Habeas Corpus

Latin: a court petition which orders that a person being detained be produced before a judge for a hearing to decide whether the detention is lawful. Read the full definition of Habeas Corpus on Duhaime.org

Habitual Offender

A person who is convicted and sentenced for crimes over a period of time and even after serving sentences of incarceration, demonstrates a propensity towards future criminal conduct. Read the full definition of Habitual Offender on Duhaime.org

Habitual Residence

Ordinary residence. Read the full definition of Habitual Residence on Duhaime.org

Halliday Order

A special Court order in regards to document disclosure where, in special cases, a lawyer for a litigant, as an officer of the Court, first review documents from specified sources, or at large, and identifies and proposes to set aside and distinguish documents weighed relevancy, for reasons of privilege, privacy, confidentiality, or the potential personal embarrassment of the party given the personal nature of the information in a document. Read the full definition of Halliday Order on Duhaime.org

Hand, Learned

Learned Hand was a judge's judge; an American judge who stood up for unpopular but just causes. Read the full definition of Hand, Learned on Duhaime.org

Harassment

Unsolicited words or conduct which tend to annoy, alarm or abuse another person. Read the full definition of Harassment on Duhaime.org

Hatch Act

An American statute which controls political activity of government employees. Read the full definition of Hatch Act on Duhaime.org

Hearsay

Evidence that is offered by a witness of which they do not have direct knowledge but, rather, their testimony is based on what others have said to them. Read the full definition of Hearsay on Duhaime.org

Heir

A beneficiary of a will or an intestacy. Read the full definition of Heir on Duhaime.org

Hereditament

Something which can be inherited. Read the full definition of Hereditament on Duhaime.org

Heresy

A historic criminal offence comprised of the act of public denial of Christian doctrines. Read the full definition of Heresy on Duhaime.org

High Seas

A term of international and maritime law; the open ocean, not part of the exclusive economic zone, territorial sea or internal waters of any state. Read the full definition of High Seas on Duhaime.org

Himalaya Clause

A clause in a transportation contract purporting to extend liability limitations which benefit the carrier, to others who act as agents for the carrier such as stevedores or longshoremen. Read the full definition of Himalaya Clause on Duhaime.org

Hodge's Case

A rule in regards to the use of circumstantial evidence in the conviction of a criminal offence. Read the full definition of Hodge's Case on Duhaime.org

Holograph Will

A will written entirely in the testator's handwriting and not witnessed. Read the full definition of Holograph Will on Duhaime.org

Home Invasion

A break and enter of occupied residential premises with forced confinement, assault or battery of occupants. Read the full definition of Home Invasion on Duhaime.org

Homicide

The word includes all occasions where one human being, by act or omission, takes away the life of another. Read the full definition of Homicide on Duhaime.org

Homosexuality

Sexual contact and between two persons of the same sex as man and man or woman and woman. Read the full definition of Homosexuality on Duhaime.org

Hostile Witness

During an examination-in-chief, a lawyer is not allowed to ask leading questions of their own witness. But, if that witness openly shows hostility against the interests (or the person) that the lawyer represents, the lawyer may ask the court to declare the witness 'hostile', after which, as an exception of the examination-in-chief rules, the lawyer may ask their own witness leading questions. Read the full definition of Hostile Witness on Duhaime.org

Hotchpot

The mixing of property for the purposing of effecting a proportionate division. Read the full definition of Hotchpot on Duhaime.org

Hue and Cry

A community fugitive containment strategy of medieval England where a yell went up denouncing the offender and all within earshot took up the chase. Read the full definition of Hue and Cry on Duhaime.org

Human Right

An individual's statutory right to equal treatment and free from discrimination prohibited by statute and which, generally, provides a civil remedy to provide compensation or to punish such discrimination when it is reported. Read the full definition of Human Right on Duhaime.org

Hung Jury

A jury which is unable to arrive at a required unanimous or near unanimous verdict. Read the full definition of Hung Jury on Duhaime.org

Husband-wife privilege

A special right that married persons have to keep communications between them secret and even inaccessible to a court of law. Read the full definition of Husband-wife privilege on Duhaime.org