This list is not necessarily complete or up to date - if you see an article that should be here but isn't (or one that shouldn't be here but is), please update the page accordingly. Remember that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, if you are looking for the most basic definitions of legal terms you might consider a specialized legal dictionary such as Black's Law Dictionary. Part of What Wikipedia is not. ... Blacks Law Dictionary, 7th edition Blacks Law Dictionary is regarded by many as the definitive legal dictionary for the law of the United States. ...

See the general list of legal topics regarding any legal topics outside of the area of criminal justice. This page aims to list terms relating to law, including the titles of all Wikipedia articles on the subject. ... The study of criminal justice traditionally revolves around three main components of the criminal justice system: police courts corrections Nowadays, it is sometimes argued that psychiatry is also a central part of the criminal justice system. ...

• See also List of criminal justice notables.

Contents: Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Notable academics or such within the field of criminal justice: Bidden, Jr; Joseph R. DiIulio, Jr; John J. Doscher, Richard J. Fabelo, Tony Fox, James A. Free II, Marvin D. Guiner, Lani LaFree, Gary Mann, Coramae Richey Russell, Katheryn K. Saxton, Samuel F. Schmalleger, Frank Skolnick, Jerome Vollmer, August Wilbanks...

A

Abuse defense -- Actus reus -- Administrative law -- Affray -- Arraignment -- Arrest warrant -- Arson -- Assault -- Attendant circumstances The abuse defense, also called battered spouse defense in some U.S. jurisdictions (a term of jurisprudence), is a so-called innovative defense (perhaps better viewed as an excuse or justification); via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as... Actus reus is the action (or inaction, in the case of criminal negligence and similar crimes which are sometimes called acts of omission) which, in combination with the mens rea (guilty mind), produces criminal liability in common law based criminal law jurisdictions such as the United States, United Kingdom. ... Administrative law is the body of law that arises from the activities of administrative agencies of government. ... In law, the affray is the fighting of two or more persons in a public place to the terror (in French: à leffroi) of the lieges. ... Arraignment is a common law term for the formal reading of a criminal complaint, in the presence of the defendant, to inform him of the charges against him. ... An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a public officer which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual. ... Arson is the crime of setting a fire with intent to cause damage. ... Attendant circumstances are a legal concept which Blacks Law Dictionary defines as the facts surrounding an event. ...

B

Bail -- Bias crime -- Booking -- Burglary Traditionally, bail is some form of property which is deposited or pledged to a court in order to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail (skipping bail is also illegal). ... A Madonna statue after being defaced by anti-Catholics. ... One might be looking for double-entry book-keeping (accounting). ...

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Case law -- Causation -- Chain of custody -- Citizen's arrest -- Civil law -- Clearance rate -- Common law -- Concurrence -- Concurrent sentence -- Conflict model -- Consecutive sentence -- Consensus model -- Corpus delicti -- Corrections -- Creative lawyering -- Crime -- Crime control -- Crime index -- Criminal justice -- Criminology Case law - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... This article is about causality as it is used in many different fields. ... The chain of custody is a concept in jurisprudence which applies to the handling of evidence and its integrity. ... A citizens arrest is an arrest performed by a person acting as a civilian, as opposed to a sworn law enforcement officer. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ... Clearance rates are used by various criminal justice groups as a measure of crimes solved by the police. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Concurrence or Simultaneity is a legal term, from Western jurisprudence, referring to the simultaneous occurrence of actus reus (bad action) and mens rea (bad mind), which must be present for a crime to have occurred; except in crimes of strict liability. ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... The conflict model (non-System perspective or system conflict theory) of criminal justice argues that the organizations of a criminal justice system either do, or should, work competitively to produce justice, as opposed to cooperatively (See: consensus model). ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... The Consensus Model or Systems Perspective of criminal justice argues that the organizations of a criminal justice system either do, or should, work cooperatively to produce justice, as opposed to competitively (See: Conflict Model). ... Corpus delicti (Latin: body of crime) term from Western jurisprudence which refers to the principle that it must be proven that a crime has occurred, before a person can be convicted of committing the crime. ... Corrections refers to one of the components of the criminal justice system. ... Innovative defenses (the invention of which is sometimes called creative lawyering) are relatively new and untried defenses for having committed a criminal act. ... Social control refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behaviour, in terms of greater sanctions and rewards. ... Crime indexes are generated to analyze crime statistics. ... The study of criminal justice traditionally revolves around three main components of the criminal justice system: police courts corrections Nowadays, it is sometimes argued that psychiatry is also a central part of the criminal justice system. ... Criminology comprises the body of knowledge dealing with the causes and consequences of crime as a social phenomenon. ...

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Death penalty -- Defense (legal) -- Defense of property -- Denial of a speedy trial -- Deterrence -- Diminished responsibility -- Double jeopardy -- Due process Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ... In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ... The defense of property is a possible justification for breaking the law. ... In jurisprudence, denial of a speedy trial is a procedural defense via which, a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because the criminal justice system placed them in prison for an unreasonable length of time (prior to any trial). ... Deterrence ALOHA!! is a means of controlling a persons behavior through negative motivational influences, namely fear of punishment. ... In jurisprudence, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a defense by excuse via which a defendant argues that that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were diminished or impaired. ... Double jeopardy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Due process of law is a legal concept that ensures the government will respect all of a persons legal rights instead of just some or most of those legal rights, when the government deprives a person of life, liberty, or property. ...

E

Embezzlement -- Entrapment -- Espionage -- Evidentiary hearing -- Excuse -- Execution warrant -- For the film, see Entrapment (movie). ... Espionage is the practice of obtaining secrets (spying) from rivals or enemies for military, political, or economic advantage. ... Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing (evidentiary hearing) is a meeting, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether, and to what extent, criminal charges and civil cause of actions will be heard (by a court), what evidence will be admitted, and what... In jurisprudence, an excuse is a defense in which a defendant argues that he or she was not liable for his or her actions at the time a law was broken and thus he or she should not be held liable for a crime. ... An execution warrant is a warrant which authorizes the execution or capital punishment of an individual. ...

F

Felony -- Forgery A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ...

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Grand jury A grand jury is a type of common law jury; responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments. ...

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Hate crime A Madonna statue after being defaced by anti-Catholics. ...

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Ignorance of the law -- Inchoate offense -- Indictable offence -- Indictment -- Individual rights -- Infraction -- Innovative defense -- Insanity defense -- Islamic law Presumed knowledge of the law is the principle in jurisprudence that one is bound by a law even if one does not know of it. ... An inchoate offense is a crime. ... In many common law jurisdictions (e. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offense. ... Individual rights is a legal term referring to what one is allowed to do and what can be done to an individual. ... An infraction (minor offense, minor violation, petty offense) is a petty crime, considered to be less serious than a misdemeanor. ... Innovative defenses (the invention of which is sometimes called creative lawyering) are relatively new and untried defenses for having committed a criminal act. ... In a criminal trial, the insanity defense are possible defenses by excuse, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill or mentally incompetent at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ... Sharia (Arabic: ; also Sharīah, Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law, also known as Allahs Law. ...

J

Jurisprudence -- Jury instructions -- Jury nullification -- Jury trial -- Justice -- Justification Jurisprudence is the scientific and historic study of law, inclusive of: Legal history, including legal historiography and hermeneutics; Legal philosophy; Legal science, e. ... Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors must follow when the jury is deciding a case. ... Jury nullification is the act of a jury rendering a not-guilty verdict based upon its judgement of the law in question as invalid or unjust, especially where such a verdict is otherwise unjustified by the strength of the evidence to convict. ... A jury trial is a trial where a judge or judges are supplemented by a jury, made up of citizens who are usually randomly selected and are generally not justice professionals. ... Justice is a concept involving the fair, moral, and impartial treatment of all persons, especially in law. ... Justification can mean: justification (jurisprudence) justification (typesetting) justification (theology) In epistemology, justification of a belief is what renders it worth believing in terms of its probable truth. ...

K

Kangaroo court -- Kidnapping Look up kangaroo court in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A kangaroo court (also known as a kangaroo trial or a Drumhead trial) is a sham legal proceeding or court, often judged subjectively through the speakers perspective. ...

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Larceny -- Law -- Liability Larceny is a crime involving stealing. ... Corruption Jurisprudence Philosophy of law Law (principle) List of legal abbreviations Legal code Intent Letter versus Spirit Natural Justice Natural law Religious law Witness intimidation Legal research External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Law, Legal Definitions... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hinderance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ...

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Mafia -- manslaughter -- McNaghten rules -- Mens rea -- Miranda Warning -- Misdemeanor -- Mistake -- Motive -- Motor vehicle theft -- Murder // Mafia The Mafia, also referred to as La Cosa Nostra (Italian, variously translated as This Thing Of Ours or Our Thing), is the collective name of various secret organizations in Italy, Sicily, Corsica and the United States. ... The MNaghten rules, also known as McNaughten or Macnaughton rules are a set of guidelines for an insanity defense formulated by the Judges of the House of Lords in 1843, used in England and Wales until the 1960s: Persons acting under the influence of an insane delusion are punishable... Mens rea is a criminal law concept which focuses on the mental state of the accused and requires proof of a positive state of mind such as intent, recklessness, or willful blindness. ... The Miranda warning is given by police in the United States to suspects whom they have arrested and intend to question. ... Misdemeanors (or misdemeanours) are lesser criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. ... Mistake of law and mistake of fact are two types of defense by excuse, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law or liable for damages under a civil law action. ... For other meanings of motive see motive (algebraic geometry) and (alternate spelling of) motif (music). ... Motor vehicle theft is a crime of theft. ...

N

Negligence In law, negligence is a type of tort or delict that can be either criminal or civil in nature. ...

O

Obscenity -- Offense -- Organized crime Obscenity has several connotations. ... In law, an offense is a violation of the penal law. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...

P

Pardon -- Penal law -- Peremptory pleas -- Perjury -- Plea bargain -- Precedent -- Predator -- Preliminary hearing -- Prescription -- Probable cause -- Probation -- Procedural defense -- Prosecutorial misconduct -- Prostitution -- Provocation -- Public order A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs. ... In the common law legal system, the peremptory pleas (pleas in bar), are pleas that set out special reasons for which a trial cannot go ahead. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. ... Precedent is the principle in law of using the past in order to assist in current interpretation and decision-making. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing (evidentiary hearing) is a meeting, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether, and to what extent, criminal charges and civil cause of actions will be heard (by a court), what evidence will be admitted, and what... Prescription has various meanings. ... In United States criminal law, Probable cause refers to the standard by which a police officer may make an arrest or conduct a personal or property search. ... Probation is the suspension of a prison or jail sentence - the criminal who is on probation has been convicted of a crime, but instead of serving prison time, has been found by the Court to be amenable to probation and will be returned to the community for a period in... In jurisprudence, procedural defenses are a form of defense, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as the criminal justice program violated procedural law as it was creating its case, and trial, against said defendant. ... In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct is a procedural defense; via which, a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because the prosecution acted in an inappropriate or unfair manner. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services, such as oral sex or sexual intercourse, for money. ... In jurisprudence, provocation is a possible defense by excuse; via which, a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were provoked by an aggressor. ... In urban planning, the notion of public order refers a city containing relatively empty (and orderly) spaces; which allow for flexibility in redesiging the citys layout; such perceptions played an important role in the establishments of suburbs. ...

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R

Rape -- Resisting unlawful arrest -- Robbery Resisting unlawful arrest is a possible justification for breaking the law. ...

S

Selective prosecution -- Self defense and defense of others -- Sentence -- Sharia -- Shoplifting -- Social control -- Stare decisis -- Star Chamber -- Statutory law -- Suicide -- Summary offence In jurisprudence, selective prosecution is a procedural defense via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as the criminal justice system discriminated against them by choosing to prosecute. ... Self defense and defense of others (sometimes called alter ego defense or defense of a third person) are a pair of legal theories under which otherwise tortious or illegal acts may be justified when committed for the purpose of protecting oneself, or for the purpose of protecting another person. ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... Sharia (Arabic: ; also Sharīah, Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law, also known as Allahs Law. ... Shoplifting is theft of merchandise for sale in a shop, store, or other retail establishment, usually by a would-be patron or customer. ... Social control refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behaviour, in terms of greater sanctions and rewards. ... Stare decisis (pronounced in English as ) is a Latin term (to stand by things decided) used in common law to express the notion that prior court decisions must be recognized as precedents, according to case law. ... The Star Chamber was an English court of law at the royal Palace of Westminster that began sessions in 1487 and ended them in 1641 when the court itself was abolished. ... Statutory law is written law (as opposed to oral or customary law) set down by a legislature or other governing authority such as the executive branch of government in response to a perceived need to clarify the functioning of government, improve civil order, answer a public need, to codify existing... The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, 1787 Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ... In the law of many common law jurisdictions, a summary offence is an offence which can be tried without an indictment. ...

T

Terrorism -- Theft -- Treason -- Trespass -- Trial -- Trial by jury -- Trial de novo The term terrorism is controversial and has many definitions, none of which are universally accepted. ... Theft (also known as stealing) is, in general, the wrongful taking of someone elses property without that persons willful consent. ... In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... A sign warning against trespassing In law, trespass can be: the criminal act of going into somebody elses land or property without permission; it is also a civil law tort that may be a valid cause of action to seek judicial relief and possibly damages through a lawsuit. ... A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard. ... Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ... In law, the expression trial de novo literally means new trial. It is most often used in certain legal systems that provide for one form of trial, then another if a party remains unsatisfied with the decision. ...

U

V

Violence Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate, that cause or intend to cause injury to people or animals. ...

W

War crime -- Warrant -- Writ -- Writ of Habeas Corpus A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... In law, a warrant can mean any authorization. ... In law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a government entity in the name of the sovereign power. ... In common law jurisdictions, habeas corpus, or more precisely habeas corpus ad subjiciendum, is a prerogative writ which requires the addressee to produce in court a person in its custody and justify his or her imprisonment. ...

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