Pacta Sunt Servanda: Latin: agreements must be kept. | Legal Definition of Pacta Sunt Servanda

Pain Pump: A disposable, portable, non-electronic device that systematically infuses an anaesthetic through an implanted catheter. | Legal Definition of Pain Pump

Palimony: A judicial award of spousal support or compensation for services, money, and goods contributed during a longterm nonmarital relationship. | Legal Definition of Palimony

Palpable Error: A standard of appellate review, an error that is readily or plainly seen. | Legal Definition of Palpable Error

Panhandle: To beg for money in a public place. | Legal Definition of Panhandle

Par Value Shares: Shares issued by a company which have a minimum price. | Legal Definition of Par Value Shares

Paralegal: A person who is not a lawyer or is not acting in that capacity but who provides a limited number of legal services. | Legal Definition of Paralegal

Parallel Parenting: A form of custody and guardianship order in which such authority transfers from parent to parent as the children are exchanged. | Legal Definition of Parallel Parenting

Parasomnia: Sudden unexplained arousal from sleep, sometimes combined with sleep-walking or hand gestures or other bizarre activities. | Legal Definition of Parasomnia

Pardon: A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime, to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if never convicted. | Legal Definition of Pardon

Parens Patriae: Latin: literally, father of the country. Refers to the inherent jurisdiction of the courts to make decisions concerning people who are not able to take care of themselves. | Legal Definition of Parens Patriae

Parent: Father or mother or as otherwise may be defined by statute such as through adoption or same-sex relationships. Also, the controlling corporation of another. | Legal Definition of Parent

Parental Alienation: A form of emotional child abuse where a custodial parent belittles or vilifies the other parent to the child. | Legal Definition of Parental Alienation

Pari Delicto: Latin: of equal fault. | Legal Definition of Pari Delicto

Pari Passu: Latin: Equitably and without preference. | Legal Definition of Pari Passu

Park: An area of land set aside for passive common use, where certain types of activities are restricted, to permit individuals to escape the intensity of urban life. | Legal Definition of Park

Parliament: The aggregate or assembly of institutions that comprise the legislative apparatus of government in democratic societies. | Legal Definition of Parliament

Parliamentary Law: Rules of deliberative bodies by which their procedure is regulated. | Legal Definition of Parliamentary Law

Parliamentary Supremacy: A peremptory rule of constitutional law which gives the legislative branch of government to set the law, as opposed to the judicial branch (the courts). | Legal Definition of Parliamentary Supremacy

Parol Evidence Rule: Verbal evidence is inadmissible to vary or contradict the terms of a written agreement. | Legal Definition of Parol Evidence Rule

Parole: A conditional release from incarceration during which a prisoner promises to heed certain conditions (usually set by a parole board) and submit to the supervision of a parole officer. | Legal Definition of Parole

Parricide: Killing one's father or another a family member or close relative. | Legal Definition of Parricide

Particulars: The material facts which a party to litigation alleges are true and which that party will seek to prove at trial in support of the relief claimed. | Legal Definition of Particulars

Partnership: An organization in which two or more persons carry on a business together. | Legal Definition of Partnership

Party and Party Costs: The standard award of costs being, in the result, a partial indemnity to the successful party to litigation for his or her litigation expenses. | Legal Definition of Party and Party Costs

Party Wall: A partition wall; a dividing wall which separates two adjoining real properties. | Legal Definition of Party Wall

Passing Of Accounts: The formal presentation of a trustee's accounts to a court for approval. | Legal Definition of Passing Of Accounts

Passing-Off: Making some false representation likely to induce a person to believe that the goods or services are those of another. | Legal Definition of Passing-Off

Passive Euthanasia: Intentionally withholding a life-saving medical procedure so as to not artificially prevent death. | Legal Definition of Passive Euthanasia

Passport: A document issued in the name of a government vouching for the citizenship of an identified individual. | Legal Definition of Passport

Past Recollection Recorded: An exception to the hearsay rule, whereby evidence of which a witness has no current recall can nonetheless be admitted for the truth of its contents as it was recorded at a time when the witness was able to verify its accuracy. | Legal Definition of Past Recollection Recorded

Patent: An exclusive privilege granted to an inventor to make, use or sale an invention for a set number of years. | Legal Definition of Patent

Patentee: A person to whom a patent has been granted; who appears on the official government registry as the patent owner. | Legal Definition of Patentee

Patently Unreasonable: A decision that is clearly irrational; evidently not in accordance with reason. | Legal Definition of Patently Unreasonable

Paternity: Being a father. | Legal Definition of Paternity

Pathologist: Medical doctors who practice pathology; determine through laboratory medicine the causes of tissue disease. | Legal Definition of Pathologist

Pathology: Laboratory medicine; that branch of medicine that studies diseases, their causes and effects. | Legal Definition of Pathology

Patrimony: Civil law: the aggregate of things owned by a person. | Legal Definition of Patrimony

Paulian Action: Civil law: a claim by a creditor against a third party to rescind any transfer of property made to the third party by the debtor done to frustrate enforcement of the creditor's debt. | Legal Definition of Paulian Action

Pauper's Oath: An affidavit of indigence, of poverty. | Legal Definition of Pauper's Oath

Payee: The person to whom payment is addressed or given. | Legal Definition of Payee

Payor: The person who makes required payment(s). | Legal Definition of Payor

Peace Bond: A recognizance entered into by an individual in which he commits himself to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and other conditions, for a specified period of time. | Legal Definition of Peace Bond

Peace Officer: Law enforcement officer; person empowered to make arrests; police officer. | Legal Definition of Peace Officer

Pederasty: A sexual abuse crime wherein an adult male grooms and sexually assaults an adolescent male outside of his family. | Legal Definition of Pederasty

Pedophile: An individual who prefers a child as a sexual partner. | Legal Definition of Pedophile

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: The downloading of a computer file to a user's computer, using software, which then allows the user to make the file available to other users, other "peers". | Legal Definition of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Pen Register: An electronic surveillance device which attaches to a phone line and which registers every number dialed from a specific telephone. | Legal Definition of Pen Register

Penal Code: A statute which lists and defines prohibited conduct (crimes) and the punishments associated with each. | Legal Definition of Penal Code

Pendente Lite: Latin: during litigation. | Legal Definition of Pendente Lite

Pennsylvania Rule: An rule of maritime law that if a ship is in some violation of a navigation statute at the time of a collision, she is presumed to be at fault. | Legal Definition of Pennsylvania Rule

Pension: A private or government fund (or payments therefrom), from which intermittent and regular benefits or allowances are paid to a person upon his or her retirement or disability. | Legal Definition of Pension

Peonage: Compulsory service in payment of a debt. | Legal Definition of Peonage

Per Capita: Latin: by the head. The proposed distribution of an estate of property to surviving specified beneficiaries only and not, in the event of pre-death of the beneficiary, to the heirs of the pre-deceased beneficiary. | Legal Definition of Per Capita

Per Curiam: Latin: on behalf of the court. | Legal Definition of Per Curiam

Per Incuriam: Latin: through want of care. | Legal Definition of Per Incuriam

Per Infortunium: Latin: by misadventure. | Legal Definition of Per Infortunium

Per Quod Consortium Amisit: Latin: whereby he loses the company of his wife. | Legal Definition of Per Quod Consortium Amisit

Per Stirpes: Latin: an entitlement to participate in the distribution of property, such as an estate, that flows down to the named beneficiary's next heir if he or she is otherwise unable to take his or her share. | Legal Definition of Per Stirpes

Per Tout Et Non My: French: as to the whole and not just a part. | Legal Definition of Per Tout Et Non My

Percolating Water: Water which seeps or filters through the ground without any definite channel and not part of the flow of any waterway (eg. rain water). | Legal Definition of Percolating Water

Peremption: A period of time fixed by law for the existence of a right. | Legal Definition of Peremption

Peremptory: Final or absolute or not open to challenge. | Legal Definition of Peremptory

Peremptory Challenge: Also "preemptory challenge"; a party's challenge of a prospective juror for which no reason or justification need be given. | Legal Definition of Peremptory Challenge

Perfidy: The intentional violation of a promise or of some trust, such as misusing a flag of truce during war in order to facilitate an attack. | Legal Definition of Perfidy

Performance Bond: A contract wherein a third-party, in exchange for a fee, secures another's fulfillment of a contract or performance of a duty. | Legal Definition of Performance Bond

Peril of the Sea: Damage to property occurring as a result of an accident at sea. | Legal Definition of Peril of the Sea

Perjury: An intentional lie given while under oath or in a sworn affidavit. | Legal Definition of Perjury

Permanent Resident: An individual who has status in a country usually less than citizenship but more than just a visitor. | Legal Definition of Permanent Resident

Permissive Waste: The failure of a possessor of a thing to exercise the care of a reasonable person to preserve and protect the estate for future interests. | Legal Definition of Permissive Waste

Perpetual Injunction: A permanent injunction. | Legal Definition of Perpetual Injunction

Perpetuating Testimony: The recording of evidence when it is feared that the person with that evidence may soon die or disappear and that this person's evidence, if recorded, could then be used in the future to prevent a possible injustice or to support a future claim of property. | Legal Definition of Perpetuating Testimony

Perpetuity: Forever; of unlimited duration. | Legal Definition of Perpetuity

Person: An entity recognized by the law as separate and independent, with legal rights and existence including the ability to sue and be sued, to sign contracts, to receive gifts, to appear in court either by themselves or by lawyer and, generally, other powers incidental to the full expression of the entity in law. | Legal Definition of Person

Persona Non Grata: Latin: an unwelcome person. A diplomat who is no longer welcome to the government to which he is accredited. | Legal Definition of Persona Non Grata

Personal Email: An email sent by an employee within an employer's server but which serve no business purpose. | Legal Definition of Personal Email

Personal Indignities: When one spouse has offered such indignities to the other spouse as to render his or her condition in life intolerable. | Legal Definition of Personal Indignities

Personal Information: Information that identifies or describes an individual. | Legal Definition of Personal Information

Personal Injury: Injury to the natural body of a person. | Legal Definition of Personal Injury

Personal Interest: An interest in either the subject matter or a relationship with the parties before a judicial body. | Legal Definition of Personal Interest

Personal Jurisdiction: The court's authority to determine a claim affecting a specific person. | Legal Definition of Personal Jurisdiction

Personal Knowledge: Something a witness actually saw or heard. | Legal Definition of Personal Knowledge

Personal Living Expenses: Expenses reasonably necessary to maintain health and well-being, to enjoy life's activities, and the capacity to earn money. | Legal Definition of Personal Living Expenses

Personal Property: Chattels, goods, property other than real property. | Legal Definition of Personal Property

Personal Rehabilitation: (USA-family law) The restoration of a parent to a formerly held constructive and useful role as a parent within a reasonable time. | Legal Definition of Personal Rehabilitation

Personal Representative: The person who administers the estate of a deceased person as executor or Court-appointed administrator. | Legal Definition of Personal Representative

Personal Services Contract: A contract in which the skills or talents of a party are material. | Legal Definition of Personal Services Contract

Personal Trip: A trip which would have been made in spite of the failure or absence of the business purpose and would have been dropped in the event of failure of the private purpose, though the business errand remained undone. | Legal Definition of Personal Trip

Personal Use: Non-business use. | Legal Definition of Personal Use

Personality Disorder: A group of disruptive personality traits which become evident by adolescence or early adulthood. | Legal Definition of Personality Disorder

Personalty: Personal property. | Legal Definition of Personalty

Personnel File: An employer's folder of employee records collected in regards to qualifications, promotion, transfer, compensation or disciplinary action. | Legal Definition of Personnel File

Perverse Verdict: A decision of a jury which runs altogether contrary to the evidence presented before it. | Legal Definition of Perverse Verdict

Petite Policy: A policy of the US Justice Department that following a state prosecution there should be no federal prosecution for the same transaction in the absence of compelling federal interests. | Legal Definition of Petite Policy

Petition: The formal, written document submitted to a court, and which asks for the court to redress what is described in the petition as being an injustice of some kind. | Legal Definition of Petition

Petitory Suit: An action in maritime law in which a person seeks to obtain a judgment as to title of a vessel independently of possession. | Legal Definition of Petitory Suit

Pettifogger: A petty or underhanded lawyer or an attorney who sustains a professional livelihood on disreputable or dishonorable business. | Legal Definition of Pettifogger

Petty Offense: A minor crime and for which the punishment is usually just a small fine or short term of imprisonment. | Legal Definition of Petty Offense

Phillips v Eyre, Rule in: When a tort has been committed on foreign soil, it cannot be brought on home soil unless it was actionable if it had of occurred on home soil, and without legal justification at the place it occurred. | Legal Definition of Phillips v Eyre, Rule in

Phonorecord: Material object in which sounds are fixed and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated. | Legal Definition of Phonorecord

Physical Care: A variant of child custody distinguished in some jurisdictions as the mere right to maintain a home for the minor child and provide for his/her routine care. | Legal Definition of Physical Care

Physical Control: Having the means to initiate any movement of, and in close proximity to the operating controls of a vehicle. | Legal Definition of Physical Control

Physical Cruelty: Family law, grounds for divorce, cruelty which is physical in nature and which renders continued cohabitation intolerable. | Legal Definition of Physical Cruelty

Physical Custody: The right to organize and administer the day to day care of a child or a thing. | Legal Definition of Physical Custody

Physical Force: Power, violence, or pressure directed against an individual consisting in a physical act. | Legal Definition of Physical Force

Pia Causa: Latin: charitable purposes. | Legal Definition of Pia Causa

Picket: To surround the entrance of a business or agency and encourage patrons to boycott it or to otherwise negatively call attention to it. | Legal Definition of Picket

Piecemeal Litigation: Circumstances in which more than one court is seized of the adjudication of the same issue. | Legal Definition of Piecemeal Litigation

Pier: A structure extending from shore into navigable water to afford passage to and from vessels. | Legal Definition of Pier

Piercing the Corporate Veil: To hold a corporate entity liable for the acts of a separate, related entity. | Legal Definition of Piercing the Corporate Veil

Pierringer Release: A proportionate share settlement agreement | Legal Definition of Pierringer Release

Pillory: A medieval punishment and restraining device made of moveable and adjustable boards through which a prisoner's head or limbs were pinned. | Legal Definition of Pillory

Pinkerton Doctine: (USA) The conviction of a conspirator for criminal offenses committed by a co-conspirator that are within the scope of the conspiracy or in furtherance of it, and are reasonably foreseeable as a necessary or natural consequence of the conspiracy. | Legal Definition of Pinkerton Doctine

Piracy (Intellectual Property): Unauthorized duplication of an matter protected by intellectual property. | Legal Definition of Piracy (Intellectual Property)

Piracy (Maritime Law): Violence or depredation on the high seas or in the air, for private ends, using aircraft or vessels. | Legal Definition of Piracy (Maritime Law)

Piracy Jure Gentium: Piracy according to the law of nations. | Legal Definition of Piracy Jure Gentium

Pirate: A person who engages in piracy. | Legal Definition of Pirate

Pit Bull: Dogs which exhibit appearance and physical characteristics of any of a pit bull terrier or Staffordshire, American or American Staffordshire bull terrier. | Legal Definition of Pit Bull

Place of Operations Test: A judicial analysis used to determine a corporation's real place of business which prioritizes the venue of corporate activities. | Legal Definition of Place of Operations Test

Place of the Wrong: A selection of a venue to serve as the nexus of a tort when the tort evolves from a series of events, and for the purposes of establishing liability that may flow from the alleged tort. | Legal Definition of Place of the Wrong

Plagiarism: The representation of the work of others as one's own. | Legal Definition of Plagiarism

Plain Error: Limited grounds upon which an appeal alleging deficient jury instructions will be allowed, which were not objected to at the time they were presented to the jury: the error must be so obvious or serious that the public reputation and integrity of the judicial proceeding is impaired. | Legal Definition of Plain Error

Plain Feel Doctrine: If, during a lawful pat-down search, an officer feels an object whose mass makes it immediately identifiable as contraband, that officer can seize the item. | Legal Definition of Plain Feel Doctrine

Plain Meaning Rule: A rule of interpretation that where the plain meaning of a statute is apparent, there is no room for interpretation. | Legal Definition of Plain Meaning Rule

Plain View Doctrine: The authority for law enforcement officers, otherwise lawfully upon premises gut not armed with a search warrant, to seize any item within their line of sight and reasonably believed to be related to the commission of a crime | Legal Definition of Plain View Doctrine

Plaintiff: The person who initiates, who brings or files a case with a court; who sues. | Legal Definition of Plaintiff

Plat: A subdivision map prepared for approval by a governmental authority. | Legal Definition of Plat

Plea Bargaining: Negotiations during a criminal trial in which the accused agrees to admit to a smaller crime in exchange for which the prosecutor agrees to ask for a more lenient sentence than would have been recommended if the original charge had of been proceeded with. | Legal Definition of Plea Bargaining

Plea to the Jurisdiction: A preliminary challenge to a court's authority to decide the action before it. | Legal Definition of Plea to the Jurisdiction

Pleadings: That core document(s) of a party to litigation in which he or she formally sets out the facts and the law which support that party's position. | Legal Definition of Pleadings

Plene Administravit: Latin for administration (is) complete. | Legal Definition of Plene Administravit

Plinking: Casual recreational shooting, often at cans and other items found lying around. | Legal Definition of Plinking

Plug and Abandon Order: A direction to a oil well operator to permanently close the well. | Legal Definition of Plug and Abandon Order

Pluralism: A system or philosophy, which, in the name of respect for diversity, acknowledges the existence of different political opinions, moral and religious beliefs, and cultural and social behaviour. | Legal Definition of Pluralism

Poach: To kill or take an animal or fish from the property of another. | Legal Definition of Poach

Poinding: Scottish law: The seizure of a judgment debtor's personal property to satisfy the terms of the judgment. | Legal Definition of Poinding

Poinding of the Ground: Scottish law: The post-judgment seizure and judicial sale, of the judgment debtor's property attached to his land, to satisfy the terms of the judgment. | Legal Definition of Poinding of the Ground

Point of NoveltyTest: A test to assist in determining whether a product infringes upon an existing design patent; whether the accused product appropriates the novelty of the patented one. | Legal Definition of Point of NoveltyTest

Point of Order: A term of parliamentary law and procedure which refers to an interjection during a meeting by a member, who does not have the floor, to call the attention of the chair to an alleged violation or breach of the assembly’s or meeting’s rules of order. | Legal Definition of Point of Order

Police Interrogation: Questioning put to an accused by the police with the purpose of eliciting a statement. | Legal Definition of Police Interrogation

Police Power: A local or regional government's authority to enforce within its limits, laws, ordinances or regulations. | Legal Definition of Police Power

Policy: Planning decisions of a government agency; also, an insurance contract. | Legal Definition of Policy

Political Question Doctrine: A doctrine which prevents a court of law from determining issues which are essentially political; within the purview of the executive branch of government. | Legal Definition of Political Question Doctrine

Political Speech: Expressions which comment on government action rather than the private conduct of an individual. | Legal Definition of Political Speech

Pollicitation: Civil law: an offer which has not been accepted. | Legal Definition of Pollicitation

Pollutant: A solid, liquid, gaseous, or thermal irritant or contaminant. | Legal Definition of Pollutant

Pollution: The discharge of a toxic or contaminating substance that is likely to have an adverse effect on the natural environment or life. | Legal Definition of Pollution

Polyandry: The having of more than one husband by a wife. | Legal Definition of Polyandry

Polygamy: Being married to multiple wives or husbands at the same time. | Legal Definition of Polygamy

Polygraph: A lie-detector machine. | Legal Definition of Polygraph

Polygyny: One man with several wives. | Legal Definition of Polygyny

Ponzi Scheme: A form of investment fraud whereby initial investors are promised a return of their investment by the enlistment of subsequent investors. | Legal Definition of Ponzi Scheme

Poor Law: Law related to the relief of the indigent. | Legal Definition of Poor Law

Pornography: The portrayal of sexual acts solely for the purpose of sexual arousal. | Legal Definition of Pornography

Positive Law: Law proper, as opposed to moral laws, or to natural/“God-made” law. | Legal Definition of Positive Law

Posse Comitatus: The emergency roundup of a group of civilians or soldiers to address a significant civil law enforcement crisis. | Legal Definition of Posse Comitatus

Possessory Action: Where a party entitled to possession of a vessel seeks to recover that vessel. | Legal Definition of Possessory Action

Post Mortem Auctoris: Latin: After the author's death. | Legal Definition of Post Mortem Auctoris

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A mental disorder that results from an extreme traumatic stress. | Legal Definition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Postal Rule: A rule of contract law that makes an exception to the general rule that an acceptance is only created when communicated directly to the offeror. | Legal Definition of Postal Rule

Postnuptial Agreement: A separation agreement. | Legal Definition of Postnuptial Agreement

Potestative Condition: A condition made in a contract the fulfillment of which is entirely in the control of one of the parties to the contract. | Legal Definition of Potestative Condition

Power of Attorney: A document which gives a person the right to make binding decisions for another, as an agent. | Legal Definition of Power of Attorney

Practice of Law: The giving of legal advice or of representation of another as agent in a court of law or through rules of court, or in the preparation of legal documents or in dispute or contractual negotiation. | Legal Definition of Practice of Law

Practicks: Scots law: Court of Sessions judge's notes later compiled and released to jurists for study and precedent purposes, now superseded by modern law reports. | Legal Definition of Practicks

Præcipe or Precipe: Latin: an initiating document presented to a court clerk to be officially issued on behalf of the court or a the covering memo or letter from the lawyer (or plaintiff) which accompanies and formally asks for the writ to be issued by the court officer. | Legal Definition of Præcipe or Precipe

Praemunire: An offence initially to prefer the Pope or his authority as against the King of England or Parliament, but later included a wide assortment of offenses against the King and always leading to serious penalties. | Legal Definition of Praemunire

Pre-existing Condition: A common exclusion of disability insurance contracts for exacerbation of medical conditions known to have existed within a specified time-frame. | Legal Definition of Pre-existing Condition

Pre-Hire Agreement: An employer agrees to hire specific union members or their referrals for the purpose of working on anticipated jobs, within the construction industry, during the contract period. | Legal Definition of Pre-Hire Agreement

Pre-nuptial Agreement: A contract entered into by prospective spouses prior to marriage but in contemplation and in consideration thereof. | Legal Definition of Pre-nuptial Agreement

Pre-Sentence Report: A report filed with the court prior to sentencing covering the offender's personal and family history and present environment. | Legal Definition of Pre-Sentence Report

Preamble: A introductory written statement of facts or assumptions upon which a statute or contract is based. | Legal Definition of Preamble

Precatory Words: Words that express a wish or a desire rather than a clear command. | Legal Definition of Precatory Words

Precedent: A case which establishes legal principles to a certain set of facts, coming to a certain conclusion, and which is to be followed from that point on when similar or identical facts are before a court. | Legal Definition of Precedent

Preemption Doctrine: The superceding of any lower jurisdiction's law in the event of a law on topic extant within a higher jurisdiction. | Legal Definition of Preemption Doctrine

Preemptory Challenge: Also "peremptory challenge"; a party's challenge of a prospective juror for which no reason or justification need be given. | Legal Definition of Preemptory Challenge

Preferred Shares: A share in a company that has some kind of special right or privilege attached to it, such as that it is distinguished from the company’s common shares. | Legal Definition of Preferred Shares

Preliminary Inquiry: Canada: An initial inquiry that occurs at the demand of an accused wherein a judge screens the proposed criminal charge against the available evidence. | Legal Definition of Preliminary Inquiry

Premeditation: Specific intent to commit a crime for some period of time, however short, before the actual crime. | Legal Definition of Premeditation

Premises Liability: The liability of an occupier of real property towards injury to others. | Legal Definition of Premises Liability

Preponderance: Evidence that persuades a judge or jury to lean to one side as opposed to the other, during the course of litigation. | Legal Definition of Preponderance

Prescription: A method of acquiring or extinguishing rights through the inaction of the legal owner. | Legal Definition of Prescription

Present Memory Revived: A facilitative mechanism used at trial to assist a witness in recalling his or her memory, thus revived. | Legal Definition of Present Memory Revived

President: The appointed or elected head of a group of individuals, such as of a company or of a state. | Legal Definition of President

Presumption of Advancement: A presumption in trust, contract and family law which suggests that property transferred from a parent to a child, or spouse to spouse, is a gift and would defeat any presumption of a resulting trust. | Legal Definition of Presumption of Advancement

Presumption of Fact: A conclusion of fact constructed logically from other proven facts. | Legal Definition of Presumption of Fact

Presumption of Innocence: A legal presumption that benefits a defendant in a criminal case and which results in acquittal in the event that the prosecutor does not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. | Legal Definition of Presumption of Innocence

Price Fixing: A conspiracy formed for the purpose and with the effect of raising, depressing, fixing, pegging or stabilizing the price of a commodity. | Legal Definition of Price Fixing

Prima Facie: (Latin) A legal presumption which means on the face of it or at first sight. | Legal Definition of Prima Facie

Primage: A bonus given to the captain of a vessel to supplement his/her wages and salaries. | Legal Definition of Primage

Primogeniture: Oldest son inherits. | Legal Definition of Primogeniture

Principal: An agent’s master; the person for whom an agent has received instruction and to whose benefit the agent is expected to perform and make decisions. | Legal Definition of Principal

Prison Mailbox Rule: (USA) A rule of procedure which deems that any court document mailed by a self-represented inmate is deemed filed on the date of delivery to prison authorities for mailing. | Legal Definition of Prison Mailbox Rule

Prisoner of War: A member of the enemy's armed forces, or attached to the hostile army for active aid, who has fallen into the hands of the captor, either fighting or wounded, on the field or in the hospital, by individual surrender or by capitulation. | Legal Definition of Prisoner of War

Privacy: A person's right to control access to his or her personal information. | Legal Definition of Privacy

Private Carrier: One who carries goods or passengers of his choosing and in particular cases and not to the general public indifferently. | Legal Definition of Private Carrier

Private International Law: A specialized branch of law which resolves cases which have an element of conflicting foreign law. | Legal Definition of Private International Law

Private Law: Law which regulates the relationships between individuals. | Legal Definition of Private Law

Private Nuisance: An unreasonable interference with the use or enjoyment of land. | Legal Definition of Private Nuisance

Privative Clause: A section of law, typically right in the statute that creates an administrative tribunal, that states that all or select decisions of that tribunal are final and conclusive and not subject to judicial review. | Legal Definition of Privative Clause

Privilege: A special and exclusive legal advantage or right such as a benefit, exemption, power or immunity. | Legal Definition of Privilege

Privileged Will: A will valid in spite of defect of form, when made by mariners or soldiers. | Legal Definition of Privileged Will

Privity of Contract: A doctrine of contract law that prevents any person from seeking the enforcement of a contract, or suing on its terms, unless they are a party to that contract. | Legal Definition of Privity of Contract

Prize: Property taken at sea from an enemy. | Legal Definition of Prize

Prize Court: Courts instituted for the purpose of trying judicially the lawfulness of captures at sea. | Legal Definition of Prize Court

Pro Bono: Latin: for the good. | Legal Definition of Pro Bono

Pro Forma: Latin: for the sake of form. | Legal Definition of Pro Forma

Pro Possessore: Latin: a person who holds something only as possessor, not necessarily as owner. | Legal Definition of Pro Possessore

Pro Possessore Habetur Qui Dolo Injuriave: Latin: he whose possession is taken away by fraud or injury will be deemed to continue to possess. | Legal Definition of Pro Possessore Habetur Qui Dolo Injuriave

Pro Rata: Latin: to divide proportionate to a certain rate or interest. | Legal Definition of Pro Rata

Pro Se: Latin: on one’s own behalf. | Legal Definition of Pro Se

Pro Socio: Latin: on behalf of a partnership. | Legal Definition of Pro Socio

Pro Tempore: Latin: something done temporarily only and not intended to be permanent. | Legal Definition of Pro Tempore

Probate: The formal certificate given by a court that certifies that a will has been proven, validated and registered and which, from that point on, gives the executor the legal authority to execute the will. | Legal Definition of Probate

Probation: A punishment given out as part of a sentence which means that instead of jailing a person convicted of a crime, a judge will order that the person reports to a probation officer regularly and according to a set schedule. | Legal Definition of Probation

Probationary Employee: A new employee who, for a period of time, is being tested to enable the employer to ascertain the suitability of the employee for its purposes. | Legal Definition of Probationary Employee

Probative: Tending to prove. | Legal Definition of Probative

Procedural Law: The rules of legal process such as the rules of evidence and of procedure in enforcing a legal right or obligation. | Legal Definition of Procedural Law

Proctologist: A medical doctor who studies and treats disorders of the rectum and anus. | Legal Definition of Proctologist

Procurator Fiscal: Scots law: the prosecutor who acts on behalf of the state in criminal prosecutions. | Legal Definition of Procurator Fiscal

Profit à Prendre: A servitude which resembles an easement and which allows the holder to enter the land of another and to take some natural produce such as mineral deposits, fish or game, timber, crops or pasture. | Legal Definition of Profit à Prendre

Prohibition: A legal restriction against the use of something or against certain conduct. | Legal Definition of Prohibition

Promisee: A person whom is to be the beneficiary of a promise, an obligation or a contract. | Legal Definition of Promisee

Promisor: The person who has become obliged through a promise (usually expressed in a contract) towards another. | Legal Definition of Promisor

Promissory Estoppel: A promise made to another party to a contract that the contract will not be enforced in whole or in part and which, once acted upon, prevents subsequent proceedings to enforce the contract as against the person who relied on the promise. | Legal Definition of Promissory Estoppel

Promissory Note: An unconditional, written and signed promise to pay a certain amount of money, on demand or at a certain defined date in the future. | Legal Definition of Promissory Note

Proof in Common Form: A summary approval of an uncontested will by the court, subject to subsequent contest. | Legal Definition of Proof in Common Form

Proof in Solemn Form: The pronouncement by a court that a will is formally approved and not subject to later contest barring fraud or the discovery of a later will. | Legal Definition of Proof in Solemn Form

Proper Lookout: The legal obligation on the part of a vessel or motor vehicle operator to keep an ongoing watch of its path and other traffic or obstacles. | Legal Definition of Proper Lookout

Property: A comprehensive collection of legal rights over a thing. | Legal Definition of Property

Propinquity: Nearness in place; close-by. Also used to describe relationships as synonymous for kin. | Legal Definition of Propinquity

Propound: To offer a document as being authentic or valid. | Legal Definition of Propound

Proprietor: Owner. | Legal Definition of Proprietor

Prorogation: To end a session of a Parliament, and all business then on the agenda, until it is summoned to reconvene. | Legal Definition of Prorogation

Prosecute: To bring or administer judicial proceedings. | Legal Definition of Prosecute

Prosecutorial Discretion: Discretionary powers exercised by the government's prosecution service such as whether to prosecute charge recommended by police, to stay an ongoing proceeding, plea bargaining, or the taking over of a private prosecution. | Legal Definition of Prosecutorial Discretion

Prospectus: A document in which a corporation sets out the material details of a share or bond issue and inviting the public to invest by purchasing these financial instruments. | Legal Definition of Prospectus

Prostitute: An individual who offers lewd sexual acts for the gratification of a customer and in exchange for money. | Legal Definition of Prostitute

Protocol: International agreements of a less formal nature than a treaty and which amends, supplements or clarifies a treaty. | Legal Definition of Protocol

Provocation: Conduct that would cause a reasonable person to lose self control. | Legal Definition of Provocation

Proximate Cause: The most direct, effective or substantial cause of a tort; relevant where the negligence of more than one person contributed. | Legal Definition of Proximate Cause

Proxy: A written appointment given by a voting member of an organization to another person allowing the proxy holder to attend a specific meeting on the member’s behalf, including the exercise of the member’s voting rights. | Legal Definition of Proxy

Psychological Parent: One who essentially serves as a second parent to a child and is a relationship to which the child's parent has consented. | Legal Definition of Psychological Parent

Public Defender: An attorney in the USA paid for by the state but representing an indigent individual in a criminal matter. | Legal Definition of Public Defender

Public Domain: Property that is available or accessible to the public. | Legal Definition of Public Domain

Public Domain Citation: A legal citation unique to cases issued from a particular court with numbering assigned sequentially, and designed for electronic database and Internet cataloguing retrieval. | Legal Definition of Public Domain Citation

Public Duty Doctrine: A principle of personal injury law; that government owes duties to the public at large rather than to individuals. | Legal Definition of Public Duty Doctrine

Public Law: Those laws which regulate the structure and administration of the government, the conduct of the government in its relations with its citizens, the responsibilities of government employees and the relationships with foreign governments. | Legal Definition of Public Law

Public Nuisance: A nuisance (tort) which interferes with public convenience or welfare. | Legal Definition of Public Nuisance

Public Policy: Certain acts or contracts are said to be against public policy if they tend to promote breach of the law, of the policy behind a law or tend to harm the state or its citizens. | Legal Definition of Public Policy

Publication: Communication of the alleged defamatory statement to a third-party. | Legal Definition of Publication

Publicity: The use of an individual's name, image or reputation to promote products or services. | Legal Definition of Publicity

Puffery: Advertising which states in general terms that one product or service is superior and which does not otherwise imply any specific representation in regards to the product or service. | Legal Definition of Puffery

Puisne: Junior or lower in rank, as opposed to the chief justice. | Legal Definition of Puisne

Punitive Damages: Special and highly exceptional damages ordered by a court against a defendant where the act or omission which caused the suit, was of a particularly heinous, malicious or highhanded nature. | Legal Definition of Punitive Damages

Purge: To apologize or the taking of such other action as may be deemed by a court of law to suffice for the purposes of vacating a charge of contempt of court. | Legal Definition of Purge

Putative Father: A presumed but not DNA-confirmed father of a child. | Legal Definition of Putative Father