Law Dictionary
	Search:

secundum materiam subjectam (sa-kan-dam ma-teer¬ee-am sab-jek-tam). [Latin]. According to the subject matter.

secundum naturam [Latin] According to nature.

secundum normam legis (si-kan-dam nor-mam lee-jis). [Latin]. According to the rule of law; by rule of law.

secundum regulam (si-kan-dam reg-p-Iam). [Latin]. According to the rule; by rule.

secundum subjectam materiam (si-kan-dam sab-jek¬tam ma-teer-ee-am). [Law Latin]. According to the subject matter.

secundum tenorem chartae confectae (sa-kan¬dam ta-nor-am kahr-tee kan-fek-tee). [Latin. According to the tenor of the charter already granted. Securities and Exchange Commission. The five- member Cf. SECUNDUM CHARTAM CONFICIENDAM.

secundum vires hereditatis (sa-kan-dam vi-reez ha-red¬i-tay-tis). [Law Latin]. According to the extent of the inheritance.

secundum vires inventarii (sa-kan-dam vi-reez in-ven¬tair-ee-i). [Law Latin]. According to the extent of the inventory.

secured 1. (Of a debt or obligation) supported or backed by security or collateral. 2. (Of a creditor) protected by a pledge, mortgage, or other encumbrance of property that helps ensure financial soundness and confidence. See SECURITY.

secured bond A bond backed by some type of security. Cf. DEBENTURE (1), (3).

secured bond See BOND (3).

secured claim A claim held by a creditor who has a lien or a right of setoff against the debtor's property.

secured claim See CLAIM (5).

secured creditor See CREDITOR.

secured creditor A creditor who has the right, on the debtor's default, to proceed against collateral and apply it to the payment of the debt. UCC § 9-102-(a) (72). Also termed secured party. '''Secured party' means (A) a person in whose favor a security interest is created or provided for under a security agreement, whether or not any obligation to be secured is outstanding; (B) a person that holds an agricultural lien: (C) a consignor; (0) a person to which accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes have been sold; or (E) if a security interest or agricultural lien is created or provided for in favor of a trustee, agent, col· lateral agent, or other representative, that representative." UCC § 9·1 02(a)(50).

secured debt A debt backed by collateral.

secured debt See DEBT.

secured loan See LOAN.

secured note See NOTE (1).

secured party See secured creditor under CREDITOR.

secured transaction A business arrangement by which a buyer or borrower gives collateral to the seller or lender to guarantee payment of an obligation. Article 9 of the UCC deals with secured transactions. See SECURITY AGREEMENT.

securitas (si-kyoor-i-tas), n. [Latin) 1. Roman law. Security; freedom from liability after performance. 2. Civil law. A release.

securitate pads (si-kyoor-i-tay-tee pay-sis), n. [Law Latin "of security of the peace"]. A writ for someone fearing bodily harm from another, as when the person has been threatened with violence. - Also termed securitatis pads; writ of threats.

securitatem inveniendi (si-kyoor-i-tay-tam in-vee-nee¬en-di), n. [Law Latin]. A writ from the Crown requiring subjects to find security to ensure that they would not leave the kingdom without the Crowns permission. It was replaced by ne exeat regno. See NE EXEAT.

securities act A federal or state law protecting the public by regulating the registration, offering, and trading of securities. See SECURITIES ACT OF 1933; SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934; BLUE-SKY LAW.

Securities Act of 1933 The federal law regulating the registration and initial public offering of securities, with an emphasis on full publk disclosure of financial and other information. 15 USCA §§ 77a-77aa. - Also termed Securities Act; 1933 Act.

securities analyst A person, usu. an employee of a bank, brokerage, or mutual fund, who studies a company and reports on the companys securities, financial condition, and prospects.

Securities and Exchange Commission The five-member federal agency that regulates the issuance and trading of securities to protect investors against fraudulent or unfair practices. The Commission was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. -- Abbr. SEC.

Securities and Investment Board See FINANCIAL SERVICES AGENCY. Abbr. SIB.

securities broker A broker employed to buy or sell securities for a customer, as opposed to a securities dealer, who trades as a principal before selling the securities to a customer. See DEALER (2).

securities broker See BROKER.

securities exchange 1. A marketplace or facility for the organized purchase and sale of securities, esp. stocks. 2. A group of people who organize themselves to create such a marketplace; EXCHANGE (5). Often shortened to exchange. Also termed stock exchange.

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 The federal law regulating the public trading of securities. This law provides for periodic disclosures by issuers of securities and for the registration and supervision of securities exchanges and brokers, and regulates proxy solicitations. The Act also established the SEC. 15 USCA §§ 78a et seq. - Also termed Exchange Act; 1934 Act.

Securities Investor Protection Act A 1970 federal law establishing the Securities Investor Protection Corporation that, although not a governmental agency, is designed to protect investors whose brokers and dealers are in financial trouble. Abbr. SIPA. 15 USCA §§ 78aaa et seq.

Securities Investor Protection Corporation A federally chartered corporation established under the Securities Investor Protection Act to protect investors and help brokers in financial trouble. - Abbr. SIPe. See SECURITIES INVESTOR PROTECTION ACT.

securities-offering distribution See DISTRIBUTION.

securities-offering distribution 1. An issuer's public offering of securities through a formal underwriting agreement with a broker-dealer. Also termed controlled-securities-offering distribution. 2. An issuer's public offering of securities on an informal basis, with or without brokers. Also termed (in both senses) uncontrolled-securities-offering distribution.

securitizable 1. Of, relating to, or constituting the class of obligations that a creditor (originator) may package and sell to others for corporate purposes. 2. (Of an asset) capable of being rapidly converted to cash, as with commercial-loan receivables and trade accounts receivable.

securitize To convert (assets) into negotiable securities for resale in the financial market, allowing the issuing financial institution to remove assets from its books, and thereby improve its capital ratio and liquidity, and to make new loans with the security proceeds if it so chooses. securitized, adj. - securitization, n.

security 1. Collateral given or pledged to guarantee the fulfillment of an obligation; esp., the assurance that a creditor will be repaid (usu. with interest) any money or credit extended to a debtor. 2. A person who is bound by some type of guaranty; SURETY. 3. The state of being secure, esp. from danger or attack. 4. An instrument that evidences the holders ownership rights in a firm (e.g., a stock), the holders creditor relationship with a firm or government (e.g., a bond), or the holders other rights (e.g., an option). - A security indicates an interest based on an investment in a common enterprise rather than direct participation in the enterprise. Under an important statutory definition, a security is any interest or instrument relating to finances, including a note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in a profit-sharing agreement, collateral trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting trust certificate, certificate ofdeposit for a security, fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights, or certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase any ofthese things. A security also includes any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security, certificate of deposit, group or index of securities, or any such device entered into on a national securities exchange, relating to foreign currency. 15 USCA § 77b(1). Also termed (in sense 4) evidence ofindebtedness; evidence ofdebt. Cf. SHARE (2); STOCK (4). "Securities differ from most other commodities in which people deal. They have no intrinsic value in themselves they represent rights in something else. The value of a bond, note or other promise to pay depends on the financial condition of the promisor.

security agreement An agreement that creates or provides for an interest in specified real or personal property to guarantee the performance of an obligation. It must provide for a security interest, describe the collateral, and be signed by the debtor. The agreement may include other important covenants and warranties.

Security Council A principal organ of the United Nations, consisting offive permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and ten additional members elected at stated intervals, charged with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, and esp. of preventing or halting wars by diplomatic, economic, or military action. The nonpermanent members are elected from each of the worlds major regions, based on a distribution formula.

security deposit See DEPOSIT (3).

security for costs Money, property, or a bond given to a court by a plaintiff or an appellant to secure the payment of court costs if that party loses.

security grade See SECURITY RATING.

security grading See SECURITY RATING.

security interest A property interest created by agreement or by operation oflaw to secure performance of an obligation (esp. repayment of a debt). Although the UCC limits the creation of a security interest to personal property, the Bankruptcy Code defines the term to mean "a lien created by an agreement." 11 USCA § 101(51).

security rating 1. The system for grading or classifying a security by financial strength, stability, or risk. Firms such as Standard and Poors and Moodys grade securities. Also termed security grade; security grading; security rate. 2. The classification that a given security is assigned to under this system.

secus (see-kas). [Latin] Otherwise; to the contrary.

sed non allocatur (sed non al-a-kay-tar). [Law Latin]. But it is not allowed or upheld. This phrase was formerly used to indicate the courts disagreement with the arguments of counsel.

sed per curiam (sed par kyoor-ee-am). [Latin] But by the court. This phrase is used to introduce: (1) a statement made by the court disagreeing with counsels arguments; or (2) the opinion of the whole court when different from the opinion of the single judge immediately before quoted.

sed quaere (sed kweer-ee). [Latin] But inquire; examine this further. This remark indicates that the correctness of a particular statement is challenged.

sed vide (sed vi-dee). [Latin] But see. This remark, followed by a citation, directs the readers attention to an authority or a statement that conflicts with or contradicts the statement or principle just given. Also termed but see.

sedato animo (si-day-toh an-a-moh). [Latin] With stated or settled purpose.

sede plena (see-dee plee-na). [Latin]. The see being filled. This term indicated that a bishops see was not vacant.

sede vacante (see-dee va-kan-tee). [Law Latin]. The benefice being vacant.

sedentary work See WORK (1).

sedente curia (si-den-tee kyoor-ee-a). [Latin]lhe court sitting; during the court sitting.

sederunt See ACT OF SEDERUNT.

sedes (see-deez), n. [Latin "a seat"] 1. Roman law. A private residence. 2. Roman law. Judicial office; the bench. 3. A see; a bishops dignity.

sedge flat A tract ofland below the high-water mark.

sedition 1. An agreement, communication, or other preliminary activity aimed at inciting treason or some lesser commotion against public authority. 2. Advocacy aimed at inciting or producing and likely to incite or produce - imminent lawless action. At common law, sedition included defaming a member of the royal family or the government. The difference between sedition and treason is that the former is committed by preliminary steps, while the latter entails some overt act for carrying out the plan. But if the plan is merely for some small commotion, even accomplishing the plan does not amount to treason. Cf. TREASON. - seditious, adj. "Sedition. This, perhaps the very vaguest of all offences known to the Criminal Law, is defined as the speaking or writing of words calculated to excite disaffection against the Constitution as by law established, to procure the alteration of it by other than lawful means, or to incite any person to commit a crime to the disturbance of the peace, or to raise discontent or disaffection, or to promote ill-feeling between different classes of the community. A charge of sedition is, historically, one ofthe chief means by which Government, especially at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, strove to put down hostile critics. It is evident that the vagueness of the charge is a danger to the liberty of the subject, especially if the Courts of Justice can be induced to take a view favourable to the Government." Edward Jenks, The Book of English Law 136 (P.B. Fairest ed., 6th ed. 1967).

Sedition Act A 1798 federal statute that prohibited the malicious publication ofdefamatory material about the government, Congress, or the President. The act expired in 1801.

seditious conspiracy A criminal conspiracy to forcibly (1) overthrow or destroy the U.S. government, (2) oppose its authority, (3) prevent the execution of its laws, or (4) seize or possess its property. 18 USCA § 2384.

seditious conspiracy See CONSPIRACY.

seditious libel See LIBEL.

seditious speech See SPEECH.

seditious speech Speech advocating the violent overthrow of government. See SEDITION.

seduction The offense that occurs when a man entices a woman of previously chaste character to have unlawful intercourse with him by means of persuasion, solicitation, promises, or bribes, or other means not involving force. Many states have abolished this offense for persons over the age oflegal consent. Traditionally, the parent of a young woman had an action to recover damages for the loss of her services. But in measuring damages, the jury could consider not just the loss of services but also the distress and anxiety that the parent had suffered in being deprived of her comfort and companionship. 1bough seduction was not a crime at common law, many American states made it a statutory crime until the late 20th century.

see The area or district of a bishops jurisdiction <the see of Canterbury>.

seed money Start-up money for a business venture. Also termed front money;front-end money.

seeming danger Danger that a reasonable person would perceive to be real, even if it is not.

seeming danger See DANGER.

segregation 1. The act or process of separating.

seignior (seen-yar), n. [Law French]. An owner of something; a lord of a fee or manor. - Also spelled seigneur (seen- or sayn-yar); seignor. See SEIGNIORY.

seignior in gross (seen-yar in grohs), n. [Law French] A lord having no manor but enjoying the other rights of lordship.

seigniorage (seen-pr-ij), n. [Law French] 1. The tenure existing between lord and vassal. 2. A prerogative of the Crown; specif., the charge for coining bullion into money; mintage. 3. A royalty. 4. A profit.

seignioress (seen-yar-es or -is), n. [Law French]. A female superior; a lady.

seigniory (seen-yar-ee), n. [Law French]. 1. The rights and powers of a lord; esp., a grantors retained right to have the grantee perform services in exchange for the transfer ofland. 2. A lords dominions; a feudal or manor lordship; esp., land held subject to such a retained right in the grantor. - Also spelled seignory.

seigniory in gross (seen-yar-ee in grohs). See reputed manor under MANOR.

seignory See SEIGNIORY.

seise (seez), vb. To invest with seisin or establish as a holder in fee simple; to put in possession <he became seised of half a section of farmland near Amarillo>.

seised to uses See STANDING SEISED TO USES.

seisin (see-zin), 1. Completion of the ceremony of feudal investiture, by which the tenant was admitted into freehold. 2. Possession of a freehold estate in land; ownership. 3. Louisiana law. The right that the law accords universal successors to own and possess a persons estate directly and immediately upon that persons death. La. Civ. Code arts. 935 et seq. Also spelled seizin. Also termed vesture; seisina; (in Scots law) sasine. "Originally, seisin meant simply possession and the word was applicable to both land and chattels. Prior to the fourteenth century it was proper to speak of a man as being seised of land or seised of a horse. Gradually, seisin and possession became distinct concepts. A man could be said to be in possession of chattels, or of lands wherein he had an estate for years, but he could not be said to be seised of them. Seisin came finally to mean, in relation to land, possession under claim of a freehold estate therein. The tenant for years had possession but not seisin; seisin was in the reversioner who had the fee. And although the word seisin appears in modern statutes with a fair degree of frequency, it is usually treated as synonymous with ownership." Cornelius J. Moynihan, Introduction to the Law of Real Property 98-99 (2d ed. 1988). "It is difficult to define seisin satisfactorily. It has nothing to do with seizing, with its implication of violence. To medieval lawyers it suggested the very opposite: peace and quiet. A man who was put in seisin of land was set there and continued to sit there. Seisin thus denotes quiet possession of land, but quiet possession of a particular kind. .. Although it seems impossible to frame a satisfactory definition ... , to call it that feudal possession of land which only the owner of a freehold estate in freehold land could have is to express the most important elements." Robert E. Megarry & M.P.

seisin in deed Actual possession of a freehold estate in land, by oneself or by ones tenant or agent, as distinguished from legal possession. Also termed seisin in fact; actual seisin.

seisin in fact See seisin in deed.

seisin in law The right to immediate possession of a freehold estate in land, as when an heir inherits land but has not yet entered it. Also termed legal seisin; constructive seisin; equitable seisin; fictitious seisin. "Seisin in law is, when something is done, which the law accounteth a seisin; as an inrollment." 2 E. Chambers, Cyclopedia: Or, an Universal Dictionary ofArts and Sciences (1743), s.v. SEISIN IN FACT.

seisina (see-zin-a), n. [Law Latin]. Seisin.

seisina habenda (see-zin-sa ha-ben-da). See DE SEISINA HABENDA.

seisor (see-zar), n. One who takes possession of a freehold.

seize 1. To forcibly take possession (of a person or property). 2. To place (someone) in possession. 3. To be in possession (of property). 4. To be informed of or aware of (something). See SEISIN; SEIZURE.

seizin See SEISIN.

seizure The act or an instance of taking possession of a person or property by legal right or process; esp., in constitutional law, a confiscation or arrest that may interfere with a persons reasonable expectation of privacy.

select committee See special committee under COMMITTEE.

select committee See special committee.

select council In some cities, the upper branch of a city council. 2. An administrative or executive body <a parish council>.

select council See COUNCIL.

selecti judices (si-Iek-ti joo-di-seez). [Latin] Roman law. Jurors on the official panel prepared by the praetor, who for a specific trial were drawn by lot subject to challenge and sworn to office in a similar manner to modern juries.

selective disclosure The act ofdivulging part of a privileged communication, or one of several privileged communications, usu. because the divulged portion is helpful to the party giving the information, while harmful portions of the communication are withheld. Such a disclosure can result in a limited waiver of the privilege for all communications on the same subject matter as the divulged portion.

selective enforcement See SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT.