1.
John Jay
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John Jay was an American statesman, Patriot, diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and first Chief Justice of the United States. Jay was born into a family of merchants and government officials in New York City. He became a lawyer and joined the New York Committee of Correspondence and he joined a conservative political faction that, fearing mob rule, sought to protect property rights and maintain the rule of law while resisting British rule. Jay served as the President of the Continental Congress, a position with little power. His major diplomatic achievement was to negotiate trade terms with Great Britain in the Jay Treaty in 1794. Jay, a proponent of strong, centralized government, worked to ratify the U. S, constitution in New York in 1788 by pseudonymously writing five of The Federalist Papers, along with the main authors Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. After the establishment of the U. S. government, Jay became the first Chief Justice of the United States, as a leader of the new Federalist Party, Jay was the Governor of the State of New York, where he became the states leading opponent of slavery. His first two attempts to end slavery in New York in 1777 and 1785 failed, but a third in 1799 succeeded, the 1799 Act, a gradual emancipation he signed into law, eventually granted all slaves in New York their freedom before his death in 1829. The Jays were a prominent merchant family in New York City, in 1685 the Edict of Nantes had been revoked, thereby abolishing the rights of Protestants and confiscating their property. Among those affected was Jays paternal grandfather, Augustus Jay and he moved from France to New York, where he built a successful merchant empire. Jays father, Peter Jay, born in New York City in 1704, became a trader in furs, wheat, timber. Johns mother was Mary Van Cortlandt, who had married Peter Jay in 1728 and they had ten children together, seven of whom survived into adulthood. Marys father, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, had born in New Amsterdam in 1658. Cortlandt served on the New York Assembly, was mayor of New York City. Two of his children married into the Jay family, Jay spent his childhood in Rye. He was educated there by his mother until he was eight years old, in 1756, after three years, he would return to homeschooling in Rye under the tutelage of his mother and George Murray. In 1760, Jay attended Kings College, during this time, Jay made many influential friends, including his closest, Robert Livingston—the son of a prominent New York aristocrat and Supreme Court justice. Jay took the political stand as his father, a staunch Whig
2.
Supreme Court of the United States
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The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court of the United States. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the interpreter of federal constitutional law. The Court normally consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight justices who are nominated by the President. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, in modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, and while many cases are decided unanimously, the Court meets in the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C. The Supreme Court is sometimes referred to as SCOTUS, in analogy to other acronyms such as POTUS. The ratification of the United States Constitution established the Supreme Court in 1789 and its powers are detailed in Article Three of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the court specifically established by the Constitution. The Court first convened on February 2,1790, by which five of its six initial positions had been filled. According to historian Fergus Bordewich, in its first session, he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street and they had no cases to consider. After a week of inactivity, they adjourned until September, the sixth member was not confirmed until May 12,1790. Because the full Court had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was made by two-thirds. However, Congress has always allowed less than the Courts full membership to make decisions, under Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth, the Court heard few cases, its first decision was West v. Barnes, a case involving a procedural issue. The Courts power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court, the Marshall Court also ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim, a remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshalls tenure, although beyond the Courts control, the impeachment, the Taney Court made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v. Nevertheless, it is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which helped precipitate the Civil War. In the Reconstruction era, the Chase, Waite, and Fuller Courts interpreted the new Civil War amendments to the Constitution, during World War II, the Court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese citizens and the mandatory pledge of allegiance. Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated, and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend, the Warren Court dramatically expanded the force of Constitutional civil liberties. It held that segregation in public schools violates equal protection and that traditional legislative district boundaries violated the right to vote
3.
Magistrate
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The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, in other parts of the world, such as China, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is an officer who hears cases in a lower court. In other jurisdictions, magistrates may be volunteers without formal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters. In ancient Rome, the word referred to one of the highest offices of state. Analogous offices in the authorities, such as municipium, were subordinate only to the legislature of which they generally were members. Ex officio, often a combination of judicial and executive power, in Rome itself, the highest magistrates were members of the so-called cursus honorum -career of honors. They held both judicial and executive power within their sphere of responsibility, and also had the power to issue ius honorarium, the Consul was the highest Roman magistrate. Roman magistrates were not lawyers, but were advised by jurists who were experts in the law, the term was maintained in most feudal successor states to the western Roman Empire. The term chief magistrate applied to the highest official, in sovereign entities the head of state and/or head of government and these were referred as administrative magistrates to distinguish them from the judiciary magistrates. The President of Portugal is considered the Supreme Magistrate of the Nation, in Mexicos Federal Law System, a magistrado is a superior judge, hierarchically beneath the Supreme Court Justices. The magistrado reviews the cases seen by a judge in a term if any of the parties disputes the verdict. For special cases, there are magistrados superiores who review the verdicts of special court, magistrates/JPs are limited to issuing sentences of no longer than six months for one offence and up to twelve months consecutively for multiple offences. A wide range of legal matters is within the remit of magistrates. However, commission areas were replaced with Local Justice Areas by the Courts Act 2003, meaning no longer need to live within 15 miles, although, in practice. Thus, every magistrate in England and Wales may act as a magistrate anywhere in England or Wales, there are two types of magistrates in England and Wales, justices of the peace and district judges who hold office as members of the professional judiciary. According to requirements, around 50% of magistrates are women, over 41% of magistrates are retired from employment while others may be self-employed or able to arrange leave from their employment. No formal qualifications are required, but magistrates require intelligence, common sense, integrity, membership is widely spread throughout the area covered and drawn from all walks of life
4.
Profession
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The term is a truncation of the term liberal profession, which is, in turn, an Anglicization of the French term profession libérale. Medieval and early modern tradition recognized only four professions, divinity, medicine, the military officer, just as some professions rise in status and power through various stages, others may decline. Disciplines formalized more recently, such as architecture, now have equally long periods of study associated with them, originally, any regulation of the professions was self-regulation through bodies such as the College of Physicians or the Inns of Court. With the growing role of government, statutory bodies have taken on this role. It may be resisted as limiting the freedom to innovate or to practice as in their professional judgement they consider best. An example was in 2008, when the British government proposed wide statutory regulation of psychologists, besides regulating access to a profession, professional bodies may set examinations of competence and enforce adherence to an ethical code. Typically, individuals are required by law to be qualified by a professional body before they are permitted to practice in that profession. However, in countries, individuals may not be required by law to be qualified by such a professional body in order to practice. This requirement is set out by the Educational Department Bureau of Hong Kong, Professions tend to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of control of their own affairs, professionals are autonomous insofar as they can make independent judgments about their work. This usually means the freedom to exercise their professional judgement, however, it also has other meanings. Professional autonomy is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests, one major implication of professional autonomy is the traditional ban on corporate practice of the professions, especially accounting, architecture, medicine, and law. This means that in many jurisdictions, these professionals cannot do business through regular for-profit corporations, the obvious implication of this is that all equity owners of the professional business entity must be professionals themselves. This avoids the possibility of an owner of the firm telling a professional how to do his or her job. But because professional business entities are locked out of the stock market. Professions enjoy a social status, regard and esteem conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the social function of their work. All professions involve technical, specialized and highly skilled work often referred to as professional expertise, training for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications without which entry to the profession is barred. Updating skills through continuing education is required through training and this power is used to control its own members, and also its area of expertise and interests
5.
Law
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Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. Law as a system helps regulate and ensure that a community show respect, private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, the law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. Islamic Sharia law is the worlds most widely used religious law, the adjudication of the law is generally divided into two main areas referred to as Criminal law and Civil law. Criminal law deals with conduct that is considered harmful to social order, Civil law deals with the resolution of lawsuits between individuals or organizations. Law provides a source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, there is an old saying that all are equal before the law, although Jonathan Swift argued that Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. In 1894, the author Anatole France said sarcastically, In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual, mikhail Bakunin said, All law has for its object to confirm and exalt into a system the exploitation of the workers by a ruling class. Cicero said more law, less justice, marxist doctrine asserts that law will not be required once the state has withered away. Regardless of ones view of the law, it today a completely central institution. Numerous definitions of law have been put forward over the centuries, at the same time, it plays only one part in the congeries of rules which influence behavior, for social and moral rules of a less institutionalized kind are also of great importance. There have been attempts to produce a universally acceptable definition of law. In 1972, one indicated that no such definition could be produced. McCoubrey and White said that the question what is law, glanville Williams said that the meaning of the word law depends on the context in which that word is used. He said that, for example, early customary law and municipal law were contexts where the law had two different and irreconcilable meanings. Thurman Arnold said that it is obvious that it is impossible to define the word law and it is possible to take the view that there is no need to define the word law. The history of law links closely to the development of civilization, Ancient Egyptian law, dating as far back as 3000 BC, contained a civil code that was probably broken into twelve books
6.
Justice
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Justice is the legal or philosophical theory by which fairness is administered. The concept of justice differs in every culture, an early theory of justice was set out by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic. Advocates of divine command theory argue that justice issues from God, in the 17th century, theorists like John Locke argued for the theory of natural law. Thinkers in the social contract tradition argued that justice is derived from the agreement of everyone concerned. In the 19th century, utilitarian thinkers including John Stuart Mill argued that justice is what has the best consequences, Theories of distributive justice concern what is distributed, between whom they are to be distributed, and what is the proper distribution. Egalitarians argued that justice can only exist within the coordinates of equality, John Rawls used a social contract argument to show that justice, and especially distributive justice, is a form of fairness. Property rights theorists take a view of distributive justice and argue that property rights-based justice maximizes the overall wealth of an economic system. Theories of retributive justice are concerned with punishment for wrongdoing, restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on restoring what is good, and necessarily focuses on the needs of victims and offenders. Understandings of justice differ in culture, as cultures are usually dependent upon a shared history. Each cultures ethics create values which influence the notion of justice, although there can be found some justice principles that are one and the same in all or most of the cultures, these are insufficient to create a unitary justice apprehension. In his dialogue Republic, Plato uses Socrates to argue for justice that covers both the just person and the just City State, Justice is a proper, harmonious relationship between the warring parts of the person or city. Hence, Platos definition of justice is that justice is the having and doing of what is ones own, a just man is a man in just the right place, doing his best and giving the precise equivalent of what he has received. This applies both at the level and at the universal level. A persons soul has three parts – reason, spirit and desire, similarly, a city has three parts – Socrates uses the parable of the chariot to illustrate his point, a chariot works as a whole because the two horses power is directed by the charioteer. Lovers of wisdom – philosophers, in one sense of the term – should rule because only they understand what is good, if one is ill, one goes to a medic rather than a farmer, because the medic is expert in the subject of health. Similarly, one should trust ones city to an expert in the subject of the good, not to a politician who tries to gain power by giving people what they want. For Socrates, the way the ship will reach its destination – the good – is if the navigator takes charge. Advocates of divine command theory argue that justice, and indeed the whole of morality, is the command of God
7.
Court
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Similarly, the rights of those accused of a crime include the right to present a defense before a court. The system of courts that interprets and applies the law is known as the judiciary. The place where a court sits is known as a venue, the practical authority given to the court is known as its jurisdiction – the courts power to decide certain kinds of questions or petitions put to it. It is also usual in the courts to have barristers, and attorneys or counsel, as assistants, though, often, courts consist of additional barristers, bailiffs, reporters. The term the court is used to refer to the presiding officer or officials. The judge or panel of judges may also be referred to as the bench. In the United States, and other common law jurisdictions, the court by law is used to describe the judge himself or herself. In the United States, the authority of a court to take action is based on personal jurisdiction, subject-matter jurisdiction. The English word court is a cognate of the Latin word hortus, the verb to court, meaning to win favor, derives from the same source since people traveled to the sovereigns court to win his favor. The word jurisdiction comes from juris and dictio, jurisdiction is defined as the official authority to make legal decisions and judgements over an individual or materialistic item within a territory. Whether a given court has jurisdiction to preside over a case is a key question in any legal action. Three basic components of jurisdiction are jurisdiction over the person (personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction over the subject matter or thing. Other concepts of jurisdiction include general jurisdiction, exclusive jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, trial courts are courts that hold trials. Sometimes termed courts of first instance, trial courts have varying original jurisdiction, trial courts may conduct trials with juries as the finders of fact or trials in which judges act as both finders of fact and finders of law. Juries are less common in court systems outside the Anglo-American common law tradition, appellate courts are courts that hear appeals of lower courts and trial courts. Some courts, such as the Crown Court in England and Wales may have both trial and appellate jurisdictions, the two major legal traditions of the western world are the civil law courts and the common law courts. These two great legal traditions are similar, in that they are products of western culture although there are significant differences between the two traditions, civil law courts are profoundly based upon Roman Law, specifically a civil body of law entitled Corpus iuris civilis. Civil law is firmly ensconced in the French and German legal systems, Common law courts were established by English royal judges of the Kings Council after the Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066
8.
Barrister
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A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation and their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the philosophy, hypothesis and history of law, and giving expert legal opinions. Often, barristers are also recognised as legal scholars, Barristers are distinguished from solicitors, who have more direct access to clients, and may do transactional-type legal work. It is mainly barristers who are appointed as judges, and they are hired by clients directly. In England and Wales, barristers may seek authorisation from the Bar Standards Board to conduct litigation and this allows a barrister to practise in a dual capacity, fulfilling the role of both barrister and solicitor. A barrister, who can be considered as a jurist, is a lawyer who represents a litigant as advocate before a court of appropriate jurisdiction, a barrister speaks in court and presents the case before a judge or jury. In some jurisdictions, a barrister receives additional training in law, ethics. In contrast, a solicitor generally meets with clients, does preparatory and administrative work, in this role, he or she may draft and review legal documents, interact with the client as necessary, prepare evidence, and generally manage the day-to-day administration of a lawsuit. Barristers usually have particular knowledge of law, precedent. When a solicitor in general practice is confronted with a point of law. In most countries, barristers operate as sole practitioners, and are prohibited from forming partnerships or from working as a barrister as part of a corporation, however, barristers normally band together into chambers to share clerks and operating expenses. Some chambers grow to be large and sophisticated, and have a corporate feel. In some jurisdictions, they may be employed by firms of solicitors, banks, in contrast, solicitors and attorneys work directly with the clients and are responsible for engaging a barrister with the appropriate expertise for the case. Barristers generally have little or no contact with their lay clients. All correspondence, inquiries, invoices, and so on, will be addressed to the solicitor, in court, barristers are often visibly distinguished from solicitors by their apparel. For example, in Ireland, England, and Wales, a barrister usually wears a wig, stiff collar, bands. Since January 2008, solicitor advocates have also been entitled to wear wigs, in many countries the traditional divisions between barristers and solicitors are breaking down. Barristers once enjoyed a monopoly on appearances before the courts, but in Great Britain this has now been abolished
9.
Prosecutor
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The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law. Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a law degree, and are recognized as legal professionals by the court in which they intend to represent society and they usually only become involved in a criminal case once a suspect has been identified and charges need to be filed. They are typically employed by an office of the government, with safeguards in place to such an office can successfully pursue the prosecution of government officials. Often, multiple offices exist in a country, especially those countries with federal governments where sovereignty has been bifurcated or devolved in some way. Since prosecutors are backed by the power of the state, they are subject to special professional responsibility rules in addition to those binding all lawyers. For example, in the United States, Rule 3.8 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct requires prosecutors to make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information and that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense. Not all U. S. states adopt the rules, however, U. S. Supreme Court cases. Typical sources of requirements imposed on prosecutors come from appellate court opinions, state or federal court rules. A DPP may be subject to varying degrees of control by the Attorney General, in Australia, the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions institute prosecutions for indictable offences on behalf of the Crown. More recent constitutions, such as South Africas, tend to guarantee the independence, in Canada, public prosecutors in most provinces are called Crown Attorney or Crown Counsel. They are generally appointed by the provincial Attorney-General, though Scots law is a mixed system, its civil law jurisdiction indicates its civil law heritage. Here, all prosecutions are carried out by Procurators Fiscal and Advocates Depute on behalf of the Lord Advocate, in very serious cases, a Procurator Fiscal, Advocate Depute or even the Lord Advocate, may take charge of a police investigation. Other remedies are open to a prosecutor in Scotland, including fines and non-court based interventions, such as rehabilitation. All prosecutions are handled within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Procurators fiscal will usually refer cases involving minors to Childrens Hearings, which are not courts of law, but a panel of lay members empowered to act in the interests of the child. In the United States, the director of an office may be known by any of several names depending on the jurisdiction. Prosecutors are most often chosen through local elections, and typically hire other attorneys as deputies or assistants to conduct most of the work of the office. United States Attorneys, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, represent the government in federal court
10.
Jurisdiction
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Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a legal body to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility, e. g. Michigan tax law. In federations like the U. S. areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, colloquially it is used to refer to the geographical area to which such authority applies, e. g. the court has jurisdiction over all of Colorado. The legal term refers only to the authority, not to a geographical area. International laws and treaties provide agreements which nations agree to be bound to, supranational organizations provide mechanisms whereby disputes between nations may be resolved through arbitration or mediation. When a country is recognized as de jure, it is an acknowledgment by the de jure nations that the country has sovereignty. However, it is often at the discretion of each nation whether to co-operate or participate, if a nation does agree to participate in activities of the supranational bodies and accept decisions, the nation is giving up its sovereign authority and thereby allocating power to these bodies. The fact that organizations, courts and tribunals have been created raises the difficult question of how to co-ordinate their activities with those of national courts. But, to invoke the jurisdiction in any case, all the parties have to accept the prospective judgment as binding. This reduces the risk of wasting the Courts time, each such group may form transnational institutions with declared legislative or judicial powers. For example, in Europe, the European Court of Justice has been given jurisdiction as the appellate court to the member states on issues of European law. This jurisdiction is entrenched and its authority could only be denied by a member if that member nation asserts its sovereignty. Hence, in the Netherlands, all treaties and the orders of international organizations are effective without any action being required to convert international into municipal law, in nations adopting this theory, the local courts automatically accept jurisdiction to adjudicate on lawsuits relying on international law principles. Otherwise the courts have a discretion to apply international law where it does not conflict with statute or the common law. According to the Supreme Court of the United States, the treaty power authorizes Congress to legislate under the Necessary and this concerns the relationships both between courts in different jurisdictions, and between courts within the same jurisdiction. The usual legal doctrine under which questions of jurisdiction are decided is termed forum non conveniens, to deal with the issue of forum shopping, nations are urged to adopt more positive rules on conflict of laws. In addition, the Lugano Convention binds the European Union and the European Free Trade Association, council Regulation 44/2001 now also applies as between the rest of the EU Member States and Denmark due to an agreement reached between the European Community and Denmark. In some legal areas, at least, the CACA enforcement of judgments is now more straightforward. At a national level, the rules still determine jurisdiction over persons who are not domiciled or habitually resident in the European Union or the Lugano area
11.
Witness
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A witness is someone who has, who claims to have, or is thought, by someone with authority to compel testimony, to have knowledge relevant to an event or other matter of interest. A percipient witness or eyewitness is one who testifies what they perceived through his or her senses, a hearsay witness is one who testifies what someone else said or wrote. In most court proceedings there are limitations on when hearsay evidence is admissible. Such limitations do not apply to grand jury investigations, many administrative proceedings, also some types of statements are not deemed to be hearsay and are not subject to such limitations. An expert witness may or may not also be a percipient witness, a reputation witness is one who testifies about the reputation of a person or business entity, when reputation is material to the dispute at issue. Sometimes the testimony is provided in public or in a confidential setting, although informally a witness includes whoever perceived the event, in law, a witness is different from an informant. A confidential informant is someone who claimed to have witnessed an event or have hearsay information, the information from the confidential informant may have been used by a police officer or other official acting as a hearsay witness to obtain a search warrant. A subpoena commands a person to appear and it is used to compel the testimony of a witness in a trial. Usually, it can be issued by a judge or by the representing the plaintiff or the defendant in a civil trial or by the prosecutor or the defense attorney in a criminal proceeding. In many jurisdictions, it is compulsory to comply, to take an oath, in a court proceeding, a witness may be called by either the prosecution or the defense. The side that calls the witness first asks questions, in what is called direct examination, the opposing side then may ask their own questions in what is called cross-examination. In some cases, redirect examination may then be used by the side called the witness. Recalling a witness means calling a witness, who has given testimony in a proceeding. Witness are usually permitted to testify to what they experienced first hand. In most cases, they may not testify about something they were told and this restriction does not apply to expert witnesses. Expert witnesses, however, may only testify in the area of their expertise, Eyewitness testimony is generally presumed to be more reliable than circumstantial evidence. Studies have shown, however, that individual, separate witness testimony is often flawed and this can occur because of flaws in Eyewitness identification, or because a witness is lying. One study involved an experiment, in which subjects acted as jurors in a criminal case, jurors heard a description of a robbery-murder, then a prosecution argument, and then an argument for the defense
12.
Evidence (law)
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The law of evidence also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision, the trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum, quality, the rules vary depending upon whether the venue is a criminal court, civil court, or family court, and they vary by jurisdiction. The quantum of evidence is the amount of evidence needed, the quality of proof is how reliable such evidence should be considered, important rules that govern admissibility concern hearsay, authentication, relevance, privilege, witnesses, opinions, expert testimony, identification and rules of physical evidence. There are several types of evidence, depending on the form or source, Evidence governs the use of testimony, exhibits, documentary material, or demonstrative evidence, which are admissible in a judicial or administrative proceeding. The law must ensure certain guidelines are set out in order to ensure that evidence presented to the court can be regarded as trustworthy. The rules of evidence were developed several centuries and are based upon the rules from Anglo-American common law brought to the New World by early settlers. Their purpose is to be fair to both parties, disallowing the raising of allegations without a basis in provable fact and they are sometimes criticized as a legal technicality, but are an important part of the system for achieving a just result. Perhaps the most important of the rules of evidence is that, in general, there are several examples where presiding authorities are not bound by the rules of evidence. These include the military tribunals in the United States and tribunals used in Australia to try health professionals, in every jurisdiction based on the English common law tradition, evidence must conform to a number of rules and restrictions to be admissible. Evidence must be relevant – that is, it must be directed at proving or disproving a legal element, however, the relevance of evidence is ordinarily a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for the admissibility of evidence. For example, relevant evidence may be excluded if it is unfairly prejudicial, confusing, there is also general agreement that assessment of relevance or irrelevance involves or requires judgements about probabilities or uncertainties. Beyond that, there is little agreement, many legal scholars and judges agree that ordinary reasoning, or common sense reasoning, plays an important role. There is less agreement about whether or not judgements of relevance or irrelevance are defensible only if the reasoning that supports such judgements is made fully explicit. However, most trial judges would reject any such requirement and would say that some judgements can and must rest partly on unarticulated and unarticulable hunches, california Evidence Code section 352 also allows for exclusion to avoid substantial danger of undue prejudice. The United States has a complicated system of evidentiary rules, for example. In Professor Friedmans words, A trained judge would not need all these rules, and indeed, the law of evidence in systems that lack a jury is short, sweet, however, Friedmans views are characteristic of an earlier generation of legal scholars. Under English law, evidence that would otherwise be admissible at trial may be excluded at the discretion of the judge if it would be unfair to the defendant to admit it
13.
Jury
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A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty or not guilty. The old institution of grand juries still exists in places, particularly the United States. The modern criminal court jury arrangement has evolved out of the juries in England. Members were supposed to inform themselves of crimes and then of the details of the crimes and their function was therefore closer to that of a grand jury than that of a jury in a trial. The word jury derives from Anglo-Norman juré, Juries are most common in common law adversarial-system jurisdictions. In the modern system, juries act as triers of fact, a trial without a jury is known as a bench trial. The petit jury hears the evidence in a trial as presented by both the plaintiff and the defendant, after hearing the evidence and often jury instructions from the judge, the group retires for deliberation, to consider a verdict. The majority required for a verdict varies, in some cases it must be unanimous, while in other jurisdictions it may be a majority or supermajority. A jury that is unable to come to a verdict is referred to as a hung jury, the size of the jury varies, in criminal cases involving serious felonies there are usually 12 jurors. In civil cases many trials require fewer than twelve jurors, grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing presentments. A grand jury is traditionally larger than and distinguishable from the jury used during a trial. It is not required that a suspect be notified of grand jury proceedings, grand juries can also be used for filing charges in the form of a sealed indictment against unaware suspects who are arrested later by a surprise police visit. In addition to their role in screening criminal prosecutions and assisting in the investigation of crimes, grand juries in California, Florida. A third kind of jury, known as a jury can be convened in some common law jurisdiction in connection with an inquest by a coroner. A coroner is an official, who is charged with determining the circumstances leading to a death in ambiguous or suspicious cases. A coroners jury is generally a body that a coroner can convene on a basis in order to increase public confidence in the coroners finding where there might otherwise be a controversy. Serving on a jury is normally compulsory for individuals who are qualified for jury service, a jury is intended to be an impartial panel capable of reaching a verdict
14.
Rule of law
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The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. It primarily refers to the influence and authority of law within society, particularly as a constraint upon behaviour, including behaviour of government officials. The phrase can be traced back to 16th century Britain, John Locke defined freedom under the rule of law as follows, “Freedom is constrained by laws in both the state of nature and political society. Freedom of nature is to be no other restraint but the law of nature. Freedom of people under government is to be under no restraint apart from standing rules to live by that are common to everyone in the society and made by the lawmaking power established in it. Persons have a right or liberty to follow their own will in all things that the law has not prohibited and not be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, and arbitrary wills of others. ”The rule of law was further popularized in the 19th century by British jurist A. V. Dicey. The concept, if not the phrase, was familiar to ancient philosophers such as Aristotle, Rule of law implies that every citizen is subject to the law, including lawmakers themselves. In this sense, it stands in contrast to an autocracy, dictatorship, Government based upon the rule of law is called nomocracy. In the West, the ancient Greeks initially regarded the best form of government as rule by the best men, Plato advocated a benevolent monarchy ruled by an idealized philosopher king, who was above the law. More than Plato attempted to do, Aristotle flatly opposed letting the highest officials wield power beyond guarding and serving the laws, according to the Roman statesman Cicero, We are all servants of the laws in order that we may be free. During the Roman Republic, controversial magistrates might be put on trial when their terms of office expired, under the Roman Empire, the sovereign was personally immune, but those with grievances could sue the treasury. In contrast, the Huang-Lao school of Daoism rejected legal positivism in favor of a law that even the ruler would be subject to. There has recently been an effort to reevaluate the influence of the Bible on Western constitutional law, according to Professor Bernard M. Levinson, This legislation was so utopian in its own time that it seems never to have been implemented. The Deuteronomic social vision may have influenced opponents of the right of kings. In Islamic jurisprudence rule of law was formulated in the century, so that no official could claim to be above the law. However, this was not a reference to law. Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon King of the 9th century, reformed the law of his kingdom and created a law code with the biblical Mosaic law and he ruled that justice had to be equal between people, whether rich or poor, friends or enemies. This was likely inspired from Leviticus 19, You shall do no injustice in judgment and you shall not be partial to the poor, nor defer to the great
15.
Police officer
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A police officer, also known as a policeman, policewoman, police agent, or a police employee is a warranted law employee of a police force. In the United States, the officer is typically the formal name of the lowest police rank. In many other countries, officer is a term not specifying a particular rank. In some nations the use of the officer is legally reserved for military personnel. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a time, along with other duties. Although many police officers wear a uniform, some police officers are plain-clothed in order to dissimulate as ordinary citizens. The word police comes from the Greek politia meaning government, which came to mean its civil administration, Police officers are those empowered by government to enforce the laws it creates. In The Federalist Papers, James Madison wrote If men were angels and these words apply to those who serve government, including police. The more general term for the function is law enforcement officer or peace officer, a sheriff is typically the top police officer of a county, with that word coming from the person enforcing law over a shire. A person who has been deputized to serve the function of the sheriff is referred to as the deputy, a common nickname for a police officer is cop. The term copper is used in Britain to mean someone who captures. The common myth is that its a term referring to the officers buttons which are made of copper. The word Cop derives from a Gaelic word which has the equivalence of saying, protector, leader, the terms are almost nearly homophonic but have similar meanings. The term County Mountie is used specifically in reference to county police officers or county sheriffs deputies in the United States, as with Canadian Mounties, the term mountie comes from police who serve while mounted on horseback. Responsibilities of an officer are varied, and may differ greatly from within one political context to another. Typical duties relate to keeping the peace, law enforcement, protection of people and property, officers are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while they are on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how an officer should behave within the community, in some countries, rules and procedures dictate that a police officer is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident, even if they are off-duty. Police officers in all countries retain their lawful powers while off duty
16.
Summary judgment
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In law, a summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i. e. without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued on the merits of an entire case, a factfinder has to decide what the facts are and apply the law. In traditional common law the factfinder was a jury, but in many jurisdictions the judge now acts as the factfinder as well. It is the factfinder who decides what happened, and it is the judge who applies the law to the facts as determined by the factfinder, whether directly or by giving instructions to the jury. The necessary steps before a case can get to trial include disclosing documents to the opponent by discovery, showing the other side the evidence and this process is lengthy, and can be difficult and costly. A party moving for summary judgment is attempting to avoid the time and expense of a trial when, in the partys view. Typically this is stated as, when all the likely to be put forward is such that no reasonable factfinder could disagree with the moving party. If there is nothing for the factfinder to decide, then the party asks rhetorically. The moving party will also attempt to persuade the court that the material facts require judgment to be entered in its favor. See Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 56, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,477 U. S.317, 322–27, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.477 U. S.242,257, Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp.475 U. S.574, in American legal practice, summary judgment can be awarded by the court before trial, effectively holding that no trial will be necessary. At the federal level, a summary-judgment motion in United States District Court is governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party seeking summary judgment is called the movant, the opposing party is the nonmovant. An issue of fact is an event that the factfinder at trial is charged to credit. A genuine issue/fact is one that can be resolved in favor of either party, a material issue/fact is one which could affect the outcome of the case. Summary judgment in the United States applies only in civil cases and it does not apply to criminal cases to obtain a pretrial judgment of conviction or acquittal, in part because a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to a jury trial. Some federal and state-court judges publish general guidelines and sample summary-judgment forms, according to Federal Judicial Center research, summary-judgment motions are filed in 17% of federal cases. Since almost two-thirds of federal civil cases are dismissed or settled, 71% of summary-judgment motions were filed by defendants, 26% by plaintiffs. Out of these, 36% of the motions were denied, from a tactical perspective, there are two basic types of summary-judgment motions
17.
Law clerk
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Judicial clerks often play significant roles in the formation of case law through their influence upon judges decisions. Judicial clerks should not be confused with legal clerks, court clerks, or courtroom deputies who only provide secretarial, Judicial clerks are generally recent law school graduates who performed at or near the top of their class. In some countries, judicial clerks are known as Judicial Associates or Judicial Assistants, in many nations, clerk duties are performed by permanent staff attorneys or junior apprentice-like judges, such as those that sit on Frances Conseil dÉtat. In English courts, they are known as Judicial Assistants, the European Court of Justice uses permanent staff attorneys and the Stagiaires. Australia, Canada, Sweden, and Brazil have notable clerk systems, most Canadian courts accept applications for judicial clerkships from graduating law students or experienced lawyers who have already been called to the Bar in Canada or abroad. Most provincial superior and appellate courts hire at least one clerk for each judge, typically students in their last two years of law school are eligible to apply for these positions, but increasingly, experienced practicing lawyers are also considered for these positions. The term typically lasts a year and generally fulfills the requirement for provincial law societies. The most prestigious clerkship available is with the countrys highest court, each Justice of the Supreme Court hires three clerks for a one-year period. The Federal Court of Appeal, which is based in Ottawa but hears cases across the country, selects 12 law clerks each year, the Federal Court also hires only one clerk per judge, or about 30 per year in total. The Court of Appeal for Ontario selects 17 law clerks, who serve one or two of the 24 Justices. The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan hires 3 clerks, each of whom are assigned to 2 to 3 judges, successful candidates for all clerkships are usually selected based on a distinguished academic record, academic recommendations, strong research and writing skills and interviews with judges. For both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Quebec Court of Appeal, being able to work in both English and French is strongly preferred, the Tax Court of Canada hires 12 clerks annually. Many law clerks have gone on to become leaders of the profession, mr. Justice Jean Cote of the Alberta Court of Appeal was one of the very first Supreme Court law clerks, serving as a clerk in the programs inaugural year. In England and Wales, law clerks are called Judicial Assistants and it is possible to be a Judicial Assistant at the Court of Appeal and at the UK Supreme Court. Only Supreme Court Judicial Assistants are appointed for a full-time, one fixed term appointment. Since 2006 they have taken part in a long exchange in Washington DC at the U. S. Supreme Court due to a friendship between Justice Antonin Scalia and Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. Sally Kenneys article on clerks, or Référendaires, on the European Court of Justice provides one detailed point of comparison, there are some major differences between ECJ clerks and their American counterparts, largely because of the way the ECJ is structured. One key difference is that ECJ clerks, while hired by individual judges and this gives ECJ clerks considerable expertise and power
18.
Bailiff
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A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian, a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offices and duties vary greatly, another official sometimes referred to as a bailiff was the vogt, see Vogt and Vogt. In the Holy Roman Empire a similar function was performed by the Amtmann, Bailiff was the term used by the Normans for what the Saxons had called a reeve, the officer responsible for executing the decisions of a court. The duty of the bailiff would thus include serving summonses and orders, the district within which the bailiff operated was called his bailiwick, even to the present day. Bailiffs were outsiders and free men, that is, they were not usually from the bailiwick they were responsible for. Throughout Norman England, the Saxon and Norman populations gradually mixed, primarily then, bailiff referred to the officer executing the decisions of manorial courts, and the hundred courts. Likewise, in Scotland a bailie was the officer of a barony. With the introduction of Justices of the Peace, magistrates courts acquired their own bailiffs, historically, courts were not always concerned with legal matters, and often decided administrative matters for the area within their jurisdiction. A bailiff of a manor, therefore, would oversee the manors lands and buildings, collect its rents, manage its accounts. In the 19th century, the functions of courts were mostly replaced by the creation of elected local authorities. Nevertheless, the bailiff is retained as a title by the chief officers of various towns and the keepers of royal castles, such as the High Bailiff of Westminster. In Scotland, bailie now refers to an officer corresponding to an English alderman. The high court acquired the sheriffs, the county court the bailiffs, to avoid confusion with their underlings, the County Courts Act 1888 renamed bailifs as High Bailiffs. This act also formally acknowledged the High Bailiffs right to appoint under-bailiffs as he wished, the High Bailiff gradually became a purely ceremonial role, the courts clerk liaising with under-bailiffs directly. The Law of Distress Amendment Act 1888 enacts that no person may act as an under-bailiff to levy any distress for rent, unless he is authorized by a county court judge to act as an under-bailiff. The County Courts Act 1888 restricted the hours an under-bailiff could execute a possession warrant and it also limited the ability to bring a legal complaint against a bailiff, six days notice now had to be given. In the Channel Islands the bailiff is the first civil officer in each of the two bailiwicks and he is appointed by the Crown, and holds office until retirement. He presides as a judge in the court, and takes the opinions of the jurats, he also presides over the states
19.
Magistrate (England and Wales)
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They are called justices of the peace or magistrates. These magistrates were termed lay magistrates to distinguish them from professional magistrates known as stipendiary magistrates, district judges sit alone to hear cases and are permanently employed by the Ministry of Justice. Magistrates are not paid, apart from an allowance for loss of earnings, mileage, a practising solicitor or barrister may sit part-time as a deputy district judge. Retired district judges may sit as deputies. District judges are addressed in court as sir or madam. In law reports, they are referred to as DJ Smith, Magistrates generally sit in threes in order to give judgement on a variety of cases in magistrates courts, youth courts and family proceedings courts. The lead magistrate, known as the chairman, is addressed in court as sir or madam or your worship. In law reports, they are referred to as John Smith JP, Magistrates deal with less serious criminal cases, such as minor theft, criminal damage, assaults, public disorder and motoring offences. All magistrates sit in adult criminal courts as benches of three, mixed in gender, age and ethnicity whenever possible to bring a broad experience of life to the bench. All three members of the bench have equal decision-making powers but only the chairman speaks in court, a qualified legal adviser, also known as the court clerk, sits with the bench in the court room and is available to them at all times during the court sitting. The term bench is also used collectively to describe a group of magistrates assigned to a local justice area. Today, in England and Wales, the word is used to describe a justice of the peace, the office of justice of the peace has its origins in the 12th century when Richard I appointed keepers of the peace in 1195. The title justice of the peace derives from 1361, in the reign of Edward III, an Act of 1327 had referred to good and lawful men to be appointed in every county in the land to guard the Peace. Justices of the peace still retain the power confirmed to them by the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 to bind over unruly persons to be of good behaviour. The bind over is not a punishment, but a preventive measure, over the following centuries, justices acquired many administrative duties, such as the administration of the Poor Laws, highways and bridges, and weights and measures. It was relatively common for these magistrates to write out, on the spot, the 19th century saw elected local authorities taking over many of these duties. There is one remnant of these duties, the jurisdiction over the licensing of pubs and clubs. Towards the end of the 18th century, the absence of a police force
20.
Legal education
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Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. Legal education can take the form of a variety of programs, including, Primary degrees in law, advanced academic degrees in law, such as masters and doctoral degrees. Practice or training courses, which prospective lawyers are required to pass in some countries before they may enter practice, applied or specialised law accreditation, which are less formal than degree programs but which provide specialised certification in particular areas. Continuing legal education, which do not lead to a qualification, early Western legal education emerged in Republican Rome. Initially those desiring to be advocates would train in schools of rhetoric, around the third century BC Tiberius Coruncanius began teaching law as a separate discipline. His public legal instruction had the effect of creating a class of legally skilled non-priests, after Coruncanius death, instruction gradually became more formal, with the introduction of books on law beyond the then scant official Roman legal texts. It is possible that Coruncanius allowed members of the public and students to attend consultations with citizens in which he provided legal advice and these consultations were probably held outside the College of Pontiffs, and thus accessible to all those interested. Canon and ecclesiastical law were studied in universities in medieval Europe, however, institutions providing education in the domestic law of each country emerged later in the eighteen century. In England, legal education emerged in the thirteenth century through apprenticeships. The Inns of Court controlled admission to practice and also provided legal training. English universities had taught Roman and canon law for some time, in many countries, including most of those in the Commonwealth of Nations, the principal law degree is an undergraduate degree, usually known as a Bachelor of Laws. Graduates of such a program are eligible to become lawyers by passing the countrys equivalent of a bar exam, in these countries, graduate law programs are advanced degrees which allow for more in-depth study or specialisation. In the United States, the law degree is a graduate degree known as the Juris Doctor. Students may pursue such a degree only after completing an undergraduate degree, the undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelors degrees in the humanities and social sciences. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university, Primary degrees in law are offered by law schools, known in some countries as faculties of law. Law schools may have varying degrees of autonomy within a university or, in some countries. Higher degrees allow for advanced academic study. These include the Masters of Law by coursework or research, practitioners may undertake a Masters of Law by coursework to obtain greater specialisation in an area in which they practice
21.
Juris Doctor
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The Juris Doctor degree, also known as the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. It is earned by completing law school in Australia, Canada and the United States and it has the academic standing of a second-entry, professional baccalaureate degree in Canada, a masters degree in Australia and a professional doctorate in the United States. The degree was first awarded in the United States in the early 20th century and was created as a version of the old European doctor of law degree. Originating from the 19th century Harvard movement for the study of law. It involves a program in most jurisdictions. To be authorized to practice law in the courts of a state in the United States. Lawyers must, however, be admitted to the bar of the court before they are authorized to practice in that court. Admission to the bar of a district court includes admission to the bar of the related bankruptcy court. In the United States, the doctorate in law may be conferred in Latin or in English, as Juris Doctor and at some law schools Doctor of Law. Juris Doctor literally means Teacher of Law, while the Latin for Doctor of Jurisprudence—Jurisprudentiae Doctor—literally means Teacher of Legal Knowledge, the J. D. is not to be confused with Doctor of Laws or Legum Doctor. In institutions where the latter can be earned, e. g. D, the LL. D. is invariably an honorary degree in the United States. The first university in Europe, the University of Bologna, was founded as a school of law by four famous legal scholars in the 11th century who were students of the school in that city. This served as the model for law schools of the Middle Ages. While Bologna granted only doctorates, preparatory degrees were introduced in Paris, the nature of the J. D. can be better understood by a review of the context of the history of legal education in England. The teaching of law at Cambridge and Oxford Universities was mainly for philosophical or scholarly purposes, the universities taught only civil and canon law but not the common law that applied in most jurisdictions. The original method of education at the Inns of Court was a mix of moot court-like practice and lecture, by the fifteenth century, the Inns functioned like a university akin to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, though very specialized in purpose. With the frequent absence of parties to suits during the Crusades, the importance of the role grew tremendously. The apprenticeship program for solicitors thus emerged, structured and governed by the rules as the apprenticeship programs for the trades
22.
Head of state
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A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
23.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
24.
Court dress
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Court dress comprises the style of clothes prescribed for courts of law, and for royal courts. Members of the old Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, instead they were dressed in ordinary business clothing. Since the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009, on ceremonial occasions they wear a robe of black damask embellished with gold with the logotype of the Supreme Court embroidered at the yoke. Court dress is worn at hearings in open court in all Senior Courts of England and Wales, Court dress is not worn at hearings in chambers or in magistrates courts. In July 2007, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales announced that changes would be made to court working dress in the English and Welsh courts. The reforms were due to effect on 1 January 2008, however, following reports of strong opposition to the proposed changes, they were put on hold. In a letter to the profession, he said, Criminal barristers will keep wigs and gowns, the Bar is a single advocacy profession with specialisation in particular practice areas. There is logic in having the formal court dress, where formality and robes are required, for criminal. There is strong identification of the Bar of England and Wales in the publics mind, for the most part, the changes only affect what is worn by judges in civil courts, who now wear a simplified robe and no wig. Dress worn in criminal courts remains largely unchanged, the changes have been reflected in the dress allowances made to judges. English advocates who appear before a judge who is robed must themselves be robed, all male advocates wear a white stiff wing collar with bands. They also wear either a dark double-breasted suit or a coat and waistcoat. The black coat and waistcoat can be combined into a single garment, female advocates also wear a dark suit, but often wear bands attached to a collarette rather than a wing collar. In addition barristers wear a horsehair wig with curls at the side. Solicitors wear the same wing collar with bands, or collarette and their gowns are of a slightly different style, with a square collar and without gathered sleeves. Barristers or solicitors who have been appointed Queens Counsel wear a gown with a flap collar. For this reason, barristers who are appointed Queens Counsel are said to have taken silk. The QCs black coat, known as a coat, is cut like 18th-century court dress
25.
Gavel
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It is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a chair or presiding officer. The expression passing the gavel signifies an orderly succession from one chair to another, a gavel is used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations. According to tradition, Vice President of the United States of America John Adams used a gavel to call the very first Senate to order in New York in the spring of 1789 and it is also used to keep the meeting itself calm and orderly. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, gavels have never used by judges. In addition, auctioneers have used gavels to signal a sale, in Medieval England, the word gavel could refer to a tribute or rent payment made with something other than cash. These agreements were set in English land-court with the sound of a gavel, gavel would be prefixed to any non-monetary payment given to a lord. A gavel may also have referred to a kind of masons tool, a gavel may be used in meetings of a deliberative assembly. According to Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, the gavel may be used to signify a recess or an adjournment and it may also be used to signify when a member makes a slight breach of the rules. In most organisations, two raps raise and one rap seats the assembly, in others, two raps raise and three raps seat it, to maintain order and restore it when breached in the course of the proceedings. To be handed over to successors in office or to officiating officers as ceremonials, improper uses include banging the gavel in an attempt to drown out a disorderly member. In this situation, the chair should give one vigorous tap at a time at intervals, also, the chair should not lean on the gavel, juggle or toy with it, or use it to challenge or threaten or to emphasize remarks. The chair should not be gaveling through a measure by cutting off members, in addition to the use above during business meetings, organizations may use the gavel during their ceremonies and may specify the number of raps of the gavel corresponding to different actions. The unique gavel of the United States Senate has an hourglass shape, the gavel in current use was presented to the Senate by the Republic of India and first used on November 17,1954. This gavel replaced an ivory gavel that had been in use since at least 1789 and had deteriorated over the years, in 1952, silver plates were added to both ends of the old gavel in an attempt to prevent further damage to it. In 1954, it broke when Vice President Richard Nixon used it during a debate on nuclear energy. Unable to obtain a piece of large enough to replace the gavel. India presented to the United States the solid ivory replica still in use, in contrast to the Senates, the gavel of the United States House of Representatives is plain wood with a handle. Used more often and more forcefully in the House, it has been broken, in both houses, the gavel is generally sounded, that is, struck, once to mark the opening of the session, the adjournment, and to punctuate announcements of decisions by the body
26.
Robe
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A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves, the English word robe derives from Middle English robe, borrowed from Old French robe, itself taken from the Frankish word *rouba, and is related to the word rob. A gown worn as part of the attire of a judge or barrister, a wide variety of long, flowing religious dress including pulpit robes and the robes worn by various types of monks. A gown worn as part of the dress of a peer or royalty. Any of several womens fashions of French origin, as robe à langlaise, a gown worn in fantasy literature and role-playing games by wizards and other magical characters. A bathrobe worn mostly after bathing or swimming, any long flowing garment, for example, a cassock is sometimes called a robe, although a cassock is close-fitting
27.
Western United States
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The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West, the Far West, or simply the West, traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because European settlement in the U. S. expanded westward after its founding, prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier. Since then, the frontier moved westward and eventually lands west of the Mississippi River came to be referred to as the West. The West contains several major biomes, the Western U. S. is the largest region of the country, covering more than half the land area of the United States. Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder the region is difficult to specifically define, a majority of the historian respondents placed the eastern boundary of the West east of the Census definition out on the eastern edge of the Great Plains or on the Mississippi River. The survey respondents as a whole showed just how little agreement there was on the boundaries of the West, within a region as large and diverse as the Western United States, smaller areas with more closely shared demographics and geography have developed as subregions. Meanwhile, the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington can be considered part of the Northwest or Pacific Northwest, West Texas in the Chihuahuan Desert may be considered as part of the Western U. S. Fort Worth has long laid claim to be Where the West Begins, the West is still one of the most sparsely settled areas in the United States with 49.5 inhabitants per square mile. Only Texas with 78.0 inhabitants/sq mi, Washington with 86.0 inhabitants/sq mi. and California with 213.4 inhabitants/sq mi. exceed the national average of 77.98 inhabitants/sq mi. The entire Western region has also strongly influenced by European, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Native Americans. African and European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the rates of citizenship and voting among Asians. The West also contains much of the Native American population in the U. S. particularly in the reservations in the Mountain. The Western United States has a sex ratio than any other region in the United States. Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became an issue, agencies of the federal government own. National parks are reserved for activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, and boating, but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching, logging. The largest city in the region is Los Angeles, located on the West Coast, Other West Coast cities include San Diego, San Bernardino, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Prominent cities in the Mountain States include Denver, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Boise, El Paso, and Cheyenne. Along the Pacific Ocean coast lie the Coast Ranges, which and they collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean
28.
Maryland Court of Appeals
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The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U. S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital. The term of the Court begins the second Monday of September, the Court is unique among American courts in that the judges wear red robes. The Maryland Court of Appeals joins the New York Court of Appeals in being the two state Supreme Courts to bear the name Court of Appeals rather than Supreme Court. As Marylands highest court, the Court of Appeals reviews cases of major and minor importance. Throughout the year, the Court of Appeals holds hearings on the adoption or amendment of rules of practice and it also supervises the Attorney Grievance Commission and State Board of Law Examiners in attorney disciplinary and admission matters. The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, designated by the Governor, is the administrative head of the Maryland judicial system. Cases typically come before the Court of Appeals on a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Court of Special Appeals, the court can decline the petition, and refuse to hear the case, or it can grant the cert, and hear the appeal. The judges sometimes decide to hear an appeal before the appellate court has heard the case. This is known as the Court granting certiorari on its own motion, in this instance, the writ of certiorari is issued to the trial court, rather than to the Court of Special Appeals. In practice, almost all cases are heard by seven judges, additionally, it has exclusive jurisdiction in death penalty appeals. As the states supreme court, the Court of Appeals likewise retains original jurisdiction to all attorneys admitted to the practice of law in Maryland. They can impose penalties ranging from reprimands to the punishment, disbarrment. The seven judges of the Court of Appeals are appointed by the Governor of Maryland with Senate consent, however, note that the ballot for re-election says only for continuance in office. The Judges of the court are required to be citizens of, prior to their appointment, they must have resided in Maryland for at least five years, and must have resided for at least six months in the appellate judicial circuit from which they are appointed. They must be at least thirty years of age at the time of appointment, appointees should be most distinguished for integrity, wisdom and sound legal knowledge. If the voters reject the retention in office of a judge, or the vote is tied, otherwise, the incumbent judge is retained in office for a ten-year term. This requirement of approval is similar to provisions in the Missouri Plan
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Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
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Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
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Wig
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A wig is a head covering made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig and first appeared in the English language around 1675, some people wear wigs to disguise baldness, a wig may be used as a less intrusive and less expensive alternative to medical therapies for restoring hair. In Egyptian society men and women commonly had clean shaven or close cropped hair, the ancient Egyptians created the wig to shield shaved, hairless heads from the sun. They also wore the wigs on top of their hair using beeswax, wealthy Egyptian would wear elaborate wigs and scented cones of animal fat on top of their wigs. Other ancient cultures, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Jews in ancient Israel, Greeks and Romans, in Korea, gache were popular among women until it was banned in the late 18th century, while wigs were rarely used in China and Japan except in the traditional theatre. Fur hoods were used in a similar preventative fashion. Royal patronage was crucial to the revival of the wig and this fashion was largely promoted by his son and successor Louis XIV of France that contributed to its spread in European and European-influenced countries. Perukes or periwigs for men were introduced into the English-speaking world with other French styles when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 and these wigs were shoulder-length or longer, imitating the long hair that had become fashionable among men since the 1620s. Their use soon became popular in the English court, and it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to periwigs, for nobody will dare to buy any haire for fear of the infection. That it had cut off the heads of people dead of the plague. With wigs virtually obligatory garb for men with social rank, wigmakers gained considerable prestige, a wigmakers guild was established in France in 1665, a development soon copied elsewhere in Europe. Such wigs were expensive to produce, the best examples were made from natural human hair. The hair of horses and goats was often used as a cheaper alternative, in the 18th century, mens wigs were powdered in order to give them their distinctive white or off-white color. Women in the 18th century did not wear wigs, but wore a coiffure supplemented by artificial hair or hair from other sources, women mainly powdered their hair grey, or blue-ish grey, and from the 1770s onwards never bright white like men. Wig powder was made from finely ground starch that was scented with orange flower, lavender, wig powder was occasionally colored violet, blue, pink or yellow, but was most often used as off-white. Powdered wigs and powdered natural hair with supplemental hairpieces became essential for full dress occasions, the elaborate form of wigs worn at the coronation of George III in 1761 was lampooned by William Hogarth in his engraving Five Orders of Periwigs. By the 1780s, young men were setting a trend by lightly powdering their natural hair. After 1790, both wigs and powder were reserved for older, more men, and were in use by ladies being presented at court
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Oman
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Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast, the Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandams coastal boundaries. From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was an empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan, as its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence of the United Kingdom. Historically, Muscat was the trading port of the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports of the Indian Ocean, the Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said has been the hereditary leader of the country since 1970. Sultan Qaboos is the current ruler in the Middle East. Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking 25th globally, nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. A significant portion of its economy is tourism and trade of fish, dates and this sets it apart from its neighbors solely oil-dependent economies. Oman is categorized as an economy and ranks as the 74th most peaceful country in the world according to the Global Peace Index. Two optically stimulated luminescence age estimates place the Arabian Nubian Complex at 106,000 years old and this supports the proposition that early human populations moved from Africa into Arabia during the Late Pleistocene. Dereaze, located in the city of Ibri, is the oldest known settlement in the area. Archaeological remains have been discovered here from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, findings have included stone implements, animal bones, shells and fire hearths, with the latter dating back to 7615 BC as the oldest signs of human settlement in the area. Other discoveries include hand-molded pottery bearing distinguishing pre-Bronze Age marks, heavy flint implements, pointed tools, sumerian tablets refer to a country called Magan or Makan, a name believed to refer to Omans ancient copper mines. Mazoon, another used for the region, is derived from the word muzn. The present-day name of the country, Oman, is believed to originate from the Arab tribes who migrated to its territory from the Uman region of Yemen. Many such tribes settled in Oman, making a living by fishing, herding or stock breeding, from the 6th century BC to the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Oman was controlled and/or influenced by three Persian dynasties, the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids. A few scholars believe that in the 6th century BC, the Achaemenids exerted a strong degree of control over the Omani peninsula, Central Oman has its own indigenous so-called Late Iron Age cultural assemblage, the Samad al-Shan
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