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redeemable bond See BOND (3).

redeemable bond A bond that the issuer may call for payment. Also termed callable bond.

redeemable ground rent See ground rent (1). 2. A compensation or return made periodically by a tenant or occupant for the possession and use of lands or corporeal hereditaments; money, chattels, or services issuing usu. annually out of lands and tenements as payment for use.

redeemable ground rent See ground rent (1) under RENT (1).

redeemable security Any security, other than a shortterm note, that, when presented to the issuer, entitles the holder to receive a share ofthe issuers assets or the cash equivalent. Also termed callable security.

redeemable security See SECURITY.

redeemable stock See STOCK.

redeemable stock Preferred stock that can be called by the issuing corporation and retired.

redelivery An act or instance of giving back or returning something; restitution.

redelivery bond See replevin bond under BOND (2).

redelivery bond See replevin bond.

redemise An act or instance of conveying or transferring back (an estate) already demised. See DEMISE. - redemise, vb.

redemptio operis (ri-demp-shee-oh op-a-ris), n. [Latin redemption of work" ) Civil law. A contract in which a worker agrees to perform labor or services for a specified price. Cf. locatio opera rum under LOCATIO.

redemption 1. The act or an instance of reclaiming or regaining possession by paying a specific price. 2. Bankruptcy. A debtor s right to repurchase property from a buyer who obtained the property at a forced sale initiated by a creditor. 3. Securities. The reacquisition ofa security by the issuer. Redemption usu. refers to the repurchase of a bond before maturity, but it may also refer to the repurchase of stock and mutual-fund shares. Also termed (in reference to stock) stock redemption; stock repurchase. 4. Property. The payment of a defaulted mortgage debt by a borrower who does not want to lose the property. - Also termed dismortgage. See EQUITY OF REDEMPTION. redeemable, redemptive, redemptional adj. - redeem, vb.

redemption agreement See STOCK-REDEMPTION AGREEMENT.

redemption agreement See STOCK-REDEMPTION AGREEMENT.

redemption period The statutory period during which a defaulting mortgagor may recover property after a foreclosure or tax sale by paying the outstanding debt or charges.

redemption price See PRICE.

redemption price 1. The price of a bond that has not reached maturity, purchased at the issuer s option. 2. The price of shares when a mutual-fund shareholder sells shares back to the fund. - Also termed liquidating price; repurchase price.

redemptioner A person who redeems; esp. one who redeems real property under the equity of redemption or the right of redemption. See EQUITY OF REDEMPTION; STATUTORY RIGHT OF REDEMPTION.

redemptor (ri-demp-tar), n. Roman law. A contractor. See CONDUCTOR (1).

redeundo (ree-dee-an-doh). [Latin] Returning; in returning; while returning.

redevance (ruu-da-vahns). [French]. Dues payable by a tenant to the lord, not necessarily in money.

red-herring prospectus See preliminary prospectus under PROSPECTUS.

redhibere (red-hi-beer-ee), vb. [Latin] Civil law. 1. To return (a defective purchase) to the seller. 2. (Of a seller) to take back (a defective purchase).

redhibition (red-[h]i-bish-an), n. Civil law. The voidance ofa sale as the result ofan action brought on account of some defect in a thing sold, on grounds that the detect renders the thing either useless or so imperfect that the buyer would not have originally purchased it. La. Civ. Code art. 2531. - redhibitory (red-hib-a-tor-ee), adj.

redhibitory action See ACTION (4).

redhibitory action Civil law. An action brought to void a sale of a thing having a defect that renders it either useless or so flawed that the buyer would not have bought it in the first place. See REDHIBITION.

redhibitory defect Civil law. A fault or imperfection in something sold, as a result of which the buyer may return the item and demand back the purchase price. La. Civ. Code art. 2520. Also termed redhibitory vice.

redimere (ri-dim-a-ree), vb. [Latin] 1. To buy back; repurchase. 2. To obtain the release of by payment; ransom.

redirect examination A second direct examination, after cross-examination, the scope ordinarily being limited to matters covered during cross-examination. Often shortened to redirect. Also termed (in England) reexamination. See DIRECT EXAMINATION.

rediscount 1. The act or process ofdiscounting a negotiable instrument that has alreadv been discounted, as by a bank. 2. (usu. pl.) A negoti~ble instrument that has been discounted a second time. See DISCOUNT. rediscount, vb.

rediscount rate See INTEREST RATE.

rediscount rate The interest rate at which a member bank may borrow from the Federal Reserve on a loan secured by commercial paper that has already been resold by the bank.

redisseisin (ree-dis-see-zin), 1. A disseisin by one who has already dispossessed the same person of the same estate. 2. A writ to recover an estate that has been dispossessed by redisseisin. - Also spelled redisseizin. See DISSEISIN. redisseise (ree-dis-seez), vb.

redisseisina See DE REDISSEISINA.

redistribution The act or process of distributing something again or anew <redistribution of wealth>.

redistrict To organize into new districts, esp. legislative ones; reapportion.

redistricting See REAPPORTIONMENT.

reditus (red-a-tas), n. [Latin "return"] A revenue or return; esp. rent. Also spelled redditus.

reditus albi (al-bi). [Latin "white return"] Rent payable in silver or other money.

reditus capitales (kap-a-tay-leez). [Latin "capital return"] Chief rent paid by a freeholder to go quit of all other services. See QUIT RENT.

reditus nigri (nig-ri). [Latin "black return"] Rent payable in goods or labor rather than in money.

reditus quieti (kwl-ee-ti). [Latin "qUiet return"] See QUIT RENT.

reditus siccus (sik-as). [Latin "dry return"] Rent seck. See rent seck under RENT (2).

red-light abatement laws An ordinance or statute intended to eliminate and prohibit sex-oriented businesses, usu. on grounds that they are public nuisances. - Brothels were once typically identified by a red light displayed in a window or in the front yard.

redlining 1. Credit discrimination (usu. unlawful discrimination) by an institution that refuses to provide loans or insurance on properties in areas that are considered to be poor financial risks or to the people who live in those 2. The process, usu. automated, ofcreating, for an existing document, an interim version that shows, through strike-outs and other typographical features, all deletions and insertions made in the most recent revision. redline, vb.

redraft A second negotiable instrument offered by the drawer after the first instrument has been dishonored. - redraft, vb.

redress (ri-dres or ree-dres). 1. Relief; remedy <money damages, as opposed to equitable relief, is the only redress available>. 2. A means of seeking relief or remedy <if the statute of limitations has run, the plaintiff is without redress>. redressable, adj. redress (ri-dres), vb.

redubber One who buys stolen cloth and redyes it or makes it into something so that the cloth is unrecognizable.

reductio ad absurdum (ri-dak-shee-oh or ri-dak-tee-oh ad ab-sar-dam). [Latin "reduction to the absurd"]. In logic, disproof of an argument by showing that it leads to a ridiculous conclusion.

reduction improbation See IMPROBATION.

reduction improbation An action in which a person who may be hurt or affected by a document can demand the document's production in court. The person bringing the action may ask the court either to determine the document's effects or to nullify the document. Ifthe document is not produced, the court can automatically declare it false or forged.

reduction in force See LAYOFF.

reduction to practice The embodiment of the concept of an invention, either by physical construction and operation or by filing a patent application with a disclosure adequate to teach a person reasonably skilled in the art how to make and work the invention without undue experimentation. The date of reduction to practice is critical in determining priority between inventors competing for a patent on the same invention. See INVENTION.

reenactment rule In statutory construction, the principle that when reenacting a law, the legislature implicitly adopts well-settled judicial or administrative interpretations of the law.

reentry 1. The act or an instance of retaking possession ofland by someone who formerly held the land and who reserved the right to retake it when the new holder let it go. 2. A landlord s resumption of possession ofleased premises upon the tenant s default under the lease. See POWER OF TERMINATION reenter, vb.

reentry See REENTRY.

reetitudo (rek-ta-t[y]oo-doh). [Law Latin] A right or legal due; a tribute or payment.

reeve 1. A ministerial officer of high rank having local jurisdiction; the chief magistrate of a hundred. the reeve executed process, kept the peace, and enforced the law by holding court within the hundred. 2. A minor officer serving the Crown at the hundred level; a bailiff or deputy-sheriff. 3. An overseer of a manor, parish, or the like. - Also spelled reve. Also termed greve. "All the freeholders, unless relieved by special exemption. owed suit at the hundred-moot, and the reeve of the hundred presided over it. In Anglo•Saxon times. the reeve was an independent offiCial, and the hundred•moot was not a preliminary stage to the shire•moot at all. But after the Conquest the hundred assembly, now called a court as all the others were. lost its importance very quickly. Pleas of land were taken from it, and its criminal jurisdiction limited to one of holding suspects in temporary detention. The reeve of the hundred became the deputy of the sheriff, and the chief purpose of holding the hundred court was to enable the sheriff to hold his tourn and to permit a view of frankpledge i.e., an inspection ofthe person who ought to belong to the frankpledge system." Max Radin, Handbook of nglo-American Legal History 174-75 (1936).

reexamination 1. REDIRECT EXAMINATION <the attorney focused on the defendant s alibi during reexamination>. 2. Patents. A proceeding by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine whether prior art renders one or more claims of an already-issued patent invalid; speci£, an administrative procedure by which a party can seek review of a patent on the basis ofprior art by the PTO <the alleged infringer, hoping to avoid liability, sought reexamination of the patent to narrow its scope>. A reexamination may be sought by anyone, even the patentee or an anonymous informant, at any time during the life of a patent. Only patents and publications may be considered as prior art. 35 USCA §§ 301-05. reexamine, vb.

reexamination certificate A certificate issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at the conclusion of a reexamination proceeding, confirming that a patent has been reexamined and the claims have been found to be patentable, confirming that claims determined to be unpatentable have been canceled, or incorporating into the patent any amended or new claims determined to be patentable. 35 USCA § 307.

reexchange 1. A second or new exchange. 2. The process of recovering the expenses that resulted from the dishonor of a bill ofexchange in a foreign country. 3. The expenses themselves.

reexecution The equitable remedy by which a lost or destroyed deed or other instrument is replaced. Equity compels the party or parties to execute a new deed or instrument if a claimant properly proves a right under one that has been lost or destroyed.

reexport 1. The act of exporting again something imported. 2. A good or commodity that is exported again. - reexport, vb.

reextent A second extent made upon complaint that the earlier extent was improper. See EXTENT.

refare (ri-fair-ee), vb. [Latin] To bereave; rob: take away.

refection Civil law. Repair or restoration, as of a building.

refer Parliamentary law. To send (a motion) to a committee for its consideration or investigation, with a view to a report from the committee back to the referring body. - Also termed commit. Cf. RECOMMIT; DISCHARGE (9).

referee 1. A type of master appointed by a court to assist with certain proceedings. In some jurisdictions, referees take testimony before reporting to the court. See MASTER (2). 2. See judicial officer (3) under OFFICER.

referee in bankruptcy A federal judicial officer who administers bankruptcy proceedings. Abolished by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, these referees were replaced by bankruptcy judges. Also termed register in bankruptcy. See bankruptcy judge under JUDGE.

reference 1. The act of sending or directing to another for information, service, consideration, or decision; specif., the act of sending a case to a master or referee for information or decision.

reference case See CASE.

reference case An advisory opinion issued by the Supreme Court of Canada at the request of the executive or legislative branch of the federal government. A reference is exceptional because the opinion interprets, and often resolves, a dispute even though no case or controversy is presented to the court. See, e.g., Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217.

reference committee See resolutions committee.

reference committee See resolutions committee under COMMITTEE.

reference statute See STATUTE.

reference statute A law that incorporates and adopts by reference provisions of other laws.

referenda singula singulis See REDDENDO SINGULA SINGULIS.

referendarius (ref-a-ren-dair-ee-as), n. [Law Latin] Roman law. An officer who received petitions to the emperor and who delivered answers to the petitioners. See APOCRISARIUS.

referendum 1. The process of referring a state legislative act, a state constitutional amendment, or an important public issue to the people for final approval by popular vote. 2. A vote taken by this method. 3. An ambassador request for instructions on subject matter that the ambassador does not have sufficient power to address. PI. referendums, referenda. Cf. INITIATIVE; PLEBISCITE.

referral The act or an instance of sending or directing to another for information, service, consideration, or decision <referral of the client to an employment-law specialist> <referral of the question to the board of directors>.

referral sales contract See REFERRAL SALES CONTRACT.

referral sales contract A dual agreement consisting of an agreement by the consumer to purchase goods or services (usu. at an inflated price) and an agreement by the seller to compensate the consumer for each customer (or potential customer) referred to the seller. Also termed referral sales agreement. Cf. PYRAMID SCHEME. The problem inherent in a referral sales contract is the problem inherent in a chain letter - the success of the arrangement depends on an inexhaustible supply of custamers. For example, if each buyer submits 25 names and each of these referrals becomes a buyer under a similar agreement, the completion of the seventh round of referrals requires 6.1 trillion persons. Both courts and legislatures have acted agai nst referral sales. The Uniform Consumer Credit Code prohibits the use of referral sales schemes in which the rebate is conditioned on the occurrence of an event after the time the consumer agrees to buy or lease. In other words, a referral scheme keyed to the consumer merely furnishing names is not affected: a referral scheme keyed to the consumer furnishing names of people who actually become customers is prohibited." David G. Epstein & Steve H. Nickles, Consumer Law in a Nutshell 39 (2d ed. 1981).

refinancing An exchange of an old debt for a new debt, as by negotiating a different interest rate or term or by repaying the existing loan with money acquired from a new loan. - refinance, vb.

reformation (ref-ar-may-shan). An equitable remedy by which a court will modify a written agreement to reflect the actual intent of the parties, usu. to correct fraud or mutual mistake in the writing, such as an incomplete property description in a deed. In cases of mutual mistake, the actual intended agreement must usu. be established by clear and convincing evidence. In cases of fraud, there must be clear evidence of what the agreement would have been but for the fraud. See RECTIFICATION. [Cases: Reformation of Instruments -reform, vb. "The standard explanation of reformation is that the parties had an actual agreement, and that the writing does not reflect that agreement .... If the parties made a mistake about the premises of their agreement, about some fact in the world outside their word-processing machines, reformation is not a solution. The court cannot reform the contract because it cannot know what the parties would have agreed to but for the mistake." Douglas Laycock, Modern American Remedies 39 (3d ed. 2002).

reformation condition See conditional bequest under BEQUEST.

reformative punishment See PUNISHMENT.

reformative punishment Punishment intended to change the character of the offender.

reformatory A penal institution in which young offenders, esp. minors, are diSciplined and trained or educated. Also termed reform school.

refoulement (ri-fowl-mant). [French] Expulsion or return of a refugee from one state to another. Cf. NONREFOULEMENT.

refreshing memory See PRESENT RECOLLECTION REFRESHED.

refreshing recollection See PRESENT RECOLLECTION REFRESHED.

refugee A person who flees or is expelled from a country, esp. because of persecution, and seeks haven in another country. Cf. displaced person under PERSON (1); EVACUEE.

refugeeism The state of being a refugee.

refund 1. The return of money to a person who overpaid, such as a taxpayer who overestimated tax liability or whose employer withheld too much tax from earnings. 2. The money returned to a person who overpaid. 3. The act of refinancing, esp. by replacing outstanding securities with a new issue of securities. refund, vb.

refund annuity An annuity that, upon the annuitant's death, pays to the annuitant's estate the difference between the purchase price and the total payments received during the annuitant's lifetime.

refund annuity See ANNUITY.

refunding See FUNDING (2).

refunding bond See BOND (2).