rule of optional completeness. The evidentiary rule providing that when a party introduces part of a writing or an utterance at trial, the opposing party may require that the remainder of the passage be read to establish the full context. • The rule has limitations: first, no utterance can be received if it is irrelevant, […]
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sanctity of contract. The principle that the parties to a contract, having duly entered into it, must honor their obligations under it. [Cases: Contracts 1. C.J.S. Contracts §§ 2–3, 9, 12.] “[Sanctity of contract] is merely another facet of freedom of contract, but the two concepts cover, to some extent, different grounds. The sanctity of
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grand jury. A body of (often 23) people who are chosen to sit permanently for at least a month — and sometimes a year — and who, in ex parte proceedings, decide whether to issue indictments. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 6. • If the grand jury decides that evidence is strong enough to hold
defect of reason. Archaic. 1. Mental illness. 2. Mental retardation. DEFECT OF SUBSTANCE defect of substance. An imperfection in the substantive part of a legal document, as by omitting an essential term. Cf. DEFECT OF FORM.
merchandise (m[schwa]r-ch[schwa]n-dIz also -dIs). 1. In general, a movable object involved in trade or traffic; that which is passed from hand to hand by purchase and sale. 2. In particular, that which is dealt in by merchants; an article of trading or the class of objects in which trade is carried on by physical transfer;
in essentialibus (in e-sen-shee-al-[schwa]-b[schwa]s). [Law Latin] Scots law. In the essential parts. • An error in an essential term of an instrument (such as a deed) was usu. fatal.
forced labor. Int’l law. Work exacted from a person under threat of penalty; work for which a person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily. • Under the U.N. Convention on Civil and Political Rights (article 8), exemptions from this definition include (1) penalties imposed by a court, (2) compulsory military service, (3) action taken
hardship. 1. Privation; suffering or adversity. 2. The severity with which a proposed construction of law would bear on a particular case, sometimes forming a basis (also known as an argument ab inconvenienti) against the construction. See AB INCONVENIENTI; HARD CASE. [Cases: Statutes 181(2). C.J.S. Statutes § 318.] 3. Family law. A condition that makes
jus in personam (j[schwa]s in p[schwa]r-soh-n[schwa]m), n. [Latin “right against a person”] A right of action against a particular person to enforce that person’s obligation. — Also termed jura in personam. See right in personam under RIGHT.
final-judgment rule. The principle that a party may appeal only from a district court’s final decision that ends the litigation on the merits. • Under this rule, a party must raise all claims of error in a single appeal. 28 USCA § 1291. — Also termed final-decision rule; finality rule. Cf. FINALITY DOCTRINE ; INTERLOCUTORY
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