Glossary of legal terms

Commonly-used legal terms in steel sector litigation work include:

• Acquittal: Verdict of a judge or jury that the accused is not guilty (or a case is not proven).
• Advocate: A lawyer who defends another party (a person, or an organisation) in a law court.
• Affidavit: A written or printed statement that is made under oath.
• Appellant: A person who applies to a higher court for a reversal of the decision of a lower court.
• Arraignment: The first court appearance of a person accused of a crime.
• Bailiff: An officer of the court.
• Bench: Term that refers to all the judges of a certain court, or to the members of a judiciary.
• Case law: Law as established by previous court decisions (cases). Essentially a synonym for legal precedent.
• Chambers: Offices of a judge, or of barristers - and their staff.
• Chapter 11: American term referring to bankruptcy with restructuring, usually involving a U.S. corporation or partnership. Steelmakers in the USA who have been involved in Chapter 11 reorganisation have included the LTV Steel Corporation, the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation, Rouge Steel and Essar Steel Minnesota.
• Consignee: The person that goods have been sent to.
• De jure: Latin term meaning 'in law'. A matter that is 'de jure' is one that is covered by the operation of the law.
• Defendant: A person (or other entity) against whom a lawsuit is filed.
• Deposition: Testimony of witness taken under oath, usually in response to another party's questions.
• European Court of Justice: The European Union's highest court. The ECJ was founded in 1952. The court is based in Luxembourg.
• Force majeure: French term meaning 'superior force'. Also known as 'casus fortuitus' (Latin). This is a common term used in contracts to refer to chance occurrences, unavoidable accidents etc.
• Habeas corpus: Latin term, meaning 'that you have the body'. Commonly refers to a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds can be shown for their detention.
• In camera: Latin term, meaning 'in a chamber' or 'in a room'. Usually means 'in private', meaning away from the jury or the public.
• Injunction: A court order preventing one or more named parties from taking some specific action.
• Intestate: Legal term for a situation when someone dies without making a will.
• Jurisdiction: Power and authority of a court to make a judgment on a case.
• Lien: A right to keep possession of an asset belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged.
• Litigant: A person who is involved in a civil legal case.
• Malfeasance: Unlawful act.
• Mitigating circumstances: Circumstances that can be considered to reduce the guilt of a defendant.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth in court (often made with a religious underpinning).
• Official Journal of the European Communities: Official publication of the European Union, which contains legislation, proceedings and the decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
• Plaintiff: A person who brings a case against another in a court of law.
• Pleadings: Documents filed with a court by the parties in a civil or criminal case.
• Probate: The judicial process whereby a will is 'proved' in a court of law.
• Probation: A sentence in a criminal cases whereby an offender is supervised by a social worker for a set period of time.
• Quantum: Reasonable value of services. Quantum of damage refers to the sum of money a successful claimant might receive in a court action.
• Queen's Counsel (QC): Title conferred by the Crown on well-respected advocates giving right of audience in the highest courts of the land.
• Remand: Refers to custody of a person in a prison or police cell prior to a court appearance.
• Respondent: Defendant against whom a petition or complaint is filed in court.
• Statute: Alternative name for a UK Act of Parliament. Statutes are the main form of primary legislation in England & Wales.
• Subpoena: Command to appear in court to testify as a witness.
• Summons: A court order requiring a person to attend court at a stated time and place.
• Suspended sentence: A sentence that is postponed until the offender is convicted of some other offence.
• Testify: To give evidence to a court of law.
• Toll rolling: An arrangement whereby a company (e.g. a steel rolling mill) processes semi-finished goods for another firm (e.g. rolling of steel billet into bar), usually without taking ownership of the materials. Another common name for this is 'hire rolling'.
• Transcript: Official written record of everything said at a court hearing.
• Trial: The legal proceedings in a court case.
• Trustee: A person who holds a property or other asset and looks after it on behalf of someone else.
• Ultra vires: Latin term meaning 'beyond ones powers'. If an entity does something ultra vires, what it has done is legally invalid.
• Undertaking: A promise which can be enforced by law.
• Void: Reference to a matter or issue that cannot be enforced by the law.
• Writ: Court order telling someone to do (or not do) something.