A rule adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature for the conduct of business or relations between them, such as when they meet in joint session, or for other matters in which they share an interest. See joint session under SESSION(1).
color book. Archaic. Int’l law. An official compilation of diplomatic documents and internal papers and reports of a government, the purpose of which is to inform the legislature and the public about foreign policy, esp. during foreign crises. • Color books reached their height of popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They
The law governing the organization and operation of administrative agencies (including executive and independent agencies) and the relations of administrative agencies with the legislature, the execu-tive, the judiciary, and the public. • Administrative law is divided into three parts: (1) the statutes endowing agencies with powers and establishing rules of substantive law relating to those
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house. 1. A home, dwelling, or residence. ancient house. Hist. In England, a house that has stood long enough to acquire an easement of support against the adjoining land or building. bawdy house. See DISORDERLY HOUSE(2). disorderly house. See DISORDERLY HOUSE. dwelling house. See DWELLING HOUSE. house of correction. 1. A reformatory. 2. A place
legislative districting. The process of dividing a state into territorial districts to be represented in the state or federal legislature. See APPORTIONMENT(3); REAPPORTIONMENT; GERRYMANDERING. Cf. MALAPPORTIONMENT. [Cases: States 27. C.J.S. States §§ 62–78.]
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statute of limitations. 1. A law that bars claims after a specified period; specif., a statute establishing a time limit for suing in a civil case, based on the date when the claim accrued (as when the injury occurred or was discovered). • The purpose of such a statute is to require diligent prosecution of
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judiciary (joo-dish-ee-er-ee or joo-dish-[schwa]-ree), n. 1. The branch of government responsible for interpreting the laws and administering justice. Cf. EXECUTIVE(1); LEGISLATURE. [Cases: Judges 1. C.J.S. Judges §§ 2–7.] 2. A system of courts. 3. A body of judges. — Also termed (in sense 3) judicature. — judiciary, adj.
checks and balances. The theory of governmental power and functions whereby each branch of government has the ability to counter the actions of any other branch, so that no single branch can control the entire government. • For example, the executive branch can check the legislature by exercising its veto power, but the legislature can,
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court for the trial of impeachments. A tribunal empowered to try a government officer or other person brought before it by the process of impeachment. • The U.S. Senate and the British House of Lords have this authority, as do the upper houses of most state legislatures. — Also termed impeachment court; court of impeachment.
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Granger Cases (grayn-j[schwa]r). Six U.S. Supreme Court decisions that affirmed the government’s right to regulate fees charged by common carriers, warehouses, and grain elevators. • The cases, decided in 1876, arose out of grangers’ (i.e., farmers’) frustration with the inflated prices they were paying to store and transport their agricultural products. Several state legislatures passed