inevitable-disclosure doctrine. Trade secrets. The legal theory that a key employee, once hired by a competitor, cannot avoid misappropriating the former employer’s trade secrets. • To justify an injunction, the plaintiff must prove that the former employee has confidential information and will not be able to avoid using that knowledge to unfairly compete against the […]
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decree nisi (1)〈英〉(离婚案件中的)附条件的判决；暂时判决 所有解除婚姻关系的判决，不论是离婚还是宣告婚姻无效，首先只能是非绝对的判决，在判决作出后的6周内或法庭规定的其他期限内，任何人均可以提出异议并说明理由，若在此期限内无人提出异议或理由不成立，期限届满，当事人可以申请法院确定此判决为绝对判决〔decree absolute〕，其婚姻关系正式解除。 (2)附条件的判决；暂时判决 指法庭作出的判决，如果于其不利的当事人在规定期限内未说明理由以推翻该判决或上诉成功或通过其他方法使该判决被撤销，则法院将裁定该判决成为无条件的终局判决。等同于nisi decree; order nisi; rule nisi。
discovery n. (1)披露 民事诉讼中的一种审前程序，一方当事人可以通过该程序从对方当事人处获得与案件有关的事实与信息，以助于准备庭审。根据美国《联邦民事诉讼规则》〔Federal Rules of Civil Procedure〕的规定，要求披露的方式包括：书面证词〔deposition〕、书面质询〔written interrogatories〕、请求承认〔requests for admissions〕、请求出示文件〔requests for production〕等。在英国，任一方当事人经法庭许可并预交诉讼费用保证金后，可以书面质询的方式要求对方披露有关事实和文件，对方应经宣誓后作出回答，其回答的内容在庭审时可作为证据使用。刑事诉讼中的披露程序侧重于强调辩护方有权获得对其辩护所必要的证据，如美国《联邦刑事诉讼规则》〔Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure〕规定，被告人可以通过披露程序获得其所作的书面或被记录下来的陈述或有罪供认、检查与测试的结果、在大陪审团面前所作的证词、控诉方的专家证人的证词，并有权查阅控方的文件、照片、证物等。 (2)〈美〉(专利法)发明物 指发明某种原先不存在的物质、机械装置或作出某种改进、应用等，其创造性的程度比发明〔invention〕要低。 (3)〈英〉(破产人为债权人的利益而)公布财产
procedural law. The rules that prescribe the steps for having a right or duty judicially enforced, as opposed to the law that defines the specific rights or duties themselves. — Also termed adjective law. Cf. SUBSTANTIVE LAW. [Cases: Statutes 242, 267. C.J.S. Statutes § 421.]
amendment by implication. A rule of construction that allows a person to interpret a repugnant provision in a statute as an implicit modification or abrogation of a provision that appears before it. • Amendments by implication are not favored. See United States v. Welden, 377 U.S. 95, 102 n.12, 84 S.Ct. 1082, 1087 n.12 (1964).
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worship. 1. Any form of religious devotion or service showing reverence for a divine being (freedom of worship). [Cases: Religious Societies 1. C.J.S. Religious Societies §§ 2–5, 7–13.] public worship. 1. Worship conducted by a religious society according to the society’s system of ecclesiastical authority, ritual propriety, and rules and regulations. 2. Worship under public
A judicial determination that a conversion has taken place — though in truth one has not — because a defendant is estopped from offering a defense. • This occurs, for example, under the traditional rule that a bailee is estopped from denying the bailor’s title even if the bailor has no title to the chattel.
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institutional litigant. An organized group that brings lawsuits not merely to win but also to bring about a change in the law or to defend an existing law. “Our second observation relates to what has been called the ‘institutional litigant.’ There are organized groups, such as labour unions or trade associations, that have a continuing
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The immunity of one spouse from a tort action by the other spouse for personal injury. • As of 1992, 38 states and the District of Columbia had abolished interspousal tort immunity either by judicial opinion or by statute. Nine states had abolished the rule only in specific instances such as intentional or vehicular torts.
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