appellee (ap-[schwa]-lee). A party against whom an appeal is taken and whose role is to respond to that appeal, usu. seeking affirmance of the lower court’s decision. See RESPONDENT. Cf. APPELLANT. [Cases: Appeal and Error 326. C.J.S. Appeal and Error §§ 232–233, 238.]
cramdown, n. Court confirmation of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan despite the opposition of certain creditors. • Under the Bankruptcy Code, a court may confirm a plan — even if it has not been accepted by all classes of creditors — if the plan (1) has been accepted by at least one impaired class, (2)
oath n. (1)宣誓 指向神、上帝或令人尊敬的人或物庄严表示某人的陈述是真实的，或者某人将遵守诺言。如果陈述是不真实的或者违背了诺言，宣誓人必将受到惩罚。所以，宣誓的法律效果就是如果陈述人的陈述是虚假的，将因其伪证行为而受到惩罚。如在英国治安法院进行的刑事诉讼中，证人在作证前要对《圣经·新约》起誓，誓词如下：「我以万能的上帝的名义宣誓，我将提供的证据属实，并且完全真实，唯有真实」〔I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.〕。 (2)誓言；宣誓陈述 (3)(不需向上帝或令人尊敬的人或物起誓而作的)庄严的正式声明 (→affirmation)
Hist. A collection of English pleading rules designed to ease the strict pleading requirements of the special-pleading system, esp. by limiting the scope of the general issue in the formed actions and by forcing the defendant to set up affirmatively all matters other than a denial of the breach of duty or of the wrongful
privilege n. 特权；特惠；特免 含义不确定的法律用语，最常用于指当事人依法享有为或不为特定行为的自由，常被误拼作priviledge。其主要含义为：１泛指法律赋予某人或某类人的特别权利或豁免，有的特权在任何情况下都不能剥夺，此为绝对特权〔absolute privilege〕，有的特权只在特定情形下享有或在特定情形下可剥夺，此为限制性特权〔qualified privilege〕或附条件特权〔conditional privilege〕；２一种肯定性答辩〔affirmative defense〕，指被告至少部分肯定了所指控的行为，但主张自己的行为为法律所授权或许可。尤指在侵权行为法中，特定的情势为故意的侵权行为提供了正当的理由，如在正当防卫中运用合理暴力而不构成殴击罪〔battery〕的权利、议员在议会讨论中及涉案人员在法院中的言论自由而免予被诉诽谤〔defamation〕的权利；３一项证据规则，赋予证人不泄露所问事实的自由，或防止在法院泄露特定信息的权利。此类特权的赋予通常意在保护信任关系，如律师与委托人之间或夫妻之间的关系，或是保护重要的公共职能。在美国，一些证据方面的特权是以宪法的规定为基础，但这类特权所涉及的数量、范围乃至名目在各州则互不相同；４(大陆法)由债务性质所生的债权人特权，其可优先于同一债务人的其他债权人受偿；５ (=hat money)。
mort d’ancestor (mor[t] dan-ses-t[schwa]r). [Law French “death of an ancestor”] Hist. An assize founded on the death of an ancestor. — Also termed (in Scots law) brieve of mortancestry. “Another of the petty assizes was that of mort d’ancestor, founded on the Assize of Northhampton 1176. The question in this assize was whether the plaintiff’s
The ingestion of alcohol or drugs against one’s will or without one’s knowledge. • Involuntary intoxication is an affirmative defense to a criminal or negligence charge. [Cases: Criminal Law 56. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 111.]
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Direct or affirmative proof. Cf. negative proof. [Cases: Evidence 586. C.J.S. Evidence §§ 339, 1309, 1328.]
negative pregnant. A denial implying its affirmative opposite by seeming to deny only a qualification of the allegation and not the allegation itself. • An example is the statement, “I didn’t steal the money last Tuesday,” the implication being that the theft might have happened on another day. — Also termed negative pregnant with an
government-agency defense. Torts. An affirmative defense that immunizes a contractor from liability upon proof that the contractor acted on the government’s behalf as an agent or as a government officer. • This defense is extremely limited because of the difficulty of establishing the government-agent relationship. See Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Constr. Co., 309 U.S. 18,
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