Two legal concepts go by the name barratry: one in criminal and civil law, the other in admiralty law. Aphorism Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ... Jump to: navigation, search Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law or Law of the Sea) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ...

• In criminal and civil law, barratry is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass. Usually, the actions brought lack merit. This action has been declared a crime in some jurisdictions. See also: champerty, SLAPP, vexatious litigation, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, forum shopping.

• In admiralty law, barratry is a fraudulent act committed by a master or crew of a vessel which damages the vessel or its cargo, including desertion, illegal scuttling, and theft of the ship or cargo.

A third meaning also exists: the buying and selling of positions of authority, especially those within the church. This meaning is synonymous with simony. In law, champerty is the practice of participating in a lawsuit in order to share in the proceeds by a person not naturally a party to the lawsuit, that is, buying into someone elses lawsuit. ... Strategic lawsuits against public participation, (SLAPP) refers to litigation filed by a large corporation (or in some cases, a wealthy individual) to silence a less powerful critic by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defense that they abandon their criticism. ... Vexatious litigation is that which is brought, regardless of its merits (usually it has none) solely to harass or subdue an adversary. ... Abuse of process is a common law intentional tort. ... Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. ... Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice of attempting to get a case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a decision favorable to a plaintiff. ... Jump to: navigation, search Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law or Law of the Sea) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ... Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship, either to dispose of an old vessel or to prevent the vehicle from being captured by an enemy force. ... Simony is the ecclesiastical crime and personal sin of paying for offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24. ...