Legal Phrases and Expressions

Unit: 2
 Synopsis:
• Amicus Curiae = Friend of the court

Animus = Intention
• Animus Possidendi
• Animus Deserendi
 Amicus Curiae
• A friend of the Court.
• The amicus curiae figure originates in Roman
Law.
• Amicus curiae is a bystander (usually a counselor)
who interposes and volunteers information upon
some matter of law in regard to which the judge
is doubtful or mistaken. A person who has no
right to appear in a suit but is allowed to
introduce argument to protect his interests.
 Illustartion:
• Ganesh is not a party to an action, but has a
strong interest in the matter,
will petition the court for permission to
submit a brief in the action with the intent of
influencing the courts decision. Such briefs are
called “amicus briefs.”
 Case Law:
Mulla & Another vs State Of Uttar Pradesh
[(2003) SC3 C 569]
• In this case the learned amicus curiae fairly
stated that no family member ever approached
during the entire proceedings enquiring these
appellants. The perusal of the case records also
shows that no one is depending on them and
no family responsibility is on the shoulders of
these accused persons.
 Animus Possidendi
• ["intention to possess”]
• "In order to claim possessory rights, an
individual must establish physical control of
the res and the intention to possess.
• TOPA – Transfer of Property Act
 CNTD..
• Animus possidendi refers to the subjective element of possession.
• Animus possidendi refers to the intention of the possessor to exclusively
use the thing which he possesses. Some important points must be noted
with regards to animus possidendi:
• It may be consciously wrongful. A thief is still in possession of the stolen
object regardless of the fact that theft is a wrongful act.
• Possessor’s claim must be exclusive. However, the exclusion may not be
absolute. For instance, an owner of land may grant a right of way over it to
the general public. This does not mean that he has lost possession of the
land.
• The possessor may not intend to use the thing as an owner.
• Even if a person is making the claim on someone else’s behalf, he is
nevertheless in true possession of the thing.
• It need not be specific towards a particular person or group of persons
and may be general.
 Animus Deserendi
• Intention to dessert.
• It becomes prominent in divorce matters
where the judge looks at both the parties and
if he finds out that there is Amicus Deserendi
then he might grant judicial separation or
divorce.
 Corpous Delicti
• Meaning-The body that is the gist of the crime/ body of
the crime.
• Latin origin.
• Corpus delicti is a latin legal maxim most commonly
understood as the body of the crime (plural: corpora
delicti) the legal maxim is a term from Western
jurisprudence referring to the rule that an offence must
be proved to have occurred before a person can be
convicted of committing that offence.
 Illustration
• A person cannot be tried for theft unless it can
be established beyond reasonable doubt that
property has been stolen. Similarly, in order
for a person to be tried for murder it must be
proven that a criminal act resulted in the
homicide of the victim.
 Case Law:
Rama Nand and Ors. v. State of Himachal
Pradesh (1981) 1 SCC 511
• Discovery of the dead-body of the victim
bearing physical evidence of violence has
never been considered as the only mode of
proving the corpus delicti in murder.
Thank You