A privilege is a right or freedom for people to do something, such as vote or drive. court [THE] the chamber or court of a tribune (tribunus), the protector of the rights of the people in urban districts (tribe or tribes). Usufruct [LE] is the civil category for a level of ownership, the «use of its fruits» without the right to dispose of it. Back to table of contents Latin Home 5: Contracts and debts The Roman Empire developed the efficient and sophisticated contract law it needed as the center of an international market economy. Europe at the end of the Middle Ages, having recovered this advanced type of economy, eagerly adopted Roman civil law and integrated much of it into the merchant of international law. In contrast, England had a land-based economy when its common law developed, and the common law did not care about contracts at all. When treaty problems arose in England, the common law responded by trying to treat contractual obligations as if they were interests in land and breaches of contract, as if they were trespassing, a very clumsy adaptation. In the early 17th century, England began to develop a new treaty law that did not depend on old fictions. Instead, he relied on merchant and civil law for his ideas and much of his terminology. This is why the word list in this chapter contains so much language derived from or borrowed from the Latin of civil law and so little French from the common law courts. For references to the maxims of the Digest and the Liber Sextus, which appear first in the following list, see Chapter 17. The Indo-European words for «a law» most often come from verbs for «fix, place, fix», such as Greek thesmos (from tithemi «to fix, to place»), Old English dom (from PIE *dhe- «to fix, place, fix»), Lithuanian įstatym (from statyti «cause to stand, erection»), Ustashi Polish (from stać «to stand»).
Compare also the Old English gesetnes (above), statute, from the Latin statuere; German law «one law, one statute», from the Old High German gisatzida «one determination, one determination, one evaluation», with sezzen (new German ensemble) «sit, together, fix». In some situations, the words are legitimate and legal roughly equivalent. However, legitimate may refer to a right or legal status, but also, in the case of extensive use, to a right or status supported by tradition, custom or recognized norms. When something is done legally, it follows the rules of law. If a couple has received a marriage certificate and a ceremony has been performed by a judge, they are legally married. legal (nominative masculine very singular legal, not comparable) Something legitimate is legal, lawful or real. Condition sine qua non: An expression that refers to an event essential to all subsequent consequences, it means «without anything». demur [LFE] «dwelling (Latin from + morare)», «to linger», «to take position»; therefore, the noun demurrer, originally the infinitive of the French verb, signifies the defence`s view that the plaintiff`s allegations do not compel the defendant to respond (Millar, p.1027). See Demurrage in Chapter 18. From Dutch legaal («legal»), from legal French, from Latin lēgālis. It is more common for Indo-European languages to use different words for «a particular law» and for «law» in the general sense of «institution or body of law», e.g.
Latin lex «a law», ius «a right», especially «legal law, law». Mid-15th century. «belonging to or belonging to the law», from the Old French legal «legal» (14c.) or directly from the Latin legalis «belonging to the law», from lex (genitive legis) «a decree; a command, a regulation, a principle, a rule; formal proposal of law, motion, bill; a contract, an agreement, an invention. This is probably related to the casual «collect», from the root PIE *leg- (1) «collect, collect», where the derivatives mean «to speak («select words»)». Perhaps the noun comes from the verb on the term «a set of rules», but de Vaan seems to imply that development is reversed: the meanings of legitimate and legal largely overlap; However, licit may apply to conformity with laws of any kind (e.g., natural, divine, general, or canonical). This penalty, which means that the burden of proof lies with the person alleging a crime instead of denying it, is the basis of the principle of innocence until proven otherwise. The table above shows the family relationships of the different languages that appear in the study of English legal terminology. Each arrow in this (highly selective) table shows the passage of time and the change of a language constantly used by a large number of speakers and writers into a significantly different language. Latin, the language of the ancient city of Rome and its empire, became the language of all Italy and Gaul (modern France) as the empire expanded. When the empire collapsed from the 4th century AD, communication between its regions, which had kept their language more or less uniform, became rare. Late Latin or proto-Romance was spoken more and more differently in different Western European countries. Over the course of fifteen hundred years, the novel has split into various modern languages, including the two we know as Italian and French. Both are derived from Latin, and their vocabularies are mostly derived directly from Latin.
For example, Italian giudice and French juge are both derived from the Latin judex and mean the same thing: judge. Legal language – the dry and tortuous language of law – can be as enigmatic as it is pervasive. To help our readers analyze some of the most common and curious legal terms, here are their Latin roots. legal (comparatively legal, superlative most legal) Modus et conventio vincunt legem. « Habit and contract transcend the law. » Declared legal norm (no. 85) in the Liber Sextus of Boniface VIII; Broom (pp. 690-698) exhausts the subject and quotes Erle J.
in summary: «Contracting parties should be allowed to regulate their own rights and obligations.» non est factum [L] «no defence has been made» that a document has not actually been produced; Especially if one party signed it and confused it with something else. Novation [THE] «Conclusion of a new [contract]» by replacing a new person with one of the parties. nudum pactum [L] «simple agreement», inferior to a contract, without consideration, see above. The plural would be nuda pacta. Cf. the maxim above, Ex nudo pacto. nulla bona [L] a return of a sheriff to an execution warrant, which reports that there is «no property» to carry out the sentence. Operational words [LE,GE] in a contract or other document, the exact words used to achieve the purpose of the document. The Latin operare means «to work». pari passu [L] «at eye level», says about creditors who are equal, not in priority of payment. Party [LFE] The Latin pars means «faction,» one side of a relationship, contract, political rivalry, or dispute. Peppercorn [HLE/GE] refers to a black peppercorn representing a defined minimum or only nominal value, as in «a contract with a single counterpart peppercorn».
Persona [L] in the old drama, a stage mask through which the actor «sounded»; then a role in a play; a person with special interests and an independent place in society; Now, a person is any entity that is legally recognized as existing and with rights. Not the singular of people. Family relationship [LFE] means a person who possesses or shares a dignity or right to property; Also a piece of personal secret knowledge. The Latin privum means «particular», «individual». Consideration [LE] originally a word for stargazing (Latin sidera = «stars»), consideration can mean contemplation or the thing considered. In English contract law of the 17th century, it is the anticipated profit that an entrepreneur has in mind, the consideration (q.v.) required for a contract and its legal performance. There are nearly a thousand terms and maxims considered in this book, spread over the following chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 deal with language and legal history in general.
Chapters 4, 7, 10, 14 and 19 deal with legal history and focus on the legal systems of the past that have provided terms for our legal language. The other chapters explain a selection of terminology for certain legal topics such as real property and tort. It is clear that many of the terms could just as easily have appeared under different headings, and I am not saying that sua sponte, for example, is associated exclusively with the trial because it appears in the list of words in the plea and trial. Persona [L] in the old drama, a stage mask through which the actor «sounded»; then a role in a play; a person with special interests and an independent place in society; Now, a person is any entity that is legally recognized as existing and with rights.