3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.

6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.

7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.

Compliance Theory

Compliance Theory is the title given to various academic attempts to explain why nation states are willing to cede (some) sovereignty to extra- and inter-national entities such as the ICJ (International Court of Justice) or the IACHR (Inter-American Court of Human Rights).

Collective Security

Collective Security is a system aspiring to the maintenance of peace, in which participants agree that any "breach of the peace is to be declared to be of concern to all the participating states," and will result in a collective response. This began in 1918 after the international balance of power was perceived by many nations to be no longer working correctly.

Civility

A lawyer should cultivate habits of civility, but surely a lawyer's aspiration should be for something greater than refraining from being obnoxious. A manifesto of professionalism that makes civility its cardinal aspiration risks banality and, worse, confusion over what it means to be a true professional.

Civil Commitment

Civil commitment is a process in which a judge decides whether a person who is alleged to be mentally ill should be required to go to a psychiatric hospital or accept other mental health treatment. A person in the process of a commitment sometimes is called an Alleged Mentally Ill Person (AMIP). A civil commitment is not a criminal conviction and will not go on a criminal record.

Admissibility

Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder--usually a judge or jury--in order to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. In order for evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant, without being prejudicial, and it must have some indicia of reliability.

Common Law

The system of laws originated and developed in England and based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws.

Attorney-Client Privilege

In law of evidence, client's privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications between the client and his or her attorney. Such privilege protects communications between attorney and client made for the purpose of furnishing or obtaining professional legal advice or assistance.

Moratorium

A suspension of activity or an authorized period of delay or waiting. A moratorium is sometimes agreed upon by the interested parties, or it may be authorized or imposed by operation of law. The term also is used to denote a period of time during which the law authorizes a delay in payment of debts or performance of some other legal obligation. This type of moratorium is most often invoked during times of distress, such as war or natural disaster.

Anticipatory Repudiation

The unjustifiable denial by a party to a contract of any intention to perform contractual duties, which occurs prior to the time performance is due.

Actus Reus

Lat: loosely, the criminal act; but the term more properly refers to the "guilty act" or the "deed of crime." Every criminal offense has two components: one of these is objective, the other is subjective; one is physical, the other is mental; one is the actus reus, the other is the mens rea.