Introduction

The language used in law is changing. Many lawyers are now adopting a plain
English style. But there are still legal phrases that baffle non-lawyers.
This guide is intended to help in two ways:

• it should help non-lawyers understand legal phrases; and

• it should give lawyers ideas for explaining the legal phrases that they use.
The explanations in this guide are not intended to be straight alternatives.
Although we hope the explanations will prompt lawyers to make sure they only
use legal jargon where strictly necessary, our wording is there to explain ideas
and concepts rather than to give strict legal definitions.

The terms and explanations are for the law in England and Wales.

This is very much a 'work in progress', and we welcome any corrections,

clarifications or suggested additions. Please email us with your comments.
The copyright on this guide belongs to Plain English Campaign. Please contact
us if you want to reproduce any part of it.

Abandonment giving up a legal right.

Abatement is: cancelling a writ or action;

stopping a nuisance;
reducing the payments to creditors in proportion, if
there is not enough money to pay them in full; or
reducing the bequests in a will, in proportion, when
there is not enough money to pay them in full.

Abduction taking someone away by force.

Ab initio from the start of something. (This phrase is Latin.)

Abovementioned describing something which has been referred to

before in the document.

Abscond when a person fails to present themselves before the

court when required, such as when they have been
released on bail and not returned to court.
Absolute complete and unconditional.

Absolute discharge someone who has been convicted of an offence

being released without any penalty. (They may still
have to pay compensation though.)

Absolute owner the only owner of property such as equipment,

buildings, land or vehicles.

Absolute privilege a defence which can be used in a case of

defamation if the statement from which the
defamation arose was:
• made in Parliament;
• in fair and accurate news reporting of court
proceedings; or
• made during court proceedings.

Abstract of title a document, drawn up by the seller, summarising the

title deeds to a property (such as a house).

Abuse of process when criminal proceedings are brought against a

person without there being any good reason and with
malice.

Abuttals the parts of the boundaries of a piece of land which

touch pieces of land alongside.

Acceptance when an offer is accepted unconditionally and a

legally binding agreement is created.

Acceptance of service when a solicitor accepts a writ on behalf of a client.

Acceptor the organisation (such as a bank) which will pay the

cheque or bill of exchange it has accepted.

Accessory someone who encourages or helps another person

to commit a crime.

Accomplice someone who helps another person to commit a

crime.

Accordingly a word used in legal documents which means

therefore or so.

Accounts the record of an organisation's income, spending and

financial situation.
Accumulation reinvesting income generated by a fund back into the
fund.

Accused the person charged with a criminal offence.

Acknowledgement admitting that someone has a claim or admitting that

a debt exists.

Acknowledgement of
Service when a defendant agrees that a writ or originating
summons ('claim form' since April 1999) has been
received. The defendant fills in, signs and sends
back the acknowledgement of service to confirm in
writing that the documents were received.

Acquit when a court lets a person go without any penalty. If

a court decides that a person is not guilty of a crime,
or the case has not been proved, it will acquit the
person.

Acquittal the court's decision that a person is innocent of the

crime they were charged with.

Action using the law to make a claim.

Active trust a trust where the trustees have other responsibilities

rather than to just let the beneficiaries have the
trust's assets when they ask for them.

Act of bankruptcy an act which, if carried out by a person with debts,

could have led to bankruptcy proceedings against
that person.

Act of God an extreme naturally occurring event (such as an

earthquake, avalanche or flood) that could not have
been anticipated.

Actual bodily harm hurting another person but less severely than would
amount to grievous bodily harm.

Actual loss an insurance term which means that the insured item
no longer exists.
Actuary an expert on pension scheme assets and liabilities,
life expectancy and probabilities (the likelihood of
things happening) for insurance purposes. An
actuary works out whether enough money is being
paid into a pension scheme to pay the pensions
when they are due.

Actus reus an act which is illegal, such as theft. (This term is

Latin.)

Additional voluntary
contribution (AVC) extra money people in occupational pension
schemes can pay in to increase their pension
benefits.

Ademption when a gift in a will cannot be made because the

item no longer exists.

Ad hoc for a particular purpose. For example, a committee

set up to deal with a particular situation is an ad hoc
committee. (This term is Latin.)

Ad idem in agreement. (This term is Latin.)

Ad infinitum endlessly or forever. (This term is Latin.)

Adjourned sine die when a court case has no date fixed for it to continue.

Adjournment postponing a court hearing.

Adjudge/adjudicate to give an official judgement about something. For

example, if someone cannot pay their debts a court
may adjudge them bankrupt.

Adjudication order the former name for a court order which made
someone bankrupt. It has now been replaced with
the term bankruptcy order.

Administration order an order made by a county court when a person or a

company cannot pay their debts. Normally the court
orders that the debts are repaid by instalments and as
long as the debtor keeps to the order the creditors
cannot do anything else to recover their money.
Administrator someone who has been appointed:to manage the
affairs of a bankrupt business; or to manage the
estate of someone who has died without leaving a
will.

Admissibility of
Evidence which evidence can be presented in court. Evidence
must be relevant to the case but even some relevant
evidence cannot be presented, such as hearsay or
evidence of little value. The judge decides whether or
not evidence can be used in the case.

Admission one side in a case agreeing that something the other

side has alleged is true.

Admonition reprimanding of a defendant by a judge even though

the case against the defendant has been discharged
(dropped).

Adoption the system which people use to become parents,

even though they are not the child's natural parents.

Adoptive child a child who has been legally adopted.

Adoptive parent a person who has legally adopted a child.

Ad valorem in proportion to the value. An ad valorem duty goes

up as the value of the goods, shares and so on that it
is charged on rises. (This term is Latin.)

Adverse possession intentionally occupying land to prevent the rightful

owner or tenant using it.

Adverse witness a witness who gives evidence which damages the

case of the side which asked the witness to testify for
them.

Advocate is:
• the lawyer who speaks in court for a client; or
• a Scottish lawyer who is the equivalent of a
barrister in England and Wales.

Affidavit a written statement which is sworn to be true by the

person signing it. It is sworn before someone
authorised by the court.
Affirm to:
• solemnly promise to tell the truth in court;
• solemnly promise to tell the truth in an
affidavit;
• confirm a decision made by a lower court;
or
• allow a contract to continue even though it
could have been cancelled because it was
fundamentally breached.

Affirmation solemnly promising to tell the truth when giving

evidence. It is an alternative to swearing an oath
when the person giving evidence does not wish to.

Affray fighting unlawfully. It is a criminal offence.

Aforementioned describing something referred to previously in the

document.

Aforesaid describing something which has been said or

referred to before in the document.

Agency the relationship between a principal and an agent.

Agent someone appointed to act for a principal.

Age of consent the age when a person can consent to have

sexual intercourse. In the UK it is 16.

Aggravated assault a more serious type of assault such as one leading

to actual bodily harm.

Aggravated burglary entering premises armed with a weapon, intending to

steal goods.

Aggravated damages extra damages awarded because the defendant has

caused the victim anguish, loss of self-respect or
shame.

Aggravated vehicle taking stealing a vehicle, driving it dangerously and as a

result injuring someone or damaging property.
Agricultural holding a type of tenancy agreement for someone doing
agricultural work. The tenant has special rights
including, when the tenancy finishes, the right to
compensation for improvements to the land. If the
land has deteriorated the tenant must compensate
the landlord.

Aiding and abetting helping someone to commit a crime.

Airspace the space in the atmosphere directly above a piece

of land. If you own a piece of land you also own the
airspace above the land.

Alias a false name.

Alibi a claim that a person was elsewhere when a crime

was committed. If someone is accused of a crime
their alibi is:
• evidence that the person was somewhere else
when the crime was committed; or
• an attempt to prove that the person was
somewhere else when the crime was
committed.

Alien someone from a foreign country.

Alienation transferring the ownership of property from one

person to another.

All and sundry everybody.

Allegation an unproved statement declaring that something has

happened.

Alleviate to lessen or reduce.

Allocation rate the proportion of money left to be invested after

charges have been taken off when money is paid
into a fund (such as a pension fund). For example, if
the charges were 2%, the allocation rate would be
98%.

Allotment shares allocated to a buyer. An allotment of shares

in a company gives the owner (of the allotment) an
unconditional right to buy the shares at a fixed price.
All that words used in a conveyance to introduce the
description of the property which is being conveyed.

Alternate director a person appointed by a director to take the

director's place.

Alternative verdict a person being found guilty of a less serious crime

than the one they were charged with. If a more
serious charge has not been proved and the
defendant has been found not guilty, the defendant
may be found guilty of a less serious crime instead.
For example, there may not be enough evidence to
convict someone of a murder but there may still be
enough for a manslaughter conviction. This is known
as an alternative verdict.

Amalgamation two or more companies combining.

Ambiguity capability of more than one meaning. When a

statement's meaning is not clear because it is
capable of more than one meaning, it contains an
ambiguity.

Ambulatory will a will which can be revoked or changed while the

person who made it is still living.

Amnesty not punishing a person for an offence they have

committed and removing details of the offence from
the court's records is giving the person an amnesty.

Ancient lights the right not to have the light you receive from a
neighbour's land blocked.

Annual accounts the summary of an organisation's financial

transactions during the year covered by their
accounts, and a 'snapshot' of the assets and
liabilities at the end of the year.

Annual general
Meeting the yearly meeting of the members of an
organisation which must be held to meet legal
conditions. The annual accounts are presented for
approval at this meeting.

Annual return a return which must be sent by companies to the

Registrar of Companies. Each year the officers of a
company have to fill in an annual return with details
 of the members, officers, shares issued and other
information about the company. The return is then
sent to Companies House for filing and is available
for inspection by members of the public.

Annuitant the person who gets paid an annuity.

Annuity an amount paid out every year to someone. The

money usually comes from an insurance policy. It
can be split up into smaller amounts and be paid out
more frequently, such as monthly. It is usually paid
for the rest of the beneficiary's life.

Annul to cancel:
• an invalid marriage; or
• a bankruptcy order.

Ante before. (This is a Latin word.)

Antecedents details about the past of a defendant or a person

found guilty of a crime. The information about
previous crimes, background and bad behaviour is
given to the court before the sentence is given.

Antenuptial agreement a legal agreement between two people who are

about to get married. The agreement sets out how
the couple's assets will be divided between them if
they later divorce.

Anton Piller order an order by the High Court. It gives the applicant
permission to search the defendant's premises for
evidence, inspect it and take it away. It is intended to
prevent evidence being destroyed or hidden which
would be relevant to the case. (Since April 1999, this
has been known as a 'search order'.)

Appeal asking a court to overturn a lower court's decision. If

the decision of a court is disputed it may be possible
to ask a higher court to consider the case again by
lodging an appeal.

Appellant the person who is appealing to a court against a

decision of a lower court.

Appellate jurisdiction the authority a court has to hear an appeal against a

decision made by a lower court.
Capital gain the profit you make if you sell or dispose of a longterm
asset (such as a building) for more than it cost
you.

Capital gains tax a tax charged on certain capital gains.

Capital punishment punishing someone for a crime by killing them.

Capital redemption
reserve A company has to have this reserve in its financial
records and in its accounts if any of the shares it has
issued are cancelled. The reserve cannot be paid out
to the members until the company is liquidated and so
it prevents the company's capital being reduced.

Careless driving driving a car without consideration for other people

using the road.

Care order an order by a court instructing the local authority to

care for a child.

Cartel an agreement between businesses to restrict

competition and keep prices high.

Case law law that is based on the results of previous court

cases.

Case stated the written statement setting out the facts of a case.
It is produced by a magistrates' court when asking
the High Court for an opinion on the law.

Causation one thing being done causing something else to

happen.

Cause of action the reason someone is entitled to sue someone else.

Causing death by
careless and
inconsiderate driving an offence committed by someone who is unfit to
drive because of drink or drugs, but nevertheless
drives a vehicle and kills another person. The
punishment for careless and inconsiderate driving is
less severe than for dangerous driving.
 restrictions on the use of the land or rights someone
else may have over the land such as a right of way.
Charging clause trustees can charge the trust for their services if
there is a charging clause.

Charging order a court judgement which a creditor may get against

the person or organisation which owes the money,
giving the creditor security over the debtor's property
for repayment of the debt.

Charity an organisation set up to do good for the community,

such as help poor people, educate people and
protect animals. Most charities are registered with the
Charity Commission.

Charity Commission an organisation responsible for checking that

charities are run properly. It also decides whether
proposed charities can be placed on the register of
charities.

Chattel any property except freehold land.

Chattels personal the name for tangible goods (goods which can be
touched) such as watches, clothes, furniture and so
on.

Chattels real another name for leasehold land.

Cheat a person who fails to send tax returns to the tax

authorities or fails to pay the tax owing, such as
income tax or value added tax.

Cheque a written order, addressed to a bank, instructing the

bank to pay an amount of money to the person or
organisation named on the cheque. The bank takes
the money out of the relevant customer's account.

Cheque card a card issued by a bank to a customer. It guarantees

that a cheque used with the card will be paid if the
person issuing the cheque has kept to all the
conditions.

Chief rent money charged regularly on freehold land. Despite

its name it is not rent.

Child abuse molestation or ill-treatment suffered by a child.

Writ of execution a type of writ ('claim form' since April 1999) used
when a court judgement needs enforcing.

Writ of summons a type of writ ('claim form' since April 1999) used to
start a civil case in the High Court. (This has been
known as a 'claim form' since April 1999).

Wrongful dismissal ending an employee's contract without following the

contract's terms.

Wrongful trading continuing to trade while knowing that there is little

prospect of the company being able to pay its debts.

Y
Young offender a person between the ages of 14 and 17 who has
committed a crime.