information. A formal criminal charge made by a prosecutor without a grand-jury indictment. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 7. • The information is used to prosecute misdemeanors in most states, and about half the states allow its use in felony prosecutions as well. — Also termed bill of information. Cf. INDICTMENT. [Cases: Indictment and Information […]
Year Books 〈英〉《(判例)年鉴》 一系列用诺曼法语〔Norman French〕记载英格兰中世纪案件辩诉情况的判例集。它是我们了解爱德华一世之后普通法的首要资料来源。年鉴记载的是法官和律师对于案件争论点的辩论，而非裁判结果。根据国王年号编集判例似乎是出版者的精心设计，而那些抄本表明判例系按专题编排而非按年代编写。年鉴最早编纂于何时尚不可考，但一些判例表明可以追溯至13世纪70年代。随后，几乎无间断地持续至1535年才不知何故而终止。编纂者系何人也不清楚。一些现在觉得不可信的说法认为大部分时期的编纂系由王室付薪的4名官方记录员所为或者认为系由民诉法院〔Common Bench〕的4位书记官编纂的非官方作品。梅特兰〔Maitland〕则认为最早的年鉴系由在法庭里实习的学生〔Law Students in Court〕编写，后被复制和誊抄。无论由何人编写，这些年鉴在法院后来的案件中对辩护律师都起着指导作用。各部分年鉴的风格、内容以及质量都有极大差异。许多记载包含有不相关的内容、机智的法庭巧辩，甚至错误，但总的来说非常实用。它们用一种若不参考诉讼案卷〔Plea Rolls〕则通常无法理解的方式记录诉讼程序，并且年鉴中有一些判例就是诉讼案卷中案例的摘要或者包含了其中相当大部分。年鉴于1535年停止编纂后，逐渐在语言上以及实质内容上都被废弃，而为其它种类的判例集取代。现在有许多年鉴原稿尚存，原先肯定有许多抄本，至少有一些抄本。年鉴最早似乎约于1481-1482年由威廉·德·马克林尼亚〔William De Machlinia〕出版，但第一个系统的出版者是至少出了50版的平森〔Pynson〕。后来托特尔〔Tottell〕出了约225版，并重印了已出版的所有年鉴。他还采用了分卷的出版方式。第一次出版的是10卷本的四开版，包括自爱德华三世至亨利八世时代的年鉴，于1562-1640年问世。17世纪后年鉴的出版已很少，直至1679-1680年，出现了一个称为「梅纳德〔Maynard〕版」的标准版本。所有这些黑花体字版本的年鉴在拼写、拉丁语、日期及其它方面均存有缺陷。由于在年鉴中搜集资料的困难导致了一些节本〔Abridgments〕的出现，4个节本即「斯泰瑟姆〔Statham〕节本」、「巡回审判年鉴节本」〔Abridgments of the Book of Assizes〕、「菲茨赫伯特〔Fitzherbort〕节本」及「布鲁克〔Brooke〕节本」都以年鉴中的判例为依据。19世纪后半叶以来，许多年鉴经过霍伍德〔Horwood〕和派克〔Pike〕精心编纂相继在「案卷系列」〔Rolls Series〕中和由其他的编者在塞尔登协会〔Selden Society〕系列中出版。(=Books of Years and Terms)
abnormally dangerous activity. An undertaking that necessarily carries with it a significant risk of serious harm even if reasonable care is used, and for which the actor may face strict liability for any harm caused; esp., an activity (such as dynamiting) for which the actor is held strictly liable because the activity (1) involves the
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bona gratia (boh-n[schwa] gray-shee-[schwa]). [Latin] Roman law. In goodwill; in a friendly way. • The phrase typically referred to a divorce by mutual consent.
pretrial conference. An informal meeting at which opposing attorneys confer, usu. with the judge, to work toward the disposition of the case by discussing matters of evidence and narrowing the issues that will be tried. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16; Fed. R. Crim. P. 17. 1. • The conference takes place shortly before trial
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disturbance of common. At common law, a wrongful interference with, or impediment to, another’s right to commonable property, such as a wrongful fencing or surcharge on the common. “The disturbance of common comes next to be considered; where any act is done, by which the right of another to his common is incommoded or diminished.
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avoision ([schwa]-voy-zh[schwa]n), n. An ambiguous act that falls between legal avoidance and illegal evasion of the law. • The term, coined by Arthur Seldon, an economist, is a blend of evasion and avoidance. Avoision usu. refers to financial acts that are not clearly legal tax avoidance or illegal tax evasion, but it sometimes appears in
partial insanity 部分精神失常 指行为人存在一定的意识障碍，但尚未完全丧失记忆力、理解力与判断力的精神状态。在英国，1957年的《杀人罪法》〔Homicide Act〕规定部分精神失常可作为减轻刑罚的情节。在美国，传统上的观念认为，精神病的有无同责任能力的无有是直接对应的，但医学的发展使人们认识到，精神病有各种轻重程度的差别，因此医学和法律之间缺乏科学合理的对应线。有鉴于此，美国有些学者建议借鉴英国的作法，采取「限制责任能力」制度。1975年密执安州〔Michigan〕修改刑事诉讼法典，被告人答辩新增加了一种「有罪但是精神病」的形式，其后，印第安纳州〔Indiana〕和伊利诺伊州〔Illinois〕也采用了这一模式。
legitimacy. 1. Lawfulness. 2. The status of a person who is born within a lawful marriage or who acquires that status by later action of the parents; legal kinship between a child and its parent or parents. Cf. ILLEGITIMACY. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock 1. C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 2–11.] “In this age of equality, the question
expectation, n. 1. The act of looking forward; anticipation. 2. A basis on which something is expected to happen; esp., the prospect of receiving wealth, honors, or the like. “[E]xpectation does not in itself amount to intention. An operating surgeon may know very well that his patient will probably die of the operation; yet he