There are thousands of legal terms, and the language that is used in law is constantly adapting over time. The lawyers at Pringle Chivers Sparks Teskey say you don’t need to memorize every legal term out there. But you should know the most common ones. Even the everyday individual who isn’t entering a career in law can benefit from learning basic law-related terminology in case they find themselves in the middle of a claim or legal battle.
Below, we’ve broken down the meaning of a selection of frequently-used legal terms. This article should be helpful for those of you who are:
- training to become lawyers and want to become more familiar with legal terminology
- already qualified as a lawyer and want to refresh your memory of legal language
- currently going through a legal battle and want to understand your case more easily
- interested in learning more about law for their own general knowledge
Here are fifteen of the most common legal terms that everybody should be aware of and what they mean.
- Abscond – failing to attend court when required. This can apply to somebody who is scheduled to return to court during a legal case or show up in court while on bail
- Accessory – an individual who aids another person in a crime or encourages them to commit one
- Acquit – when someone is allowed to walk free without any penalty after a court has decided that they are not guilty of a crime or there is no strong evidence to prove their guilt
- Bail – to pay or agree to pay a sum of money to stay out of jail until a legal trial takes place
- Capital punishment – the top level of punishment for a crime where the individual is killed for the crime(s) that they have committed. Also known as the death penalty
- Damages – the money that is awarded by a court as compensation to an individual or organization
- Extradition – the transfer of a criminal to the country where they committed the crime(s)
- Fraud – being deceptive or lying to obtain money at the loss of another person or business
- Guarantor – an individual who agrees to pay a debt that is owed by somebody else if this person fails to repay it themselves
- Jurisdiction – the area or territory in which a court can legally operate and issue orders
- Lawsuit – a claim that is filed in a court of law
- Liquidation – disposing of a company’s assets to pay off its debts to creditors
- Minor – a person who is under the age of 18 and does not yet have full legal rights and responsibilities
- Obligor – somebody who has a contractual duty to pay money or complete a task
- Penalty – a punishment given to an individual after committing a crime or a sum of money that a person must pay after breaking the terms of a contract