64
votes
Accepted
Does "statistically significant" have a specific legal meaning?
Most judges went to law school
Therefore, my null hypothesis is that they have next to no knowledge of statistics and couldn’t tell a median from a mean on their best, let alone, their average day - ...
- 192k
50
votes
Which security is the social security number about?
Social Security numbers are called Social Security numbers because were invented to implement the Social Security Act of 1935, which was one of the important programs adopted by Congress as part of ...
- 185k
48
votes
Accepted
Is it considered a breach of confidentiality if data is uploaded to a website which only makes that data available to the uploader?
Assuming none of these terms are defined elsewhere in the contract:
A third party is a party (a person or company) that is neither you nor the other party to the contract (here, presumably the company ...
- 10.2k
48
votes
Is "legalese" a thing in languages other than English?
Germany definitely has a legal jargon that is sufficiently distinct from standard German that a foreigner with decent skill in standard German will have trouble understanding what a legal text ...
- 3,053
46
votes
Accepted
ASKED: Why do many "No Trespassing" signs say "POSTED"?
"Posted" is a Term of Art
"Posted" is a term of art in trespass law, specifically meaning that signs forbidding entry have been placed at the borders of a parcel. The page "...
- 112k
45
votes
Accepted
Pretending to be from the "Freedom to Breathe Agency": impersonating an officer?
The clause you highlighted has an "or" in front of it: "..., or in such pretended character...". It's only one alternative. Demanding or obtaining money, etc, is sufficient to ...
- 28.6k
36
votes
Accepted
What does it mean to "pirate" a game, app, or other digital resource?
While software is often the subject of pirating, the term is also used generally for unauthorized use of any copyrighted material. It turns out that this terminology is very old. Wikipedia notes that ...
- 185k
33
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to ask someone to commit a misdemeanor? What is this called?
This is called solicitation.
A person is guilty of solicitation to commit a crime if with the purpose of promoting or facilitating its commission he commands, encourages or requests another person to ...
- 55.8k
32
votes
Accepted
Equivalent of "illegal" for violating civil law
The term "illegal" is also often used for actions that the law prohibits, but that give rise to civil liability, rather than criminal prosecution. We see such use a lot in questions on Law.SE. One ...
- 112k
32
votes
Is "legalese" a thing in languages other than English?
In france, legal texts are written in "everyday" French, although the legal vocabulary may not be known to non-specialists.
However, for some reason (tradition, I guess), court judgements ...
- 445
31
votes
Accepted
What does a default judgement mean in the Alex Jones case
A default judgment is a judgment in favor of a party when the opposing party has failed to do something that is required, such as appear before the court. In this instance, defendant's failure was to ...
- 206k
29
votes
How does Australia split its legal profession?
In many Common Law nations, the distinction between solicitor and barrister is that the solicitors traditionally have direct access to clients and do much of the paperwork and discuss the planning ...
- 22.4k
27
votes
Accepted
What is the definition of a troll in the legal context?
Another term sometimes used in place of "copyright troll" or "patent troll" in order to be less pejorative is "non-practising entity"1 (moreso in the patent context). ...
- 35.9k
26
votes
Accepted
What does "circumstantial evidence" mean in criminal procedure?
Overview
The term "circumstantial evidence" refers to evidence that does not directly establish the elements of the crime, but that permits the finder of fact to draw inferences about what ...
- 112k
26
votes
ASKED: Why do many "No Trespassing" signs say "POSTED"?
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has a web page about this. If you read the current law you will see the exact wording of the signs is not specified. But in the past, the exact wording of the ...
- 4,019
25
votes
Accepted
How to interpret or parse this confusing 'NOT' and 'AND' legal clause
It says
They shall not confer the right [[to attend any meeting of members] and [to exercise one vote for every share held]].
The elements joined by a conjunction such as "and" should be ...
- 33.4k
24
votes
Accepted
Is there a common name for lawyers and judges?
Jurist (in the American sense) means a lawyer, judge, or other expert in law.
From Google Search:
- 364
24
votes
Equivalent of "illegal" for violating civil law
“Illegal” is not limited to criminal matters
Illegal and unlawful are synonymous and refer to any conduct which is in breach of any law. So:
Murder is illegal and a crime
Stopping in a No Stopping ...
- 192k
24
votes
Accepted
Why is a lawsuit a "suit"?
The historical root is Old French sieute, sivre meaning "follow, pursue". You pursue your defendant in court. This is an ordinary legal term in post-Norman England. The root is also invoked ...
- 206k
24
votes
Is "legalese" a thing in languages other than English?
The Islamic legal system, Shari`ah, is similar to common law in having special legal terms. For instance, a legal duty may be farīḍah, mustaḥabb, mubāḥ, makrūh or ḥarām. Legal authorities ...
- 206k
23
votes
Copyright in copyleft licence?
No. GPL works are copyrighted (as are most creative works basically everywhere in the world, as soon as they're created, whether or not the author does anything about it), and copyright is what gives ...
- 625
22
votes
Accepted
Are laws written logically and rigorously?
Are laws written logically and rigorously?
No.
Laws are not consistently written to any consistent stylistic standards.
Whatever legislators approve becomes the law even if the law is poorly drafted.
...
- 185k
22
votes
Accepted
Can a computer program agree to Terms of Service?
Other Entities means Legal Person
The reason for the term "legal person" is that some legal persons are not people: companies and corporations are "persons" legally speaking (they ...
- 31.1k
21
votes
Looking for a law textbook that defines legal terms
Black's Law Dictionary is the leading publication of that type (the online version is based upon the out of copyright second edition, while the current version is the 11th edition from 2019), although ...
- 185k
20
votes
Is the term "evil" defined in law?
While not defined, in common law systems, there is a concept of Malum in se which can be translated to "Wrong or Evil in itself" and is used to describe criminal actions that are wrong ...
- 22.4k
19
votes
Accepted
Are only citizens "at the time of the adoption of this Constitution" eligible to be President?
No, it means the following are eligible:
Natural born citizens
Citizens of the United States, at the time of the adoption of the constitution
The second part was to allow people that were citizens ...
- 206
19
votes
Copyright in copyleft licence?
GPL does not purport that there is no copyright in a work to which the license applies: the works are still in copyright. It relies on the notion of copyright (which it redefines to include "similar ...
- 206k
19
votes
Does "statistically significant" have a specific legal meaning?
You may be interested in this article, which asks if proof of statistical significance is relevant in law (US) – it clearly is, but still, nobody understands it. It is packed full of relevant legal ...
- 206k
19
votes
Accepted
Which security is the social security number about?
The SSN was originally meant to be used strictly for tracking a worker’s lifetime earnings in order to calculate retirement benefits after age 65 under the Social Security Act of 1935.
In fact, until ...
- 1,796
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