All Important Legal Terms A to Z

There are several words in the legal dictionary which are mostly used in the field of law and justice. These words originate from English, French and Latin languages. Knowing the meaning of these words has become necessary. so if you are anyhow associated with the field of law these legal terms are must to learn..

Therefore, all important legal terms are given below with simplified meanings :

LEGAL TERMS WITH A

• Abatement – abatement refers to a removal or reduction of something such as nuisance, noise abatement etc. 

Ex –

(1) People want an abatement of taxes. 

(2) There is an abatement in the number of bank robberies.

•  Abduction – it is the act or process of illegally taking away a person by using force or coercion (pointing a gun at someone’s head). it has been defined in Section 362 of the IPC.

Movement from one place to another by force,compulsion, inducement by deceitful means.

• Abet – to help or encourage someone to do something wrong or illegal.

Ex – X is an accountant who aided and abetted Y in the fraud.

• Abrogate – to end a law, agreement, or custom formally. 

Ex – due to enforcement of GST, Service tax was abrogated.

• Abscond – it means to leave secretly and quickly. 

An example of abscond would be a prisoner escaping from jail.

• Accomplice – A person who knowingly, voluntarily, or intentionally gives assistance to another in the commission of a crime. 

Ex – In a bank robbery, suppose the driver of the vehicle helps robbers to reach that place.

• Acquiescence – Consent which is expressed or implied from conduct. 

Ex – silence or inactivity.

• Adjourn – A break for morning tea, lunch or for ‘legal argument’. It can also mean the court has decided to set a new date for the matter to be continued.
• Accused – A person charged with committing a crime. Other words for the accused are ‘defendant’ and ‘alleged offender’. 
• Acquittal – When the magistrate, jury or appeal court find that a person is not guilty of the crime.The decision of a court that someone is not guilty.
• Ambiguity – uncertainty in meaning.

Ex – The President’s statement was full of ambiguity.

• Adjudication – the act of judging a case, competition, or argument, or of making a formal decision about something. 

Ex – The court made a decision upon the question whether the debtor is bankrupt.

• Affidavit – A statement that is signed and agreed to in the presence of an authorized witness, such as a justice of the peace. The person who signs the legal document (affidavit) states that the contents are, to the best of their knowledge, true.
• Aggrieved person – a person or group of people that has suffered harm such as injury, financial loss, or damage to property.
• Agnates – relatives whose relationship can be traced wholly through males. One’s father’s brother, or father’s brother’s son are agnates.
• Asylum – an institution for the maintenance and care of the mentally ill, orphans, or other persons requiring specialized assistance or when a person who is afraid of being prosecuted in his home state runs away to another state for protection.
• Alibi – A defense to a criminal charge alleging that the accused was somewhere other than at the scene of the crime at the time it occurred. Such as, if we have an alibi, we can prove that we were somewhere else when a crime was committed.
• Alien – a person who resides within the border of the country but is not subject to that country.
• Alimony – a court ordered allowance that one spouse pays to the other spouse for maintenance and support while they are separated.
• Amnesty – an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole. 

Ex – The court declared a total amnesty (pardon) from all charges.

• Appeal – When a case is taken to a higher court to challenge a decision. An appeal can be filed only by a person who has been party to the case before the subordinate court.
• Approver – an accomplice to a felony/crime, who confesses his or her guilt and gives evidence against their illegal acts.
• Arbitration – the hearing and determining of a dispute or the settling of differences between parties by a person or persons chosen or agreed to by them. It also means negotiation and mediation.

LEGAL TERMS WITH B

• Bail – Bail is when a prisoner is released, but signs an agreement to abide by certain conditions, such as attending court hearings as directed. Other conditions may include not going near or contacting witnesses or others involved in the case. A bail agreement is also known as an ‘undertaking’, and if a defendant fails to abide by the specified conditions, they could be put back in jail.
• Bankrupt – unable to repay their outstanding debts. When an organization is unable to honor its financial obligations or make payment to its creditors, it files for bankruptcy.
• Bicameral – having two branches, chambers, or houses, as a legislative body. India has bicameral legislature : Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Blasphemy – attacking religion or religious tenets. 

Ex – Blasphemy acts always lead to communal riots.

• Bond – something that binds, fastens, confines, or holds together.
• Breach – When someone doesn’t do what a court order has stated, they are in breach of that order.  

For example – they ‘breach’ bail if the accused person does not abide by the relevant conditions mentioned by court.

• Burden of proof – The burden of proof is the task of proving that you are correct.

       Ex – when you have accused someone of a crime.

• Bother of full blood – a brother by birth.

LEGAL TERMS WITH C

• Cabinet – a council advising a president, sovereign, etc., especially the group of ministers or executives responsible for the government of a nation. 
• Capital punishment – the death penalty. 

Ex – the hanging of four persons convicted for the brutal rape and murder in nirbhaya case.

• Caveat – a warning or caution.

Ex – It is a formal notice given to court in advance through which any legal actions cannot be taken against him/her without informing.

• Cheque – a piece of paper printed by a bank that you sign and use to pay for things.
• Client – a person or group that uses the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.
• Code – code is a collection of laws, rules or regulations that are systematically arranged.
• Codicil – an addition to a will, that changes, explains, revokes, or adds provisions. 
• Coercion – the act of coercing which means to use force or intimidation to obtain compliance. 

Ex – A tells B he will hurt him if he doesn’t give him his shop. B gives A his shop because of coercion. 

• Collusion – secret agreement, especially in order to do something dishonest.

Ex- Several high tech firms agree not to hire each other’s employees,     thereby keeping the cost of labor down.

• Conjugal rights – the rights of partners. 

Ex – Right to maintenance.

• Consumer – a person or thing that consumes or enjoys services and products.
• Conviction – When a person accused of committing a crime is found guilty. 
• Copyright – the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.
• Criminal negligence – it refers to conduct in which a person ignores a known or obvious risk, or disregards the life and safety of others. 
• Cruelty – conduct by a person (spouse) that causes grievous bodily harm or mental suffering. It is considered to be one of the following grounds of divorce.
• Culpable – liable or responsible. It also means to be at fault.
• Custody – Custody is the legal right to keep and look after a child, especially the right given to a child’s mother or father when they get divorced.
• Criminal – of or relating to crime or its punishment.

LEGAL TERMS WITH D

• Damage – the estimated money equivalent for detriment or injury sustained. Any type of monetary compensation for loss or injury caused by the wrongful act of another.
• Debenture – a bond or promissory note that is issued publicly by a business company to a creditor (people) in exchange for capital or to take loan from the public. 

Ex – An interest bearing bond issued by a power company to collect capital/money from the public.

• Debtor – a person who is in debt or under financial obligation to another (opposed to creditor).
• Decree – a judicial decision or order.

Ex – The decree may or may not have the force of law behind it such as the government decreed a national holiday.

• Defendant – The defendant is the person accused of breaking the law. They may also be known as ‘the accused’ or ‘alleged offender’.
• Deponent – someone who states in writing or by speaking as a witness in a court of law that something is true. 
• Deportation – the lawful expulsion of an alien or other person from a country. It also means banishment or transportation.
• Depose – to give evidence on oath in the Court of law.
• Dishonor of bill – When the acceptor of the bill is unable to pay the amount of the bill on the date of maturity, it is called Dishonor of the bill. It can be either non payment or non acceptance and is equivalent to a bounced cheque.
• Dividend – A dividend is a type of distribution of (profits) made by a company to its members.

It is under the Companies Act 2013. The Act defines dividend in terms of interim dividends.

• Dominium – complete power to use, to enjoy, and to dispose of property at will. Basically it is the traditional definition of Freedom.
• Doom – a judgment, decision, or sentence, especially an unfavorable one. 

It is also related to ,convicted, destroyed and abandoned.

• Dower – the portion of a deceased husband’s real property allowed to his widow for her lifetime.
• Duress – act done under threat or fear. (दबाव)
• Dying declaration – A Dying Declaration is a statement made by a declarant as to the cause of his death or who died explaining the cause of his death. 

 It has been defined under Section 32(1) of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and also relates to the maxim “ Nemo moriturus praesumitur mentire”.

• Discharge – it is an act or instrument by which a contract or agreement is ended.
• Disfranchise – to deprive (a person) of a right of citizenship, as of the right to vote or to deprive of a franchise, privilege or right.

LEGAL TERMS WITH E

• Easement – a right to cross or otherwise use someone else’s land for a specified purpose. only possession of the land is transferred not the ownership. 

This concept has been defined under Section 4 of the Indian Easements Act 1882.

• Ejectment – a civil action to recover the possession of or title of land against a defaulting tenant or a trespasser. It can  also be termed as throwing out or to put out or caste away a person from property.

• Embezzlement – an act of fraudulently obtaining another’s property by some kind of false pretense. This term has been derived from Anglo Norman French which means ‘to steal’.
• Emoluments – a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.
• Enactment – the process of passing legislation.
• Encroacher – someone who enters by force in order to conquer/ trespasser. It can also be termed as invader, outsider, intruder etc.
• Endowment – a voluntary transfer generally as a gift of money or property to an institution for a particular purpose. 

Eg – kinds of scholarships which are made available for the education of students, donation given by someone etc.

• Escape – break free from confinement or control.
• Escheat – when an individual dies intestate(without making will) and does not leave behind an heir who is qualified to succeed to the property, the property devolves on the Government because government/state is the lord paramount of the whole soil of the country.

• Eviction – the act of forcing someone to leave; expulsion.
• Exchequer – a royal or national treasury. A government department that collects and manages revenue. It is also known as treasury.

LEGAL TERMS WITH F

• Firm – A company or other business concern which provides legal services to its clients.
• Forfeiture – Forfeiture is the loss of any property without compensation as a result of defaulting on contractual obligations, or as a penalty for illegal conduct. 
• Forgery – the crime of falsely making or altering a writing by which the legal rights or obligations of another person are apparently affected.

such as making a sign of another person’s name, producing duplicate notes.

• Franchise – the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory.

LEGAL TERMS WITH G

• Genocide – the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
• Gratuities – Gratuity is the amount of money earned by an employee as a means of appreciation for his service to the company, reward etc.
• Guarantee – a promise or assurance, especially one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit etc. or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time.
• Guilty – having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law.

LEGAL TERMS WITH H

• Habeas corpus – a writ under which a person who has been arrested is brought before the court; literally means” You may have the body.”
• Half blood – the relation between persons having only one common parent. Two persons are said to be related to each other by half blood when they are descended from a common ancestor but by different wives.
• Heir – a person who inherits all the property of a deceased person, as by descent, relationship, will, or legal process.
• Heir apparent – a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person.
• High treason – the crime of making war against the government of your country or attempting to help an enemy take control of your country.
• Homicide – a person who kills another, murderer.
• Honorarium – An honorarium is a voluntary payment that is a matter of honor given to a person for services for which fees are not legally or traditionally required.  

For example – when a guest makes a speech at a conference, he might receive an honorarium to cover travel expenses.

LEGAL TERMS WITH I

• Identification parade – a group of persons including one suspected of having committed a crime assembled for the purpose of discovering whether a witness can identify the suspect. It must include at least 5 other persons including the suspect or accused person.
• Illegitimate child – born of parents not lawfully married to each other.
• Inalienable – Not subject to sale or transfer i.e, inseparable. That which is inalienable cannot be bought, sold, or transferred from one individual to another. The inalienable rights can be transferred with the consent of the person possessing those rights such as right to own property etc.
• Indemnity – security or protection against a financial liability. It typically occurs in the form of a contractual agreement made between parties in which one party agrees to pay for losses or damages suffered by the other party.
• Infant – Infants (0-1 year of age).
• Infringement – a violation, a breach of one’s legal rights or an unauthorized act.

such as an encroachment on a right, a person, a territory, or a property. It may be related to copyright, patents, trademarks etc.

• Injunction – an official order given by a law court, usually to stop someone from doing something. It is a preventive remedy which may be prohibitory or mandatory.
• Innuendo – “an indirect hint” and can be used in defamation lawsuits (libel or slander) to establish that the complainant/plaintiff is the person about whom defamatory statements have been made in a blind item.
• Interlocutory – pertaining to an intermediate decision (an interlocutory order may require one spouse to pay the other spouse a designated weekly sum for support, in pending decision on Alimony and child support).
• Interrogation – In criminal law, the process of questions propounded by police to a person arrested or suspected to seek a solution to crime.
• Intimidation – the act of inducing fear or awe (भय) : Physical violence or threats, Yelling or screaming, hostile physical posturing.
• Intoxication – A state in which a person’s normal capacity to act or reason is inhibited by alcohol or drugs.
• Insanity – such unsoundness of mind frees one from legal responsibility, as for committing a crime, or as signals one’s lack of legal capacity, as for entering into a contractual agreement.

LEGAL TERMS WITH J

• Jeopardy – The risk of conviction and punishment.
• Judgment debtor – A person or company that is ordered by a court of law to pay money to another person or company.
• Judicial Separation – It is a process wherein the Court provides a final turn to a couple seeking divorce, to try resolving their differences by living separately, before the initiation of divorce proceedings.
• Judiciary – The system of courts of justice in a country. 
• Juvenile courts – A juvenile court is a court which deals with crimes committed by young people who are not yet old enough to be considered as adults (below 18 years of age).

LEGAL TERMS WITH K

• Kidnapping – Taking away a person against his/her will by force, threat or deceit.
• Kill – To deprive of life in any manner. A charge of “killing” a human being signifies a voluntary and unlawful killing. 

LEGAL TERMS WITH L

• Laches – A party is said to be guilty of laches when they come to the Court to assert their rights after a considerable delay in that respect. The reasons for delay if valid and reasonable are generally accepted because the Court doesn’t dismiss petitions only due to delay but only if it is accompanied by other reasons.
• Lapse – The termination of an offer as a result of the passage of time, death, or the nonfulfillment of a condition. 
• Law – The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.
• Lawful – some act which is justified by law and opposite to unlawful or illegal.
• Lawyer – A person whose profession is to advise clients in legal matters.
• Lease – A contract by which one party conveys land, property, services, etc. to another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment. 
• Legislation – the act of making or enacting laws. The enactments of a legislator or a legislative body.
• Legitimacy – Conformity to the law or to rules.
• Libel – A published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation such as a written defamation.
• Liberty – A right or privilege, especially a statutory one. Enjoyment of  rights which belong to us as individuals.
• Lunatic – An insane person.

LEGAL TERMS WITH M

• Marriage – The legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship. It is a civil and religious contract whereby a man is joined and united to a woman, for the purposes of a civilized society.
• Mens rea – A guilty mind. when a person is aware of the fact that his or her conduct is criminal.
• Mischief – an act which is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to any individual or property, cause destruction or diminish its value or utility.
• Misfeasance – The act of engaging in an action or duty but failing to perform the duty correctly (the wrongful performance of a normally lawful act i.e, the wrongful and injurious exercise of lawful                   authority).
• Money Bill – A money bill is generally concerned with the issues related to taxes, borrowing and expenditure of money, audits and accounting, consolidated and contingency funds etc.
• Moratorium – A legal authorization to debtors to postpone payment for a certain time. 
• Murder – When one person is killed by another person or a group of persons who have a pre-determined intention to end life of the former.

LEGAL TERMS WITH N

• Nationalization – The process in which a country or a state takes control of a specific company or industry. It is limited to property actually taken over by the state.
• Negligence – failure to give enough care or attention to someone or something that you are responsible for.
• Nexus – A means of connection i.e, tie/link.
• Notary – A notary is a publicly commissioned official who serves as an impartial witness to the signing of a legal document. 
• Nuisance – Something offensive or annoying to individuals or to the community, especially in violation of  their legal rights. 
• Null and void – It refers to something that binds no one or is incapable of giving rise to any rights or duties under any circumstances.

LEGAL TERMS WITH O

• Oath – When someone takes the oath, they make a formal promise to tell the truth. You can say that someone is on oath or under oath when they have made this promise.
• Offence – A breach of a law or rule. It is an illegal act. It is another name for crime.
• Offer – An offer is a specific proposal to enter into an agreement with another. A proposal to give or to do something.
• Ombudsman – A government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.
• Opinion – An evaluation or judgment given by an expert.

LEGAL TERMS WITH P

• Parole – Parole is the release of a prisoner, either temporarily for a special purpose or completely before the expiry of a sentence, on the promise of good behaviour. Such a promise is known as a word of honour provided in the parole order.
• Pedigree – A table or chart recording a line of ancestors, either of persons or (more especially) of animals. A history of family succession.
• Penalty – A punishment imposed or incurred for a violation of law or rule.
• Perjury – Perjury is knowingly telling a lie or breaking an oath. 

An example of perjury is a witness telling a lie while giving testimony in court.

• Petition – A written request made in the form of an appeal, generally before a court. 
• Plaintiff – A person who brings suit in a court (opposed to the defendant).
• Pleadings – Pleading is the beginning stage of a lawsuit in which parties formally submit their claims and defenses.
• Pledge – A thing that is given as security for the fulfillment of a contract or the payment of a debt and is liable to forfeiture in the event of failure. 

Ex – A borrowed 100 rupee from B and kept his bicycle to him as a pledge that when he will return the borrowing money he will take back his bicycle from B.

• Postmortem – of or relating to examination of the body after death.
• Power of attorney – The authority to act for another person in specified or all legal or financial matters.
• Preamble – The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification.
• Precedent – When judges try cases they must check to see if similar cases have been tried by a court previously. If there was a precedent set by an equal or superior court, then a judge should obey that precedent.
• Protocol – The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions.
• Public Policy – Public policy is whatever a government chooses to do or even not to do.
• Promise – A firm agreement to perform an act, refrain from performance of any act, or make a payment or delivery.
• Proof – Evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to produce belief in its truth.
• Prosecution – The prosecution refers to the lawyers in a trial who try to prove that a person accused of committing a crime is guilty of that crime, (the institution and conducting of legal proceedings against someone in respect of a criminal charge).
• Percept – An order issued by legally constituted authority to a subordinate official.
• Prejudice – Refers to a preconceived judgment, opinion or attitude directed toward certain people based on their membership in a particular group. It is a set of attitudes, which supports, causes, or justifies discrimination.
• Prima facie – Based on the first impression which is accepted as correct until proved otherwise.
• Prison – A building for the confinement of persons held while awaiting trial, persons sentenced after conviction etc.
• Probation – Probation is a period of time during which a person who has committed a crime has to obey the law and be supervised by a probation officer, rather than being sent to prison.
• Profession – A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.

LEGAL TERMS WITH Q

• Quasi – Apparently but not really, seemingly.
• Quasi-Judicial – A proceeding conducted by an administrative or executive official that is similar to a court proceeding. And a court may review a decision arising from a quasi-judicial proceeding.

LEGAL TERMS WITH R

• Rape – it is the ravishment of a woman without her consent by force,fear or fraud or carnal knowlegde of a woman by force against her will.
• Rebellion – open, organized, and armed resistance to one’s government or ruler.
• Reconciliation – The restoration of friendly relations. Renewal of friendly relations between two persons, have been in conflict.
• Rectification – The correctness of an error or removal of defects  or imperfections. It implies prior existence of error, mistake or defect, which after rectification is made right and corrected by removal with the flaws.

• Redemption – Redemption is the act of taking back the property after paying back the amount which was due to the creditor. In a transaction of a mortgage, the mortgagor has the right to redeem his property after paying off the debt amount.
• Repeal – If the government repeals a law, it officially ends it, so that it is no longer valid; Abrogation of any law.
• Repudiation – to decide that an agreement is no longer effective and that you will not do what it says you must do.
• Respondent – a defendant, especially in appellate and divorce proceedings.
• Regent – A ruler, a governor. The term is usually applied to one who governs a regency, or rules in the place of another.
• Reinstatement – to restore to a previous effective state (Restitution).
• Remand – to send back (a case) to a lower court from which it was appealed, with instructions as to what further proceedings should be carried on.

LEGAL TERMS WITH S

• Sanction – a provision of a law enacting a penalty for disobedience or a reward for obedience (The penalty or reward). 
• Search Warrant – a legal document authorizing a police officer or other official to enter and search premises.
• Sedition – encouragement of envy or rebellion against a government. Any attempts made by meetings or speeches or by publications to disturb the tranquility of the State.
• Seizure – taking possession of an item, property, or person legally or by force. The action or act of seizing.
• Servitudes – a right possessed by one person to use another’s property. 
• Shoplifting – the illegal act of taking goods from a shop without paying for them. Stealing goods from a shop.
• Succession – the right, act, or process, by which one person succeeds to the office, rank, estate, or the like, of another.
• Sue – to institute a suit i.e bring a civil action against.
• Surrogate – (a person or thing) that takes the place of somebody/something else. 

For eg – A deputy of an ecclessiastical judge.

• Single Women – single means that a person is legally separated, or the person has never been married.
• Slander – defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing, pictures, etc.
• Solitary Imprisonment – Solitary confinement can be defined as confinement of a prisoner which secludes him from the sight and communication of other prisoners. It is a form of punishment wherein a prisoner is isolated from any form of human conduct.
• Solus Agreement – a contract under which a party is bound to buy his supplies from a single source.
• Solvent – One who has sufficient to pay his debts, and all obligations. 
• Stakeholder – a person holding money or property (court can become a stakeholder during trial) to which two or more persons make rival claims.
• Stateless – lacking nationality.
• Statement of claim – a document sent to a court of law saying why a person is bringing legal action against someone and what they want from them.
• Suffrage – the right to vote, especially in a political election.
• Statement of defence – it is a defendant’s written answer or reply to a statement of claim, admitting or denying each and every fact contained in the statement of claim at trial in opposition to the plaintiff’s case.
• Stay of execution – a delay in carrying out a court order. Such as “The prisoner was granted a stay of execution by the Supreme Court.” 
• Stipulation – a condition, demand, or promise in an agreement or contract.
• Street offence – refers to crimes such as vandalism, car theft and mugging that are usually committed outdoors.
• Sub-lease – a lease of a property by a tenant to a subtenant, a sublet.
• Sub-letting – to rent to somebody else all or part of a property that you rent from the owner (किराए पर लिए हुए स्थान को किराए पर देना)

LEGAL TERMS WITH T

• Testimony – the statement or declaration of a witness under oath or affirmation, usually in court. Hence, any form of evidence or proof.
• Tort – a wrongful act that results in injury to another’s person, property, reputation and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation.
• Tortfeasor – a person who commits a tort. A Wrongdoer, trespasser.
• Treason – Attempt to overthrow the government of the State which one owes allegiance by restoring to war against it or by helping the enemies. 

LEGAL TERMS WITH U

• Unlawful – contrary to law laid down in the statute, an act i.e. illegal, against rule, irregular.
• Unlawful at Large – arises when someone who is in lawful custody escapes or attempts to escape, or when individuals don’t comply with the conditions of their parole.

LEGAL TERMS WITH V

• Vendee – the person to whom a thing is sold. One who purchases anything/property.
• Vendor – one who sells anything.The term is most often used to refer to a transaction involving real property.
• Versus – against
• Veto – the power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc., of another branch, especially the right of a president, governor, or other chief executive to reject bills passed by the legislature.
• Vocation – a strong impulse or inclination to follow a particular activity or career. 
• Void – having no legal force or effect, not legally binding or enforceable. 
• Voidable – capable of being nullified or invalidated. 
• Voucher – a piece of paper that gives evidence of payment which can be a receipt, acquaintance or release, which may serve as evidence of payment or discharge of debt.
• Venue – the place of a crime or cause of action/Place of a trial of a lawsuit.
• Verdict – The jury’s decision about whether someone is guilty or not guilty of the charge. such as a finding, conclusion or judgement upon some matter or subject.

LEGAL TERMS WITH W

• Whip – to beat with a strap, lash, rod.
• Writ – a formal order under seal, issued in the name of a sovereign, government, court, or other competent authority. It is issued to direct others such as lower courts, individuals, agencies etc., to perform specific actions. 

LEGAL TERMS WITH Y

• Youth Offender – any boy who has been convicted of any offence punishable with imprisonment and who, at the time of such conviction, was under the age of fifteen years.

LEGAL TERMS WITH Z

• Zap – In critical legal studies, a so-called spontaneous moment of shared intuition.
• Zealous witness – A witness who displays undue favoritism towards one party in a case.
• Zero hour – the time when an important action, attack, operation, etc. is planned to begin.

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