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payor bank See BANK.

payor bank A bank that is asked to pay the amount of a negotiable instrument and, on the bank's acceptance, is obliged to pay that amount; a bank by which an item is payable as drawn or accepted . Because the bank is the drawee of a draft, it is also termed a drawee bank. UCC § 4-105(3).

pay-or-play contract See CONTRACT.

pay-or-play contract A contract in which one party agrees to perform and the other agrees to pay for the promised performance even if performance is never demanded.o Pay-or-play contracts are usu. made in the entertainment industry.

payout period The time required for an asset to produce enough revenue to pay back the initial investment; esp., in oil-and-gas law, the time required for a well to produce a sufficient amount of oil or gas to pay back the investment in the well.

payout ratio The ratio between a corporation s dividends per share and its earnings per share. Cf. COMMON-STOCK RATIO.

payroll 1. A list of employees to be paid and the amount due to each of them. 2. The total compensation payable to a company s employees for one pay period.

payroll tax See TAX.

payroll tax 1. A tax payable by an employer based on its payroll (such as a Social-security tax or an unemployment tax). 2. A tax collected by an employer from its employees gross pay (such as an income tax or a social-security tax). See withholding tax.

pays (payor pays), n. [Law French] The country; a jury. See PATRIA.

pay-when-paid clause In a construction contract, a provision requiring a general contractor to pay a subcontractor within a specified period of time after the property owner pays the general contractor. A minority of courts have held that the subcontractor bears the risk of nonpayment if the owner becomes insolvent. But because the general contractor normally bears the risk of nonpayment, most courts hold that a subcontractor is entitled to payment for work done despite the owner's insolvency. Cf. pay-if-paid clause.

pay-when-paid clause See CLAUSE.

PBGC abbr. PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION.

PBS abbr. 1. PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE. 2. Public Broadcasting Service.

PCA abbr. POSSE COMITATLS ACT.

PCR action See POSTCONVICTION-RELIEF PROCEEDING.

PCT abbr. PATENT COOPERATION TREATY.

PCT application See international application under PATENT APPLICATION.

PCT filing See international application under PATENT APPLICATION.

PCT filing date The date of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

PDA See PREGANCY-DISCRIMINATION ACT.

peace 1. A state of public tranquility; freedom from civil disturbance or hostility <breach of the peace>. 2. The termination or absence of armed conflict between nations. See peace treaty under TREATY. peaceable, adj. peaceful, adj.

peace bond A bond required by a court from a person who has breached or threatened to breach the peace. Also termed bond to keep the peace. See BREACH OF THE PEACE.

peace bond See BOND (2).

Peace Corps An independent federal agency that promotes peace and friendship in the world by sending volunteers to other countries to work in education, agriculture, health, small-business development, urban development, the environment, and information technology. The agency was established by the Peace Corps Act of 1961 and became independent in 1988.

Peace of God and the church The cessation of litigalion between terms and on Sundays and holidays. peacetime. A period in which a country has declared neither a war nor a national emergency, even if the country is involved in a conflict or quasi-conflict.

peace officer See PEACE OFFICER.

peace officer A civil officer (such as a sheriff or police officer) appointed to maintain public tranquility and order; esp., a person designated by public authority to keep the peace and arrest persons guilty or suspected of crime. This term may also include a judge who hears criminal cases or another public official (such as a mayor) who may be statutorily designated as a peace officer for limited purposes. Also termed officer of the peace; conservator of the peace.

peace treaty See TREATY (1).

peace warrant See WARRANT (1).

peace, justice of the See JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.

peaceable possession Possession (as of real property) not disturbed by another s hostile or legal attempts to recover possession; esp., wrongful possession that the rightful possessor has appeared to tolerate. Cf. scrambling possession (1); ADVERSE POSSESSIOK.

peaceable possession See POSSESSION.

peacemaker s court See COURT.

peacemaker's court Native American law. A tribal court that adjudicates, arbitrates, or mediates some disputes, usu. according to traditional and statutory tribal law.

peak demand The point (during some specified period) at which customer use results in the highest level of demand for a utility.

peccavi (pe-kay-vi or pe-kah-vee), n. [Latin "I, have sinned"] An acknowledgment or confession of guilt.

peculation (pek-ya-lay-shan), Embezzlement, esp. by a public officiaL Cf. DEPECULATION. peculate (pek-ya-layt), vb. peculative (pek-ya-la-tiv), adj. peculator (pek-ya-lay-tar), n.

peculatus (pek-ya-Iay-tas), n. [Latin] Roman law. The offense of stealing or embezzling public funds; peculation. Cf. FURTUM (1).

peculiar adj. Special; particular <peculiar benefit>.

peculiar A district, parish, chapel, or church that was not subject to a bishop s jurisdiction. Peculiars were created, usu. under papal authority, to limit a bishop s power. There were several types, including royal peculiars (e.g., the Chapel Royal at St. James s Palace or St. George s in Windsor), peculiars of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and peculiars of bishops and deans. The jurisdiction and privileges of pecuniary loss the peculiars were abolished by various statutes in the 19th century.

peculiar benefit See special benefit.

peculiar benefit See special benefit under BENEFlT.

peculiar-risk doctrine The principle that an employer will be liable for injury caused by an independent contractor if the employer failed to take reasonable precautions against a risk that is peculiar to the contractor s work and that the employer should have recognized, Also termed peculiar-risk exception.

peculium (pi-kyoo-Iee-am), n. [Latin] Roman law. Property or money given by the head of a household to a son or slave, to be used at that person s discretion for living expenses or business transactions; property at the disposal of the slave or son-in-power.

peculium adventitium See ADVENTITIOUS PROPERTY.

peculium profectitium See PROFECTITIUM PECULIUM.

pecune [Origin unknown]. CRIB.

pecunia (pi-kyoo-nee-a), n. [Latin]. 1. Money. 2. Real or personal property.

pecunia certa (pi-kyoo-nee-a-ar-ta). [Latin] A definite sum of money.

pecunia constituta (pi-kyoo-nee-a kon-sti-t[y]oo-ta). [Latin "fixed sum of money"] Roman law. See pactum de constituto under PACTUM.

pecunia non numerata pi-kyoo-nee-a non nly]oo-ma¬ray-ta), [Latin "money not paid"] Roman law. A defense that even though defendant acknowledged receiving money, it had not in fact been paid. Cf. exceptio i pecuniae non numeralae under EXCEPTIO.

pecunia numerata (pi-kyoo-nee-a n[y]oo-ma-ray-ta). [Latin]. Money numbered or counted out; money given to pay a debt.

pecunia trajectitia (pi-kyoo-nee-a traj-ek-tish-ee-a). [Latin "money conveyed overseas"] Roman law. Money loaned in connection with the transport of goods by ship, with the lender bearing the risk of loss. See NAUTlCUM FENDS.

pecuniary (pi-kyoo-nee-er-ee), adj. Of or relating to money; monetary <a pecuniary interest in the lawsuit>.

pecuniary ability Income from any source or sources sufficient to meet or pay an obligation, or for some other purpose, such as providing suitable maintenance for a spouse.

pecuniary benefit A benefit capable of monetary valuation.

pecuniary benefit See BENEFIT.

pecuniary bequest A testamentary gift of money; a legacy. Also termed monetary bequest; money bequest.

pecuniary bequest See BEQUEST.

pecuniary cause A lawsuit maintainable in an ecclesiastical court to redress an injury relating to the church, such as a parishioner s failure to pay a tithe to a parson.

pecuniary damages (pa-kyoo-nee-er-ee). Damages that can be estimated and monetarily compensated. Although this phrase appears in many old cases, it is now widely considered a redundancy - since damages are always pecuniary.

pecuniary damages See DAMAGES.

pecuniary devise See DEVISE.

pecuniary devise A demonstrative devise consisting of money. Cf. demonstrative devise.

pecuniary gain 1. A gain of money or of something having monetary value. 2. Criminal law. Any monetary or economic gain that serves as an impetus for the commission of an offense. In most states, an offense and its punishment are aggravated if the offense was committed for pecuniary gain. Murder, for example, is often aggravated to capital murder if the murderer is paid to commit the crime. See SOLICITATION (2). 2. Excess of receipts over expenditures or of sale price over cost. See PROFIT (1). 3. Tax. The excess of the amount realized from a sale or other disposition of property over the property's adjusted value. IRC (26 USCA) § 1001. - Also termed realized gain; net gain; (in senses 2 & 3) business gain.

pecuniary gain See GAIN (1).

pecuniary injury See INJURY.

pecuniary injury An injury that can be adequately measured or compensated by money.

pecuniary interest See financial interest.

pecuniary interest See financial interest under INTEREST (2).

pecuniary legacy See LEGACY.

pecuniary loss See LOSS.

pedage (ped-ij). Money paid as a toll to travel through another s land. -Also termed paage; pedagium.

pedagium (pi-day-jee-am). [Law Latin] See PEDAGE.

pedal possession Actual possession, as by living on the land or by improving it. This term usu. appears in adverse-possession contexts.

pedal possession See POSSESSION.

pedaneus (pi-day-nee-as), n. & adj. [Latin] Roman law. A judge who sat at the foot of the tribunal (i.e., in the lowest seat) ready to try minor cases at the command of the magistrate; an assistant judge.

pederasty (ped-ar-as-tee), Anal intercourse between a man and a boy. Pederasty is illegal in all states. Cf. SODOMY. pederast (ped-d-rast), n.

pedigree A history of family succession; ancestry or lineage.

pedis abscissio (pee-dis or ped-is ab-sish-ee-oh). [Latin "cutting off a foot"] Hist. Punishment by cutting off the offender s foot.

pedis positio (pee-dis or ped-is pd-zish-ee-oh). [Latin "the placement of the foot"]. A putting or placing of the foot. This term denoted possession of land by actual entry.

pedis possessio (pee-dis or ped-is-pa-zes[h]-ee-oh). [Latin]. A foothold; an actual possession of real property, implying either actual occupancy or enclosure or use. See PEDIS POSSESSIO DOCTRINE. Also termed substantial possession; possessio pedis.

pedis possessio See POSSESSIO.

pedis possessio doctrine (pee-dis or ped-is pa-zes[h]¬ee-o). [Latin "possession-of-a-foot doctrine") The principle that a prospector working on land in the public domain is entitled to freedom from fraudulent or forcible intrusions while actually working on the site.

pedophile One who engages in pedophilia.

pedophilia 1. A sexual disorder consisting in the desire for sexual gratification by molesting children, esp. prepubescent children. 2. An adult s act of child molestation. Pedophilia can but does not necessarily involve intercourse. The American Psychiatric Association applies both senses to perpetrators who are at least 16 years old and at least five years older than their victims. Cf. PEDERASTY.

Peeping Tom A person who spies on another (as through a window), usu. for sexual pleasure; VOYEUR. Also termed peeper.

peer 1. A person who is of equal status, rank, or character with another. The commonalty, like the nobility, are divided into several degrees; and, as the lords, though different in rank, yet all of them are peers in respect of their nobility, so the com¬ moners, though some are greatly superior to others, yet all are in law peers, in respect of their want of nobility 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 391 (1765). 2. A member of the British nobility (such as a duchess, marquis, earl, viscount, or baroness). - peerage (peer ij), n. The Crown has power to create any number of peers and of any degree. In modern practice the power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and the honour is most commonly a reward for political services. Peerages can be, and have been, conferred for party political reasons; 12 were created in 1712 to save the government, and 16 to help pass the Reform Bill in 1832. In 1832 and 1911 the Opposition of the House of Lords was overcome by the threat to create enough peers to secure a majority. The main privilege of a peer is to sit and vote in the House of Lords David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 942 (1980).

peer-review organization A governmental agency that monitors health-regulation compliance by private hospitals requesting public funds (such as Medicare payments). Abbr. PRO.

peer-review privilege A privilege that protects from disclosure the proceedings and reports of a medical facility s peer-review committee, which reviews and oversees the patient care and medical services provided by the staff.

peer-review privilege See PRIVILEGE (3).

peer-reviewed journal A publication whose practice is to forward submitted articles to disinterested experts who screen them for scholarly or scientific reliability so that articles actually published have already withstood expert scrutiny and comment.

peers of fees Vassals or tenants of the same lord who judged disputes arising out of fees.

peine forte et dure (pen for tay door or payn fort ay dyoor). [French "strong and hard punishment"). The punishment of an alleged felon who refused to plead, consisting of pressing or crushing the person s body under heavy weights until the accused either pleaded or died. In all other felonies, however, the punishment of peine forte et dure was, until lately, denounced as the consequence of an obstinate silence. The greatest caution and deliberation were indeed to be exercised before it was resorted to; and the prisoner was not only to have trina admonitio, but a respite of a few hours, and the sentence was to be distinctly read to him, that he might be fully aware of the penalty he was incurring." 1 Joseph Chitty, A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law 425-26 (2d ed. 1826). "In old English law, a person charged with felony who, refusing to accept jury trial, was pressed to death (peine forte et dure), was not regarded as committing suicide, so that he did not forfeit his property." Glanville Williams, The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law 270 n.4 (1957).

pell See CLERK OF THE PELLS.

pellex (pel-eks). n. [Latin] Roman law. A concubine.

pen mortgage clause See MORTGAGE CLAUSE.

pen register A mechanical device that logs dialed telephone numbers by monitoring electrical impulses. Because a pen register does not record the telephone conversation, it may not constitute a Fourth Amendment search requiring a search warrant (though it does need a court order). Some states, however, do consider the use of a pen register invasive enough to require a search warrant. Cf. WIRETAPPING.

penal (pee-nal), adj. Of, relating to, or being a penalty or punishment, esp. for a crime. "The general rule is that penal statutes are to be construed strictly. By the word penal in this connection is meant not only such statutes as in terms impose a fine, or corporal punishment, or forfeiture as a consequence of violating laws, but also all acts which impose by way of punishment damages beyond compensation for the benefit of the injured party, or which impose any special burden, or take away or impair any privilege or right." William M. Lile et aI., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 344 (3d ed. 1914). The word penal connotes some form of punishment imposed on an individual by the authority of the state. Where the primary purpose of a statute is expressly enforceable by fine, imprisonment, or similar punishment the statute is always construed as penal. 3 Norman J. Singer, Sutherland Statutes and Statutory Construction § 59.01, at 1 (4th ed. 1986).