LEGAL LANGUAGE AND LEGAL MAXIMS

Syllabus

UNIT 1 – Introduction to legal language

Meaning of law – sources of law – legislation – precedent – custom – contract

Definition and classification of law – punishment

Rights – legal right – duty – wrong – elements of right – classification of rights

Liabilities – civil, criminal, contractual – strict liability

UNIT 2 – Legal terms

1. Accomplice- : A person who is a guilty associate in crime is a person who

helps in crime is known as an accomplice. He can be
convicted along with the principal convict.
Section 133 of Indian Evidence Act speaks about
accomplice.
2. Estoppels Estoppel precludes a person from denying or to negate
anything to the contrary of that which has been
constituted as truth, either by his own actions, by his
deeds or by his representations or by the acts of judicial
or legislative officers
Section 115 of Indian Evidence Act speak about estoppel.
3. Trespass *An illegal entry on another party’s person or
property without their permission.
*Sec 441 to 462 of IPC deals with trespass.
4. Negligence *It is a breach of duty to take care& omission to do
something which a reasonable won’t do under such
circumstances.
5. Conviction It is an act by the legal Tribunal or any other legal
authority to find the person as guilty.
6. Capital punishment Highest form of punishment in the state, usually it is
Death penalty.
7. Habeas corpus To bring the body of
It is a writ issued to produce a person in front of the
court, who is missing or detained.
32& Article 226
8. Adjournment The word adjournment means to postpone or suspend the
 meeting/hearing to another time or place.
9. Ultra-vires beyond one's power

10. Acquittal The word acquittal means an act by the legal Tribunal or
any other legal authority to find a person not guilty.
11. Act of god Vis-major:An incident/damage which takes place due to the
unavoidable natural forces are known as Act of God.
i)There should be no human intervention
ii)The natural forces must be extraordinary like heavy
rain/wind, tsunami,earthquake, etc..

12. Bona-fide Bonafide refers to something that is

published/said/provided/ issued in good faith or in a real
and genuine manner.
13. Bias Bias is a favouritism or an inclination to favour one party to
the litigation or one of the lawyers.
It is a personal or directly in favour or against one side of
the case.
Pecuniary bias-(monetary interest)
Subject matter bias(Benefits from a particular subject)
Personal bias(personal relationship with the party)

14. Defamation Defamation is the Publication of a false-statement with

the intention to cause harm & damage the reputation of
the other. : Libel & slander.
15. Summons it is an order or command by call or notification to appear
someone at specific place especially before Court or a
judicial authority.
16. De facto : it is the state of affairs that is true in fact but not
officially sanctioned.
17. Agreement it is a manifestation of mutual consent by two or more
person to one another without any legal obligations.
18. Amendment amendments are addition or alteration or official changes
made in the existing statutes/provisions/laws.
19. Amicus curiae : the literal meaning is friend of court .
It is used to denote a person who assist the court by
furnishing information or advising regarding the questions
of the law or fact.
20.Breach of contract breach of contract is a legal cause of action when one
party in a binding agreement fails to deliver according to
the terms of the agreement.
Section 39 & 73 of Indian Contracts Act deals with what is
breach of contract & claims for it.
21. Caveat emptor : It means "let the buyer beware", it states that before
the purchase, the buyer should be aware of everything
 about the product and the seller will not be liable if there
is any mistake or defect in the product.
22.Contempt It is an offensive act of being disobedient or
disrespectful to the judge or court of law or other
officers or interference with its orderly process.
CRIMINAL contempt-the publication is either by
words spoken or written or by signs,etc.. of any
matter or doing any act that scandalize to lower or
tend to lower the authority of court.
CIVIL contempt-it refers to the behavior which is
disobident to the court in civil proceedings.Ex-not
responding to the court’s order.
23.Covenant It is an agreement or promise to do or provide
something, or to refrain from doing or providing
something.
24.Natural justice Originated from the word-Jus Naturaa in common
law[ which means a law of nature].
Natural justice means natural sense of what is right
and wrong and in its technical sense it is synonymous
with fairness.
In simple terms, it can be said as an codified universal
law that is applicable to everyone toto entitle justice
in a fair manner.

25.Custody The physical control over the child and the right to make
all legal decisions concerning the child and the duty to take
care and maintain the child is known as custody. This
usually arises when the parents get divorced.
: It means holding property under one control, this usually
arises when there is a conflict for property and the court
takes the property under its custody until the case is over
.
The act of officials holding an accused or convicted person
in criminal proceedings under the care of them is known as
custody, this arises when the court charges the accused
person under the control of legal authority.

26.Damages Damages are monetary compensation provided for the loss

or injury suffered by the person.
Contemptuous damages, nominal, substantial & exemplary
damages.
27.Remand It is the procedure used by the Higher Court to send
 cases back to the Lower court if it decides that there are
some procedural error in the trial court.
It is an act to send a Prisoner or the accused person back
into the custody to await trial or for further investigation.
28.Remedy It can be defined as a solution or judicial relief that is
used to enforce a right (if one's right is infringed) impose
a penalty (if he done a wrongful act) or to provide any
other means of relief .
: Legal, equitable & declarative remedies.
29.De jure It describes an act or practice that is legally recognised
officially sanctioned, it is regardless of whether the
practice or at exist in reality of followed by the people.
30.Hearsay It is the statement made out of court that is offered in
the court as evidence other than the witness to prove the
truth of the matter.
It is the statement provided by a person who had not
actually witnessed the crime, but asserted the truth
according to the circumstances and information heard.

31. Execution : It means the enforcement or implementation or giving an

effect something (usually an order or judgement mean by
the court or legislative provision). In simple words,it is
carrying out
32.Fraud It is the intentional use of deceit/tricks/some dishonest
means (usually includes false statements/misleading fact/
misrepresentation) to make the other to believe in
something and deprived his or her property/money/legal
right, that results the fraudulent person in
financial/personal gain.
33.Jurisdiction : It can be defined as the maximum power administration
that can be exercised by the judicial authority over a
particular Territory or any other subject matters.
Pecuniary jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction & appellate
jurisdiction

34.Res judicata The literal meaning "a matter decided ",it means that a
person cannot file a case in the court if the judgement is
already provided for the same issue in the same level of
court.
35.Tort It is a wrongful act/civil wrong other than a breach of
contract that causes damage to other's party, property,
rights, reputation, etc.
36.Liability It is a state of being responsible to the legal obligation
made by the court.
Great charter: it is a document signed by King John which
 37.Magna carta established a principle that everyone is subject to the law,
even the king and guarantees rights of individual, right to
justice and right to fair trial.

38.Murder

39.Trade mark A mark capable of being represented graphically and which

is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of 1
product from those of the other and may include shape of
the goods,their packaging or combination of colours.
40.Writ :A writ is defined as a formal written order issued by a
higher court which requests a lower court or a government
entity to take action in a particular way.

CONTRACT
Agreement between parties
■It is an agreement that you can break
■One sign a contract.
■Mutually beneficial relationships Where One
exchange good for another.
■Ex-Import/export agreement among countries
COVENANT
■It is a pledge
■It is completely a perpetual promise
■One seal a covenant
■It is something to fulfil ,where one gives
themselves to another party
■Ex-Peace treaty among countries

• There are two main principles of natural justice.They are;

• i. Nemo in propria causa judex, esse debet- It is known as the rule against bias; or the rule
where no one is to be made judge in his own cause.
• ii. Audi alteram partem- Both the sides should be given adequate opportunity to be heard or
the rule of fair hearing.

UNIT 3 – Legal Maxims

1. Action personalismoritur It means that a personal right of action dies along

cum persona with the person. According to this maxim, the case
will come to an end if either party dies during the
course of the case preceding ,but now this rule is
applicable only to a certain extent.
2. Actus non facitreum nisi : It means that an act does not make anyone guilty
mens sit rea unless there is a criminal intent or guilty mind

3. Audi alterampartem It means that no man should be condemned unheard.

He should be given proper notification about his
case.
4. Nemodebetessejudix in It means that no ought to be a judge in his or her
propriacausa own cause.According to this Maxim, a person cannot

5. Nemojudex in causasua
6. Deminimis non curatlex
7. Quid pro quo
8. Ex nudopacto non
orituractio
9. Ex turpicausa non
orituractio
10. Falsus in unofalsus in
omnibus
11. Fiat justiciaruatcoelum
12. Generaliaspecialibus non
derogant
13. Ignorantiajuris non excusat
14. Lexinjustitia non estlex
15. Nemodat quod non-habet
16. Nemodebetbisvexari pro
una et eademcausa
17. Autrefois convict and
autrefois acquit
18. Res judicata
be a judge who is biased.
: It means that no one cannot be a judge in his or
her own case. According to this rule, a person
cannot be a judge for case,if he/she have any
personal interest in that case.
It means that- law does not concern itself for
trifles .
That is, one cannot file a case for slight harms.
It means that- something for something .
This maximum is usually used in contract ,where two
or more people mutually sign up an agreement
between each other.
It means that- no action arises on a contract
without a consideration, that is a contract will not
be legally enforceable in the absence of
consideration
No action arises on an Immoral contract.
According to this Maxim, one cannot seek justice
for breach of contact in an illegal activity/ immoral
agreement
The literal meaning is false in one, false in all
.According to this Maxim, in some cases the witness
will be considered as liar if he was untrue in some
other time.
Enforce justice though the heaven falls.
According to the statute, if there is interpretation
between two statutes the special statute always
prevails over the general statute.
It means that ignorance of law is no excuse.
An unjust law is not law at all.
According to this maximum if any law violates the
basic human morality then they are not considered
as law at all.
it means that no one cannot give what he doesn't
have, that is one cannot sell a property/title/right
that does not belongs to him.
No one shall be vexed twice for the same offence.
Literally it means, 'previously acquitted and
previously convicted', it means that a person should
be convicted or acquitted only once for the same
offence.
The literal meaning is the "matter decided or has

19. Qui facit per facit per se
20. Respondeat superior
21. Res ipsa loquitur
22. Volunti non fit injuria
23. Ubi jus ibiremedium
24. Caveat emptor and
caveat venditor
25. Injuria sine damnum
been judged", it refers to the case where there has
been a final judgement and is no longer subject to
appeal, that is one cannot file case in the same level
of court for which the judgement is already
provided.
It means – He who acts through the other, acts
himself
According to this maxim, if a person insist the
other to do something, he will be held liable for that
act even though he had not committed it directly by
himself.
It means that – let the superior be responsible
It is also the principle for vicarious liability, where
the superior (master/ employer) will be held liable
for the tortious act committed by their
servant/employer during the course of employment.
It means that ‘the thing speaks itself’.
According to this maxim, the facts and
circumstances surrounding an injury allow the court
to presume that negligence is the root cause of the
incident& such occurrence need not to be proven
completely unlike other cases
It means that to a willing person, an injury is not
done i.e. the person who himself voluntarily
waived/abandoned his right, cannot have a claim
over its remedy.
There are two essentials to constitute this. They
are, 1)the person knew the presence of risk 2)he
gave his consent freely & not in a compulsion to
undergo that act.
It means that where there is a wrong, there is a
remedy.
Wrong can be stated as the violation of
law/infringement of other’s right.
This maxim is applicable where there is a law/ right
& it is violated /infringed respectively & results bin
legal injury.
It means that let the purchaser beware.
It means that let the seller beware.
It means- injury without damage. This arises where
there is violation of any legal law /infringement of
right without causing actual loss/damage
26. Damnum sine injuria It means damage caused without any legal injury.
This maxim arises where the plaintiff suffered
from some kind of loss, but the defendant’s act was
not wrongful/did not violate law/justified by law.
27. Lispendens Lis-suit; pendens-pending.
It means-a pending legal action.
It is derived from a Latin maxim ‘Ut pendent nihil
innovetur’, which means ‘during litigation nothing
should be changed or no new rights should be
introduced’.
This maxim has been legally applied in Sec 52 of
Transfer of Property Act,1882
28. Spessuccessionis It can be defined as the expectation of succeeding
property.
Sec 6(a) of Transfer of property Act prohibits the
transfer of spes successionis (i.e., one cannot
alienate his expectation to other because he had
not yet acquired the right over that property, he
only had the expectation to acquire such property)
29. Delegatus non It means that a delegated authority cannot again be
potestdelegare delegated.
In simple words, a person to whom the power is
delegated cannot sub-delegate that power to some
other person.
If an authority is entitled to do some work, it is his
responsibility it, he cannot transfer that work to
someone else.
30. Stare decisis This is the short term for “stare decisis et non
quieta movere” which means that to stand by
decisions and not to disturb settled matters
This maxim is also known as doctrine of precedents.
According to this, the previous judgments laid by
the court can be used as a rule in upcoming cases.
This maxim is enshrined in article 141 of Indian
constitution which states that the decision of the
Supreme court should be followed by all the courts
in India, and the higher courts have the power
overrule the judgments of the lower courts
31. Ratio decidendi It can be defined as the reason/rationale for the
decision.
It refers to the statement in the judgment where it
states about the principle used to make the decision
32. Obitur dictum The literal meaning is by the way/something said in
passing.
It refers to the statement in the judgment that is

33. Ut res magisvaleat quam
pereat
34. Expression unisest exclusion
alterius
35. Saluspopuliestsupremalex
36. Injure non
remotacausasedproxima
spectator
37. Causaproxima non remota
spectate
38. Novus actusinterveniens
39. Necessitas non habetlegem
40. Rebus sic standibus
not related to the case, but used by judges to
provide a collateral opinion.
People used to denote these statement by various
terms- passing comments, opinions , examples , etc.
Those statements cannot be used as precedents.
It means that the thing may rather have effect
than destroyed.
The explicit meaning of one thing is the exclusion of
another.
It means that in a statue/ provision if a
matter/thing is specifically mentioned then, one
cannot make assumptions in place of the matter
mentioned.
It means that safety of the people is the supreme
law.
It can be said as the basic principle to the
government in making law’.Here, the word safety
includes physical , mental & social well-being of all
the people in the society
In law not the remote but the proximate cause is
looked at.
It means that a person will mostly be held liable for
proximate damage and not the remote one.
That is a person will he held according to the
foreseeability of damages.
”
New act intervening
It refers to breaking of chain of causation such
that even if the defendant has acted negligently,a
subsequent intervening action breaks the chain of
causation with the loss or damage sustained & so
the defendant is not liable.
This arises under three cases:-
1)Act of third party
2)The act of the plaintiff itself not proportionate
3)intervention of extrodinary natural force.
Necessity knows no law.
It means that under necessary situations, in order
to prevent a big damage, a reasonable act can be
performed ,even though it is wrongful as per law.
Things thus standing.
It means that a person cannot escape or withdraw
 from the contract unless there is a change in
fundamental terms

UNIT 4 – Legal research

Legal research – classification of legal research

Letter writing – official letter, memorandum, petition to police

UNIT 5 – Reading skills

1. Case laws
2. Law library
3. Citation
4. Abbreviations