ID DH Juris key terms

The power to hold and exercise rights and duties. Capacity to enjoy rights is held by all persons; capacity to exercise them may be limited by minority, guardianship, or mental incapacity.

A court-ordered protective regime substituting or assisting an adult's decision-making when mental or physical impairment prevents self-protection. The court appoints a guardian or curator with defined powers over person or property.

The legal release of a minor from parental authority before majority, usually by marriage or court order, granting full or partial capacity to perform juridical acts independently.

An unforeseeable, irresistible, and external event that prevents performance of an obligation. It may excuse liability or extinguish the obligation, depending on the governing text and whether performance became permanently impossible.

Conduct falling short of the standard expected of a reasonable person, or breach of a statutory or contractual duty. Fault is the core element of civil liability and must be proved by the claimant.

The link between a defendant's conduct and the claimant's damage. Courts ask whether the damage would have occurred but for the conduct and whether it was a foreseeable consequence.

A monetary award compensating a claimant for loss caused by another's wrong. Courts aim to restore the claimant to the position before the harm, distinguishing pecuniary from non-pecuniary loss.

The principle that compensation should place the injured party in the position they would have occupied had the wrong not occurred, as far as money can achieve this.

A ground excusing non-performance where the agreed act becomes objectively impossible without the debtor's fault, often terminating the obligation and barring specific enforcement.

The external physical element of an offence: the prohibited conduct, circumstances, and consequences. It must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and is distinct from the mental element.

The mental element of an offence, such as intention, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence. The required level must be proved for each element the statute or code attaches it to.

The principle that criminal liability requires a willed bodily movement or legally recognised omission. Reflex movements, automatism, and pure status generally cannot ground liability.

A defence where the accused acted without conscious control due to an external cause, negating the voluntary act. Self-induced automatism is treated differently and may not exculpate.

A defence excusing liability where mental disorder at the time of the act deprived the accused of understanding the nature of the conduct or knowing it was wrong, as defined by the applicable test.

A procedural determination of whether an accused can understand the charges, instruct counsel, and follow proceedings. Unfitness suspends trial rather than deciding guilt.

The guarantee that an accused is treated as innocent until guilt is established by admissible evidence to the required standard, usually beyond reasonable doubt, with the burden on the prosecution.

The obligation to persuade the court of a fact's existence. In criminal cases the prosecution bears the persuasive burden; defences may carry an evidential burden only.

The quality of evidence that a court may lawfully receive, determined by relevance and exclusionary rules such as privilege, hearsay, or unlawfully obtained evidence.

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of its content. It is generally excluded unless a recognised exception applies, because the maker cannot be cross-examined.

The first questioning of a witness by the party calling them, limited to matters in issue. Leading questions are generally prohibited to preserve the witness's independent account.

Questioning of an opposing party's witness, permitting leading questions and aimed at testing credibility, eliciting favourable facts, or undermining testimony.

Judicial examination of whether legislation or administrative action conforms to the constitution. Courts may strike down or interpret provisions to preserve constitutional compliance.

A test for limiting rights or exercising public power: the measure must pursue a legitimate aim, be suitable, be necessary, and not impose excessive burdens compared with the benefit.

The doctrine that an act is invalid because it exceeds the legal authority conferred. It grounds judicial review of administrative decisions and of corporate acts beyond stated objects.

A standard of review asking whether a decision was within the range of responses open to a rational decision-maker, considering relevant factors and ignoring irrelevant ones.

An entity such as a company that the law treats as capable of rights, duties, and liability distinct from its members. It can contract, sue, and be sued in its own name.

Exceptional disregard of separate legal personality to hold shareholders or directors liable for the company's acts, typically in cases of fraud, sham, or abuse of the corporate form.

The rule that shareholders risk only the capital they subscribed and are not personally liable for company debts beyond unpaid subscription, protecting investment and encouraging enterprise.

A duty of loyalty and good faith owed by directors and officers to act in the company's best interest, avoid conflicts, and not misuse corporate opportunities or confidential information.

A presumption shielding directors from liability for informed, good-faith decisions made with due care and no conflict, even if the outcome proves harmful.

A situation where a director's or lawyer's personal interest may improperly influence their duties. It usually requires disclosure, recusal, or informed consent to avoid breach.

A client's or patient's agreement given after receiving adequate information about risks, alternatives, and consequences, free from coercion and with capacity to decide.

The client's right to prevent disclosure of confidential communications made to a lawyer for legal advice. It survives termination of the relationship and belongs to the client.

A lawyer's professional obligation not to reveal information learned in the representation without authorisation or legal compulsion, broader than but related to evidentiary privilege.

The ethical duty to provide legal services with the knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary, and to pursue matters promptly and consistently.

The doctrine that courts follow earlier decisions of superior courts on similar facts. It promotes certainty, though higher courts may overrule and distinguish cases on material differences.

The legal reasoning essential to a court's decision, which binds lower courts in later cases involving materially similar facts. It must be separated from incidental remarks.

A remark by a judge that is not necessary to the decision. It is persuasive rather than binding, though it may carry weight depending on the court and the strength of reasoning.

A structured legal analysis format: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. It forces the writer to identify the question, state the governing law, apply it to the facts, and reach a reasoned answer.