volenti non fit injuria (voh-len-tI non fit in-joor-ee-[schwa]). [Law Latin “to a willing person it is not wrong,” i.e., a person is not wronged by that to which he or she consents] The principle that a person who knowingly and voluntarily risks danger cannot recover for any resulting injury. • This is the type of […]
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bishop. The chief superintendent and highest-ranking member of the clergy within a diocese. • The bishop is subject to the archbishop of a province. [Cases: Religious Societies 27. C.J.S. Religious Societies § 43.] “[A] bishop … has several courts under him, and may visit at pleasure every part of his diocese. His chancellor is appointed
ostendit vobis (os-ten-dit voh-bis). [Latin] Hist. Shows to you. • In old pleading, these words were used by a demandant to begin a count.
majus jus (may-j[schwa]s j[schwa]s). [Law Latin “a greater right”] Hist. A greater right. • This was a plea in a real action.
stultiloquium (st[schwa]l-ti-loh-kwee-[schwa]m). [fr. Latin stultus “foolish” + loqui “to speak”] Hist. A frivolous pleading punishable by fine. • This may have been the origin of the beaupleader. See BEAUPLEADER.
Field Code. The New York Code of Procedure of 1848, which was the first comprehensive Anglo-American code of civil procedure and served as a model for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. • It was drafted by David Dudley Field (1805–1894), a major law-reformer. See code pleading under PLEADING (2).
averment ([schwa]-v[schwa]r-m[schwa]nt), n. A positive declaration or affirmation of fact; esp., an assertion or allegation in a pleading (the plaintiff’s averment that the defendant ran a red light). Cf. ASSEVE-RATE. immaterial averment. An averment that alleges something in needless detail; a statement that goes far beyond what is in issue. • This type of averment
bargain, n. An agreement between parties for the exchange of promises or performances. • A bargain is not necessarily a contract because the consideration may be insufficient or the transaction may be illegal. See BARGAIN SALE; informal contract under CONTRACT. [Cases: Contracts 1. C.J.S. Contracts §§ 2–3, 9, 12.] — bargain, vb. “A bargain is
Criminal law. A defense, usu. asserted as the basis for an insanity plea, whereby a male defendant argues that his criminal behavior is due to the genetic abnormality of having an extra Y chro-mosome, which causes him to have uncontrollable aggressive impulses. • Most courts have rejected this defense because its scientific foundations are uncertain.
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A barrister called to the bar, but not called to plead from within it, as a Queen’s Counsel or (formerly) serjeant-at-law is permitted to do; a barrister belonging to the outer bar. — Also termed utter barrister. See CALL TO THE BAR; OUTER BAR.