comparative legislation. A species of comparative law seeking to define the common link for modern statutory doctrines, concerned with the development of legal study as a social science and with awakening an international legal consciousness. Cf. descriptive comparative law under COMPARATIVE LAW; COMPARATIVE LEGAL HISTORY.
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comparative rectitude. Family law. Archaic. The degree to which one spouse is less culpable than the other in damaging the marriage, so that even though both spouses are at fault, the less culpable spouse may successfully petition for a separation or divorce. • Comparative rectitude tempers the doctrine of recrimination by making a divorce possible
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ex causa potestatis (eks kaw-z[schwa] poh-tes-tay-tis).Roman law. Because of his position of authority. • Certain men could not marry women who were subject to their guardianship or control, and the reason was said to be ex causa potestatis. “Certain impediments to marriage in the civil law were described as being ex causa potestatis. Thus a
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mundium (m[schwa]n-dee-[schwa]m). [Law Latin] The legal protection and representation granted to a person who is socially and physically weak. “In a society of persons in which the authority to maintain the law was in the hands of its members, and of which the membership rested on the ability to bear arms and defend oneself (‘weer’),
divided-damages rule. Maritime law. The obsolete principle that when two parties are jointly liable to a third party for a tort, each party is liable for only half the damages. • The courts now apply a comparative-negligence standard. [Cases: Collision 143. C.J.S. Collision §§ 242, 245, 259, 261–262.] “For over a hundred years admiralty law
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absolute disparity. Constitutional law. The difference between the percentage of a group in the general popula-tion and the percentage of that group in the pool of prospective jurors on a venire. • For example, if Afri-can-Americans make up 12% of a county’s population and 8% of the potential jurors on a venire, the absolute disparity
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aspirin wars. Slang. A series of false-advertising lawsuits between makers of over-the-counter pain relievers in the 1980s, all regarding the boundaries of comparative advertising.
knight-service. Hist. A type of lay tenure in which a knight held land of another person or the Crown in exchange for a pledge of military service. — Also termed knight’s service; (Scots law) ward holding. Cf. BASE SERVICE; SOCAGE; VILLEINAGE. “By far the greater part of England is held of the king by knight’s
recrimination (ri-krim-i-nay-sh[schwa]n), n. 1. Family law. Archaic. In a divorce suit, a countercharge that the complainant has been guilty of an offense constituting a ground for divorce. • When both parties to the marriage have committed marital misconduct that would be grounds for divorce, neither may obtain a fault divorce. Recriminations are now virtually obsolete
contributory negligence 混合过错；混合过失；与有过失；促成的过失；可归责于己的过失 它是指原告本身的疏忽，并且在其诉称的由于被告过错而导致的损害中，原告的过失亦构成致损原因的一部或全部。在英国普通法上，只要有证据证明原告本身由于某种过失直接并且严重地造成了其所受的损害，被告的责任即可全部免除，故其成为损害赔偿之诉中被告的完全抗辩〔complete defence〕。在因事故而致的诉讼中，若原告的过失是构成事故发生的真实、有效原因——通常是在原告有避免事故发生的最后机会的情况下——那么，无论被告的行为如何具有过错，原告亦无法胜诉。但是，自英国1945年《法律改革法(混合过失)》〔Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 〕颁布以来，它不再是一个完全抗辩，如果原告只有部分过失，则不再驳回其全部诉讼请求，而是由法院或陪审团按照各当事人对损害造成的过错程度，相应地承担损害赔偿责任，亦即相应地减轻被告的赔偿责任。另外，未成年人——尤年龄过小者——的过失行为不构成混合过失；僱员的过失行为不一定构成混合过失；紧急避险行为也不一定构成混合过失。根据美国的相关判例，它是指原告自身的作为或不作为所构成一般注意的缺乏，它与被告的过失同时发生，从而成为造成原告损害的主要原因。原告对之承担责任，是因为其违反了法律所设定的保护自身免受伤害的义务。被告可以以之作为抗辩，根据美国《联邦民事诉讼规则》〔Fed.R.Civil P.〕，它属于确定性抗辩，但须由被告提出并举证。但在许多州，这种抗辩已被比较过失〔comparative negligence〕原则所取代。另外，根据美国《统一商法典》〔U.C.C.〕第3-406条，由于当事人自身过失而导致票据发生重大涂改的，亦可适用这一原则。 (→comparative negligence)
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