Yaseni Williams

August 20, 2020

Business Law 201 A
Assignment #1- Terms & Definition

Find the law definition for the terms below and create a sentence for each term.

1.) Law

Definition: the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as

regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of
penalties.

Sentence: There are laws in every country which citizens are to abide by.

2.) Breach

Definition: is one party’s failure to fulfill any of its contractual obligations.

Sentence: Many people were arrested for breach of curfew.

3.) Tort

Definition: is an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts
to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability.

Sentence: The employee was sued for tort after stealing from the company.

4.) Defamation

Definition: The act of making untrue statements about another which damages his/her
reputation.

Sentence: The business lost many of its customers due to an act of defamation which
ruined their reputation.

5.) Civil Law

Definition: is a body of rules that defines and protects the private rights of citizens, offers
legal remedies that may be sought in a dispute, and covers areas of law such as
contracts, torts, property and family law.

Sentence: In civil law, the employee wasn’t found guilty.

6.) Criminal Law

Definition: is a system of laws concerned with punishment of individuals who commit

crimes.

Sentence: The criminals were placed in jail for violating the criminal laws.

7.) Affidavit

Definition:A written statement of facts voluntarily made by an affiant under an oath or

affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law.

Sentence: The security of the company had an affidavit which stated that he was
attacked by the men who robbed the company.

8.) Ordinance

Definition: is a law passed by a municipal government.

Sentence: The ordinance will be effective on September 1, 2020.

9.) Precedent

Definition: refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding

subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts, or similar legal issues.

Sentence: A precedent was made for the upcoming court cases.

10.) Remedy

Definition: a way of using the legal system to make sure that someone’s rights are not
taken away from them.

Sentence: The country took steps to remedy the issue of the workers in Belize.

11.) Arbitration

Definition: is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein
the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons by whose decision they agree to
be bound.

Sentence: Both parties agreed that arbitration was a great way to settle the dispute.
12.) Plaintiff

Definition: is the person bringing an action in court.

Sentence: The plaintiff sued the company for false advertisements.

13.) Defendant

Definition: is the party sued in a civil lawsuit or the party charged with a crime in a
criminal prosecution.

Sentence: The defendant was declared guilty for the false advertisements.

14.) Statute of limitation

Definition: a law that limits the amount of time allowed to bring a legal action against
someone.

Sentence: The court didn’t continue with the case because of the statute of limitation.

15.) Litigation

Definition: the actions between two opposing parties working in the interest of enforcing
or defending a legal right.

Sentence: The school’s lack of communication with parents and students made all the
parents want to litigate.

16.) Summons

Definition: Is a document that officially starts a lawsuit.

Sentence: A summons was delivered to the business for not paying their tax.

17.) Counterclaim

Definition: is a defendant’s claim against a plaintiff.

Sentence: The supplier counterclaimed the business for breach of contract.

18.) Motion to dismiss

Definition: is a formal request for a court to dismiss a case.

Sentence: The company requested a motion to dismiss from the court in order to file
another court case.

19.) Pleadings

Definition: is a formal statement that requests the court to either grant a relief or pass a
verdict in a dispute.

Sentence: The employee was pleading for the company to drop the court case.

20.) Negotiation

Definition: is a give-and-take discussion that attempts to reach an agreement or settle a

dispute.

Sentence: The company and the suppliers negotiated the price for the goods.

21.) Mediation

Definition: A settlement of a dispute or controversy by setting up an independent person

between two contending parties in order to aid them in the settlement of their
disagreement.

Sentence: One of the employees was appointed to mediate the dispute between the
manager and the bank teller.

22.) Lawsuit

Definition: a proceeding in a court of law brought by one party against another.

Sentence: The lawsuit continued for a week.

23.) Prosecution

Definition: is a proceeding in which an accused person is tried.

Sentence: The supplier awaits prosecution at the court.

24.) Appeal

Definition: a legal proceeding by which a case is brought before a higher court for review
of the decision of a lower court.

Sentence: Belize and Guatemala have decided to make an appeal to the ICJ.

25.) Due Process

Definition: is a legal requirement that no citizen be deprived of their legal rights without
properly application of the law.

Sentence: The criminals were later released because of a due process.