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International Criminal Police Organization An international law-enforcement group founded in 1923 and headquartered in Lyons, France. The organization gathers and shares information on transnational criminals for more than 180 member nations. Also termed Interpol. "Interpol is something of a legal curiosity: it engages in intergovernmental activities and yet is not based on any treaty, convention, or other similar instrument. Its founding document is a constitution, drawn up by a group of police officers, that has neither been submitted for diplomatic signatures nor ratified by governments. Nevertheless, the organization received de facto recognition from the outset.... Interpol was formally granted the status of an intergovernmental agency by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 1971, and this is regarded as a form of de jure legitimization." Michael Fooner, "Interpol," in 3 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 910, 910 (Sanford H. Kadish ed., 1983).

international economic law International law relating to investment, economic relations, economic development, economic institutions, and regional economic integration.

international enclave See ENCLAVE.

international extradition See EXTRADITION.

international extradition Extradition in response to a demand made by the executive of one nation on the executive of another nation. This procedure is generally regulated by treaties.

international filing date See PCT FILING DATE.

international fund See MUTUAL FUND.

international jurisdiction See JURISDICTION.

international jurisdiction A court"s power to hear and determine matters between different countries or persons of different countries.

international law The legal system governing the relationships between nations; more modernly, the law of international relations, embracing not only nations but also such participants as international organizations and individuals (such as those who invoke their human rights or commit war crimes). Also termed public international law; law of nations; law of nature and nations; jus gentium; jus gentium publicum; jus inter gentes;foreign-relations law; interstate law; law between states (the word state, in the latter two phrases, being equivalent to nation or country). Cf TRANSNATIONAL LAW. "[I]nternationallaw or the law of nations must be defined as law applicable to states in their mutual relations and to individuals in their relations with states. International law may also, under this hypothesis, be applicable to certain interrelationships of individuals themselves, where such interrelationships involve matters of international concern." Philip C. Jessup, A Modern Law of Nations 17 (1949).

International Law Commission A body created in 1947 by the United Nations for the purpose of encouraging the progressive development and codification of international law. The Commission is composed of experts in international law. It has drafted many important treaties that have become binding treaty law, including the Vienna Convention on the Law on Treaties.

international legal community 1. The collective body of countries whose mutuallega relations are based on sovereign equality. 2. More broadly, all organized entities haVing the capacity to take part in international legal relations. 3. An integrated organization on which a group of countries, by international treaty, confer part of their powers for amalgamated enterprise. In this sense, the European Union is a prime example.

international legislation 1. Law-making among countries or intergovernmental organizations, displaying structural and procedural characteristics that are the same as national legislation. 2. The product of any concerted effort to change international law by statute. 3. The process of trying to change international law by statute. 4. Loosely, the adoption by international bodies of binding decisions, other than judicial and arbitral decisions, concerning specific situations or disputes.

International Monetary Fund A U.N. specialized agency established to stabilize international exchange rates and promote balanced trade. - Abbr. IMF.

international offense See INTERNATIONAL CRIME.

international offense See INTERNATIONAL CRIME.

international organization 1. An intergovernmental association of countries, established by and operated according to multilateral treaty, whose purpose is to pursue the common aims of those countries. Examples include the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. 2. Loosely, an intergovernmental or nongovernmental international association.

International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993 A federal statute that implemented the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 18 USCA § 1204. See HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION.

international person An entity having a legal personality in international law; one who, being a subject of international law, enjoys rights, duties, and powers established in international law and has the ability to act on the international plane.

international person See INTERNATIONAL PERSON.

international private law 1. See private international law under INTERNATIONAL LAW. 2. See CONFLICT OF LAWS (2).

international regime A set of norms of behavior and rules and policies that cover international issues and that facilitate substantive or procedural arrangements among countries.

international regime See REGIME.

International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea See INTERNATIONAL RULES OF THE ROAD.

international relations 1. World politics. 2. Global political interaction, primarily among sovereign nations. 3. The academic discipline devoted to studying world politics, embracing international law, international economics, and the history and art of diplomacy.

international river A river that flows through or between two or more countries.

international river See RIVER.

International Rules of the Road Maritime law. A set of statutes deSigned to promote navigational safety. The International Rules were formalized at the convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972. The rules set requirements for navigation lights, day shapes, steering and sailing rules, sound signals in good and restricted visibility condition, and distress Signals, among other things. Congress adopted the rules and enacted them in statutory form. 33 USCA § 1602. - Also termed 72 COLREGS; International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972.

International Schedule of Classes of Goods and Services Trademarks. A nearly worldwide classification system that enhances organization and retrieval of registered marks within a category of goods or services. - Abbr. ISCGS.

international seabed The seabed and ocean floor, as well as the subsoil, lying beyond the territorial limits of nations. Also termed international seabed area.

international terrorism See TERRORISM.

International Trade Administration A unit in the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for promoting world trade and strengthening the international trade and investment position of the United States. Created in 1980, the agency operates through three offices: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Import Services, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Trade Development. - Abbr. ITA.

International Trade Commission See UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION.

International trade court See UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

International Trade Court See UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

international union See UNION.

international will See WILL.

internationalization The act or process of bringing a territory of one country under the protection or control of another or of several countries. "[T]he concept of internationalization is characterized by three elements: the abolition or limitation of the sovereignty of a specific State; the serving of community interests or at least the interests of a group of States; and the establishment of an international institutional framework, not necessarily involving an international organization. Rudiger Wolfrum Internationalization, in 2 Encyclopedia of Public International Law 1395 (1995).

internecine (in-tar-nee-sin or in-tar-nee-sin or in-tar-nes-een), adj. 1. Deadly; characterized by mass slaughter. 2. Mutually deadly; destructive of both parties <an internecine civil war>. 3. Loosely, of or relating to conflict within a group <internecine faculty politics>.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers A nonprofit corporation established in 1998 to assign and manage the system of Internet domain names and to allocate Internet-protocol (IP) address space. Abbr. ICANN.

Internet patent A type of utility patent granted on an invention that combines business methods and software programs for Internet applications. Also termed cyberpatent.

Internet patent See PATENT (3).

Internet payment See CYBERPAYMENT.

Internet payment service An enterprise that offers electronic transfers of money.

Internet scrip 1. Value that may be exchanged over the Internet but may not be exchanged for money. Internet scrip is analogous to coupons or bonus points that can be exchanged by a consumer for goods or services but that have no cash value. 2. See e-money under MONEY. Also termed online scrip.

Internet scrip See SCRIP.

Internet service provider A business or other organization that offers Internet access, typically for a fee. -Abbr. ISP.

Internet-protocol address The 10-digit identification tag used by computers to locate specific websites.

internment (in-tarn-mant), n. The government-ordered detention of people suspected of disloyalty to the government, such as the confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II. - intern, vb.

internuncio (in-tar-nan-shee-oh), n. [fr. Latin irtternuntius] 1. A messenger between two parties. 2. A broker who serves as agent of both parties to a transaction. Also termed internuncius. 3. A papal representative at a foreign court, ranking below a nuncio. Cf. NUNCIO (1); LEGATE (3). - internuncial, adj.

interpel See INTERPELLATE.

interpellate (in-tar-pel-ayt), vb. 1. (Of a judge) to interrupt, with a question, a lawyers argument. 2. (Of a legislator) to interrupt a legislatures calendar by bringing into question a ministerial policy, esp. in the legislature of France, Italy, or Germany. Also termed (in Scots law) interpel (in-tar-pel). - interpellation, n.

interpellatio (in-tar-pa-lay-shee-oh). [Latin "a demand, interruption"] Roman law. 1. A demand for payment of a debt or for desistance from a course of action. 2. The interruption of a process, e.g., of the acquisition of title by possession. 3. The institution of a legal process or appeal. PI. interpellationes (in-tar-pa-lay-shee-oh-neez).

interplea A pleading by which a stakeholder places the disputed property into the courts registry; the plea made by an interpleader. See INTERPLEADER.

interplead 1. (Of a claimant) to assert ones own claim regarding property or an issue already before the court. 2. (Of a stakeholder) to institute an interpleader action, usu. by depositing disputed property into the courts registry to abide the courts decision about who is entitled to the property. Cf. IMPLEAD.

interpleader 1. A suit to determine a right to property held by a usu. disinterested third party (called a stakeholder) who is in doubt about ownership and who therefore deposits the property with the court to permit interested parties to litigate ownership. Typically, a stakeholder initiates an interpleader both to determine who should receive the property and to avoid multiple liability. Fed. R. Civ. P. 22. See STAKEHOLDER (1). Cf. IMPLEADER; INTERVENTION (1). 2. Loosely, a party who interpleads. Also termed (in civil law) concursus. "Interpleader is a form of joinder open to one who does not know to which of several claimants he or she is liable, if liable at all. It permits him or her to bring the claimants into a single action, and to require them to litigate among themselves to determine which, if any, has a valid claim. Although the earliest records of a procedure similar to interpleader were at common law, it soon became an equitable rather than a legal procedure." Charles Alan Wright, The Law of Federal Courts § 74, at 531 (5th ed. 1994).

Interpol (in-tar-pohl). See INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION.

interpolation (in-tar-pa-lay-shan). 1. The act of inserting words into a document to change or clarify the meaning. In a negative sense, interpolation can refer to putting extraneous or false words into a document to change its meaning. Cf. INTERLINEATION. 2. (often pl.) Roman law. An editorial change made by one of the compilers of the Digests and the Justinian Code. The compilers made insertions, deletions, and juxtapositions in the texts, but made few real changes to the substantive law. interpolate, vb. interpolative, adj. interpolator, n.

interposition 1. The act of submitting something (such as a pleading or motion) as a defense to an opponents claim. 2. Archaic. The action ofa state, while exercising its sovereignty, in rejecting a federal mandate that it believes is unconstitutional or overreaching. The Supreme Court has declared that interposition is an illegal defiance of constitutional authority. interpose, vb.

interpretatio (in-tar-pri-tay-shee-oh), n. [Latin] Roman law. An opinion of a Roman jurist (an interpreter of the law, not an advocate) who did not usu. appear in court. Such an opinion was not originally binding, but by the Law of Citations (A.D. 426), the opinions of five jurists acquired binding force. See CITATIONS, LAW OF. PI. interpretationes (in-tar-pri-tay-shee-oh-neez).

interpretatio limitata See restrictive interpretation under INTERPRETATION.

interpretatio viperina (in-tar-pri-tay-shee-oh vi-pa-ri-na). [Law Latin "a vipers interpretation"]. A disapproved method of construction, by which ambiguous documents are interpreted in a way that destroys their effectiveness.

interpretation 1. The process of determining what something, esp. the law or a legal document, means; the ascertainment of meaning to be given to words or other manifestations of intention. "Interpretation, as applied to written law, is the art or process of discovering and expounding the intended signification ofthe language used, that is, the meaning which the authors of the law designed it to convey to others." Henry Campbell Black, Handbook on the Construction and Interpretation of the Laws 1 (1896). "There is more to interpretation in general than the discovery of the meaning attached by the author to his words. Even if, in a particular case, that meaning is discoverable with a high degree of certitude from external sources, the question whether it has been adequately expressed remains." Rupert Cross, Statutory Interpretation 149 (1976).

interpretation clause A legislative or contractual provision giving the meaning offrequently used words or explaining how the document as a whole is to be construed.

interpretative rule Administrative law. 1. The requirement that an administrative agency explain the statutes under which it operates. 2. An administrative rule explaining an agencys interpretation of a statute. Also termed interpretive rule. Cf. LEGISLATIVE RULE.

interpreted testimony See TESTIMONY.

interpreter A person who translates, esp. orally, from one language to another; esp., a person who is sworn at a trial to accurately translate the testimony of a witness who is deaf or who speaks a foreign language.

interpretive rule See INTERPRETATIVE RULE.

interpretivism A doctrine of constitutional interpretation holding that judges must follow norms or values expressly stated or implied in the language of the Constitution. Cf. NONINTERPRETIVISM; ORIGINALISM. "A long-standing dispute in constitutional theory has gone under different names at different times, but todays terminology seems as helpful as any. Today we are likely to call the contending sides interpretivism and noninterpretivism the former indicating that judges deciding constitutional issues should confine themselves to enforcing norms that are stated or clearly impliCit in the written Constitution, the latter the contrary view that courts should go beyond that set of references and enforce norms that cannot be discovered within the four corners of the instrument." John Hart Ely, Democracy and Distrust 1 (1980).

interracial adoption See transracial adoption under ADOPTION.

interracial adoption See transracial adoption.

interracial marriage See MISCEGENATION.

interregnum (in-ta-reg-nam). 1. An interval between reigns; the time when a throne is vacant between the reign of a sovereign and the accession of a successor. 2. Archaic. Authority exercised during a temporary vacancy of the throne or a suspension of the regular government. 3. A break or pause in a continuous event.

interrnption A break in the period of possession of land, possibly ending a claim to ownership by prescriptive right.

interrogatee (in-ter-a-ga-tee). A person who is interrogated. - Also termed interrogee (in-ter-a-gee).

interrogation The formal or systematic questioning of a person; esp., intensive questioning by the police, usu. of a person arrested for or suspected of committing a crime. The Supreme Court has held that, for purposes of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, interrogation includes 110t only express questioning but also words or actions that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response. Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1082 (1980). interrogate, vb. - interrogative, adj.

interrogative question In a criminal trial, a question asked of a witness to elicit inadmissible evidence relating to the crime at issue in the case. Cf. ASSERTIVE QUESTION.

interrogator (in-ter-a-gay-tar). One who poses questions to another.

interrogatory (in-ta-rog-a-tor-ee). A written question (usu. in a set of questions) submitted to an opposing party in a lawsuit as part of discovery. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 33.

interrogee See INTERROGATEE.

interruptio (in-tar-rap-shee-oh). [Latin] Interruption. This word refers to a break in the possession of land that ends a prescriptive claim.

intersection A place where two roads meet or form a junction.

interspollsal adj. (1906) Between husband and wife.

interspousal immunity See husband-wife immunity

interspousal immunity See husband-wife immunity under IMMUNITY (2).

interspousal tort immunity See husband-wife immunity under IMMUNITY (2).

interstate adj. Between two or more states or residents of different states.

interstate adoption An adoption in which the prospective parents live in one state and the child lives in another state. See INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN.

interstate adoption See ADOPTION.

interstate agreement An agreement between states. Cf. interstate compact under COMPACT.

Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act A law, originally enacted in 1956, that allows the federal government, certain states, and the District of Columbia to temporarily obtain custody of a prisoner for trial even though the prisoner is already incarcerated elsewhere. Under the Act, if a prisoner makes a written request for a disposition of the untried charges in the second forum, the government obtaining custody must try the prisoner within 180 days of the request. 18 USCA App. arts. 1-9. See UNIFORM MANDATORY DISPOSITION OF DETAINERS ACT.

interstate commerce See COMMERCE.

interstate commerce Trade and other business activities between those located in different states; esp., traffic in goods and travel of people between states. For purposes of this phrase, most statutory definitions include a territory of the United States as a state. Some statutory definitions of interstate commerce include commerce between a foreign country and a state. Also termed interstate trade.

Interstate Commerce Commission The now-defunct federal agency established by the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 to regulate surface transportation between states by certifying carriers and pipelines and by monitoring quality and pricing. In December 1995, when Congress eliminated this agency, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) a three-member board that is a division of the Department of Transportation assumed most of the agencys duties. Abbr. ICC. See SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD.

interstate compact See COMPACT.

interstate compact A voluntary agreement between states enacted into law in the participating states upon federal congressional approval. Cf. I)lTERSTATE AGREEMENT.

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children An agreement whose purpose is to ensure that when states are involved in the placement or adoption of children across state lines, the states cooperate with each other to facilitate the process and to protect the children. This compact is intended to secure states cooperation in investigating the suitability of proposed adoptive homes in an interstate adoption and also to alleviate contlicts that often occur when the agencies and courts of more than one state are involved. The compact has been enacted in almost identical form in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Abbr. ICPC. Often shortened to Interstate Compact.

interstate extradition See EXTRADITION.

interstate extradition Extradition in response to a demand made by the governor of one state on the governor of another state. This procedure is provided for by the U.S. Constitution, by federal statute, and bv state statutes.

interstate income-withholding order A court order entered to enforce a support order of a court of another state by withholding income of the defaulting person.