Pendente lite/Lite pendente/Lis pendens/Pendens

Pendente lite, also termed as lite pendente, lis pendens, or just pendens, is a Latin term that means, “while the action is pending.” Pendente lite means during the proceeding or litigation, and/or dependant on the result of a litigation.  Back.

Pro bono publico/Pro bono

Pro bono publico, (usually just pro bono) is a Latin term that means, “for the public good.”   Pro bono is or involves performing/rendering of legal services without seeking any fees or at very low fees, especially if it's for the public good. Pro bono consists of a variety of activities such as, bar association participation, working towards law reform, participating in civic organizations, representing groups as well as individuals, et cetera. Diverse areas benefit from pro bono assistance like economically backward people, political as well as ideological causes, nonprofit organizations, relatives, lawyer's employees, friends, relatives, et cetera.  Back.

Pro

Pro is a Latin term that means, "for."  Back.

Propria persona/Pro se

Propria persona, shortened as pro per and also known as pro se  is a Latin term that means, "In his own person."  Back.

Quasi

Quasi is a Latin term that is often used in civil law (usually prefixed to English words),  that means, “as if.”  Quasi shows the resemblance as well as supposes some distinction between two objects.  In legal parlance, quasi has been used towards showing that one subject has a resemblance in certain aspects to another with which it is compared, but also that both are having material as well as intrinsic differences among them.  Quasi has been used and taken to be meant as, in a certain sense, nearly, resembling, seemingly but not actually.  Back.

Mens rea and Actus reus

Mens Rea, also termed mental element, criminal intent, is a Latin term that means, “guilty mind.”  Mens rea is the state of mind that the defendant had when committing the crime, which must be proved by the prosecution towards securing a conviction for the defendant.  Mens rea is the criminal intent or recklessness.  Mens rea is the second of two essential elements of all crimes at common law, the other being the actus reus.

Actus reus, also termed overt act, deed of crime, is a Latin term that means, “guilty act.”  Actus reus is the forbidden act/crime/wrongful deed that would constitute the physical elements of a crime and that is usually coupled with mens rea towards establishing criminal liability.  For example, in theft, the actus reus for theft is the obtainment of or unlawful control over property without the property owner's consent.  Back.

Suppressio veri & Suggestio falsi

Suppressio veri is a Latin term that means suppression of the truth.  Suppressio veri is a type
of fraud.

Suggestio falsi is a Latin term that means a false representation or
misleading suggestion.  Back.

Modus operandi

Modus operandi, often abbreviated as M.O., is a Latin term that means, “a manner of operating.” Modus operandi is the mode/method of operating particularly with regard to the pattern of criminal behavior that is so distinctive that the investigating officers could attribute it to the work of the same person.

For example, lighting loud firecrackers towards distracting the victims was part of the modus operandi of the bank robbers.  Back.

Ejusdem generis

Ejusdem generis also spelt as eiusdem generis is a Latin term that means “of the same kind or class.” Ejusdem generis also known as the ejusdem generis rule is a canon of construction that when a general word or phrase follows a list of specifics, the general word or phrase will be interpreted to include only items of the same type as those listed.

For example, in the phrase bears, lions, giraffes, tigers, or any other zoo animal, the general language or any other zoo animal in spite of its seeming breadth will most likely be held to include only four-legged animals typically found in zoos, and thus would exclude peacocks.  Back.

Intra vires & Ultra vires

Intra vires is a Latin term that means “within the powers of,” referring to
the authority of a person/organization to take an action.  For example calling a press conference towards disseminating information regarding the company by the company's board of directors is an intra vires action.

Ultra vires has the opposite meaning of intra vires.  Ultra vires means beyond the allowed/granted scope of power as allowed by law.  For example, the police officer was held accountable for his ultra vires actions with regard to leading a search party to search premises.  Back.

Sine qua non

Sine qua non is a Latin term that means, “without which not.” Sine qua non means, a condition or thing that cannot be done without. Sine qua non is something on which something else depends to the point of indispensability . Sine qua non is also known as "conditio sine qua non."  Back.

Ipso facto

Ipso facto is a Latin term that means “by the fact itself.”  Ipso facto means by the very nature of the situation.  For example, if 85% of all deaths are being caused by automobile accidents, then ipso facto, the authorities need to take action to prevent incidence of such accidents through the various means at its disposal.  Back.

Doli capax & Doli incapax

Doli capax is a Latin term that means, “capable of wrong.” The term means the capability of a person to commit a crime or tort.  Usually, it means, to be old enough to know/determine right from wrong.  It has also been termed capax
doli.

Now, we come to a term that is the opposite of the abovementioned term, "doli capax," and that is doli incapax.  Doli incapax is a Latin term that means, “incapable of wrong." The term means the incapability of a person to commit a crime or tort.  It has also been termed incapax doli.  Back.

Alibi

Alibi is a Latin term that means elsewhere.   Alibi is a form of defense based on the physical impossibility of the defendant having committed the crime by the placement of the defendant in a location and time that is different from the scene and time of the crime that has been charged against him.  In short, alibi means defendant's being elsewhere when the offense that has been alluded to the defendant was committed.  Back.

Amicus curiae

Amicus curiae is a Latin term that means, “friend of the court.”  The person is said to be a friend of the court or an amicus curiae (most often shortened to "amicus") when the said person is not a party to a lawsuit, but petitions the court, or the said person is requested by the court to file a brief in the action due to the reason that that person has a strong interest with respect to the subject matter.  Back.

Sub judice

Sub judice is a Latin term which means under a judge.  Sub judice means before the court for determination.  Back.

Layman

The word "layman" denotes, on the one hand, a  person who is not of a particular profession or an expert on a particular subject and on the other hand the word denotes a person who is not a member of the clergy

It is to be noted that layman and layperson are used interchangeably.  See also laity.   Back.

Laity

The word "laity" denotes collectively, persons who are not members of the clergy, taken singularly, the person is called a "layman" or "layperson," (both terms are used interchangeably). Back.

Ab initio

Ab initio is a Latin term that means "from the beginning, from the first act," et cetera.  It has been used both in the legal as well as certain general contexts.  It is used inter alia to denote that an act has been "void ab initio"  or void from the beginning, et cetera.

Usage illustration - A contract is said to be "void ab initio" if the contracts does not have legal validity.  Back.

Inter alia

Inter alia is a Latin term that means "among other things."  For a long time "inter alia "has been conveniently used in pleadings (especially with respect to the recitation of statutes) where instead of reciting the whole length of the statute, it is  recited as "inter alia, it was enacted that...".  Back.

Legal

The word "legal" in the context of law has far many meanings to it than when used by a layman in the general context.  To a layman, "legal" might only mean something that is connected with the law.  However, in the context of law, "legal" means relating to law, conforming to the law; in accordance with the law; required or permitted by law; not forbidden by law; lawful, proper or sufficient to be recognized by law; competent or adequate to fulfil the requirements of the law; created by law, et cetera.  Back.

Mala fides

"Mala fides" means, "in bad faith."  An act is said to be mala fides if it was committed with the intention of deceptive as opposed to honest (bona fides/good faith) obtainment of something

Illustration:- Advocate A engaged by client B is involved in mala fide filing of pleading on behalf of B if the pleading is an abuse of the law by not being filed in good faith or contrary to the spirit of the law that was applicable over there.

Mala fides has come to be used interchangeably with "bad faith."  Back.

Bona fides

"Bona fides" means, "in good faith."  An act is said to be bona fide if it was committed with a good honest intention as opposed to a dishonest (mala fide/bad faith) one.

Illustration:- Client A bona fide engages Attorney B with respect to filing of pleading on behalf of A.  B knew that the pleading will not stand in the court,  however B takes advantage of A's ignorance of the law, misleads A and mala fide files the pleading towards charging A a hefty fee.

Bona fides has come to be used interchangeably with "good faith."  Back.

Pro

Pro is a Latin term that means, "for."  Back.

Facebook game calls attention to illegal dowry demands

Last week, a new game was launched on Facebook.  But unlike your usual games this was a game with a difference.  Angry Brides, based on Rovio's popular Angry Birds was launched by Indian matchmaking site Shaadi.com with the objective of calling attention to illegal dowry demands.

Illegal dowry demands have been a bane for the women in South Asian countries, and this game has been launched for making people aware of the tragedies that dowry can bring about.

Though the practice of giving dowry had been made illegal five decades ago, it is still being practiced in many South Asian countries like India, Pakistan et cetera.  According to the website, death linked to dowry demands occur in India every four hours.

Post launch the game has attained above 270,000 likes on Facebook and as per Shaadi.com Vice president Ram Bhamidi, both men and women seem to be playing it.

Bihar's trailblazer - Civil consequences of crime initiative

Bihar government's home department has become the initiator of a trailblazing move in the country - "Civil consequences of crime."   According to this initiative a person convicted of a crime in Bihar, whose appeal the Court has rejected will be ineligible for various amenities and his crime will shadow him for the rest of his life.  These persons will be ineligible for, among other facilities, contracts, government jobs, passport, holding offices in NGOS, licences for arms, and with respect to seeking loan, the related information has to be provided.

As per this initiative, details of person with abovementioned qualification such as name, address, crimes, conviction, and sentence will be displayed on Bihar's home department website launched on Sunday by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

According to DGP Abhayanand, usually convicted persons hide their conviction details while seeking licence or job or contract and avail of afore mentioned amenities, however after uploading of the person's details, the person cannot cover up such details anymore and private companies as well as government departments can check the website towards verifying the person's details.

The initiative has objective of furthering rule of law as well as checking crime.  And already records obtained from jails nearing 1,450 have been uploaded with more to follow.

Central Information Commission website displays pending cases list

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has for the first time, amidst rising complaints with respect to arbitrary hearing of cases, commenced display of list of cases pending before each commissioner online .

As per Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra, cases pending before the Chief Information Commissioner as well as the Information Commissioner have been uploaded and other commissioners probably will follow suit. However, he stated that a time frame has not been set for the same.

There are about 22,000 cases pending before the CIC and nearly 2,500 cases get added each month.

The move was in consequence of an RTI application seeking information pertaining to status of a case filed a year back.

According to Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi this move by the CIC of public listing of all the cases that are pending will act as a self-regulatory check as well as restoring the citizens' faith in these institutions.

Welcome to Transnotional - The blawg

Welcome to Transnotional - The blawg. For those not acquainted with the term "blawg," blawg just simply means law blog.  This blawg is an endeavour towards attaining the objective of making available content that will be useful for anyone and everyone who reads this blawg.  This blawg will be, in the coming weeks (or sooner), displaying content that will be useful to law students, lawyers, and laymen alike.
                                                                                                                             - Team Transnotional

P.S. This "Welcome" post is not exactly my first valid post (yes, there were many invalid ones while taking baby steps getting acquainted with the Blogger interface) since I had to grapple with whether I should post the welcome or the ramifications regarding news dealing with the web behemoths Google, Facebook, Yahoo, et cetera, first, well, you can guess which prevailed.

Google, Facebook admonished by Delhi High Court

In a move that could potentially have far-reaching consequences on internet usage as one knows it, the Delhi High Court on Thursday refused the quashing of the criminal complaint filed against Facebook and Google with regard to images posted online depicting Gods and Goddesses in an objectionable manner.

The litigation assumes great significance because the previous year the government had failed in making U.S. websites check online content, as well as due to the fact that various U.S. based companies are looking at the Indian market; India being, after China and the U.S.A., the country with the third largest number of Internet users in the world.

The Judge told counsel representing Google India and Facebook India that for now it is the image of Gods and Goddesses but tomorrow it could spiral into one of someone from one's family, and that there needed some kind of control in this matter.  The Delhi High Court admonished the websites to comply and regulate the content that was objectionable.  The Court also declared that it had the authority to block all websites that were not in compliance.

The matter has been set for further hearing on Monday, January 16, 2012.