sovereignty (sahv-[[schwa]-]rin-tee). 1. Supreme dominion, authority, or rule. [Cases: International Law 8. C.J.S. International Law §§ 25–28.] popular sovereignty. A system of government in which policy choices reflect the preferences of the majority of citizens. state sovereignty. See STATE SOVEREIGNTY. 2. The supreme political authority of an independent state. 3. The state itself.“It is well […]
communia precepta (k[schwa]-myoo-nee-[schwa] pree-sep-t[schwa]). [Latin] Hist. Common precepts; common rules.
Court of Delegates. Hist. Eccles. law. A court serving as the final court of appeal for admiralty and ecclesiastical matters. • The Court was established in 1534 to serve in the stead of the Papal Curia when the English Church severed its ties with the Papacy. Six delegates, appointed to hear only one case, made
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complete-preemption doctrine. The rule that a federal statute’s preemptive force may be so extraordinary and all-encompassing that it converts an ordinary state-common-law complaint into one stating a federal claim for purposes of the well-pleaded-complaint rule. See well-pleaded complaint under COMPLAINT. [Cases: Federal Courts 241.]
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half plus one. A common but inexact (and often inaccurate) approximation for a majority. • For a body with 100 members, a majority is indeed half plus one, or 51. But for a body with an odd number of members, “half plus one” would not be a whole number. So “a simple majority” is a
moral turpitude. 1. Conduct that is contrary to justice, honesty, or morality. • In the area of legal ethics, offenses involving moral turpitude — such as fraud or breach of trust — traditionally make a person unfit to practice law. — Also termed moral depravity. 2. Military law. Any conduct for which the applicable punishment
notice of appeal. A document filed with a court and served on the other parties, stating an intention to appeal a trial court’s judgment or order. • In most jurisdictions, filing a notice of appeal is the act by which the appeal is perfected. For instance, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that an
Twenty-fifth Amendment. The constitutional amendment, ratified in 1967, that established rules of succession for the presidency and vice presidency in the event of death, resignation, or incapacity. [Cases: United States 26. C.J.S. United States §§ 45–47.]
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illusory-transfer doctrine. The rule that the law disregards an inter vivos gift over which the donor retains so much control that there is no good-faith intent to relinquish the transferred property. • The illusory-transfer doctrine is usu. applied to inter vivos trusts in which the settlor retains an excessive control or an interest — for
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incorporation by reference. 1. A method of making a secondary document part of a primary document by including in the primary document a statement that the secondary document should be treated as if it were contained within the primary one. • With a contract, the document to be incorporated must be referred to and described
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