News Updates
Law Dictionary
Search:

conquisitio

(kon- or kang-kwi-zish-ee-oh). [Latin "search") See CONQUEST (2). Also termed con quisition.

conquisitor

(kan- or kang-kwiz-a-tar). [Latin "one who searches"] See CONQUEROR (1).

consanguine brother

(kahn-sang-gwin or kan-san-gwin). Civil law. A brother who has the same father, but a different mother.

consanguine brother-

See BROTHER.

consanguine sister

(kahn-sang-gwin or kan-san-gwin). Civil law. A sister who has the same father, but a different mother.

consanguine sister

See SISTER.

consanguineo

See COSINAGE.

consanguineus

(kon-sang-gwin-ee-as), [Latin "related by blood"]. A person related to another by blood; a consanguineous relative.

consanguineus frater

(kon-sang-gwin-ee-as fray-tar). [Latin "blood brother"]. A half-brother by the same father.

consanguineus uterinus

(kon-sang-gwin-ee-as yoo-ta-rI-nas). [Latin "blood relative by the uterus"]. A half-sibling by the same mother.

consanguinitas

(kon-sang-gwin-a-tas), [Latin "relationship by blood"]. Roman law. The relationship between siblings who have the same father.

consanguinity

(kon-sang-gwin-a-tee), The relationship of persons of the same blood or origin. See prohibited degree under DEGREE. Cf. AFFINITY; AFFINITAS AFFINITATIS. consanguineous, adj. "In the mode of computing the degrees of consanguinity, the civil law ... begins with the intestate, and descends from that ancestor to the next heir, reckoning for each person, as well in the ascending as descending lines. According to this rule of computation, the father of the intestate stands in the first degree, his brother in the second, and his brother's children in the third. Or, the grandfather stands in the second degree. the uncle in the third. the cousins in the fourth, and so on in a series of genealogical order. In the canon law. which is also the rule of the common law, in tracing title by descent. the common ancestor is the terminus a quo. The several degrees of kinship are deduced from him. By this method. the brother of A is related to him in the first degree instead of being in the second ... for he is but one degree removed from the common ancestor. The uncle is related to A in the second degree, for though the uncle be but one degree from the common ancestor, yet A is removed two degrees from the grandfather. who is the common ancestor." 4 James Kent, Commentaries on American Law *412 -13 (George Comstock ed., 11thed. 1866).

conscience

1. The moral sense of right or wrong; esp., a moral sense applied to one's own judgment and actions. 2. In law, the moral rule that requires justice and honest dealings between people.

conscience clause

A legislative provision that allows a person to claim an exemption from compliance, usu. on religious-freedom grounds.

conscience of the court

1. The court's equitable power to decide issues based on notions of fairness and justice. See EQUITY (4). 2. A standard applied by the court in deciding whether a party or a jury has acted within acceptable limits. Thus, in some cases, a jury's award of damages is upset because it is said to "shock the conscience of the court." See SHOCK THE CONSCIENCE.

conscientia illaesa

(kon-s[h]ee-en-shee-a i-lee-sa or -za). [Latin]. An unviolated conscience; good faith.

conscientia rei alienae

(kon-s[h]ee-en-shee-a ree-I ay-lee-ee-nee or al-ee-). [Law Latin]. Scots law. The knowledge that property held by one person actually belongs to another.

conscientious objector

A person who for moral or religious reasons is opposed to participating in any war, and who may be excused from military conscription but remains subject to serving in civil work for the nation's health, safety, or interest. See 50 USCA § 456. Cf. PACIFIST.

conscionable

(kon-sha-na-bal), Conforming with good conscience; just and reasonable <a conscionable bargain>. Cf. UNCONSCIONABLE. conscionableness, conscionability, n.

conscious avoidance

See deliberate indifference under INDIFFERENCE.

conscious indifference

See INDIFFERENCE.

conscious indifference-

1. Criminal law. See deliberate indifference (2). 2. Torts. See deliberate indifference (3).

conscious parallelism

An act of two or more businesses in a concentrated market intentionally engaging in monopolistic conduct. Also termed tacit collusion; oligopolistic price coordination.

conscious-avoidance instruction

See willful-blindness instruction.

conscious-avoidance instruction

See willful-blindness instruction under TURY INSTRUCTION.

consciously parallel

Antitrust. Of, relating to, or characterizing the conduct of a party who has knowledge of a competitor's action (such as raising prices) and who makes an independent decision to take the same action. In some cases this is viewed as evidence of a conspiracy.

conscious-presence test

A method for judging whether a testator is in the presence of a witness to a will, whereby if the testator can sense the presence of the witness even if the witness cannot be seen the witness is present. Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers § 3.1. Also termed conscious presence. See PRESENCE-OF-THE-TESTATOR RULE.

conscius fraudis

(kon-s[h]ee-as fraw-dis). [Latin] See PARTICEPS FRAUDIS.

conscription

See DRAFT (2).

consecratio capitis

(kon-sa-kray-shee-oh kap-i-tis). [Latin "consecrating the body"] Roman law. The act of declaring a wrongdoer an outlaw who could be killed on Sight; the punishing of criminal behavior by relegating an offender to the gods, i.e., leaving the person outside divine and human protection. See SACER; OUTLAWRY.

consecutive sentences

See SENTENCE.

consecutive sentences

Two or more sentences of jail time to be served in sequence. For example, if a convicted criminal receives consecutive sentences of 20 years and 5 years, the total amount of jail time is 25 vears. - Also termed cumulative sentences; accumrllative sentences.

consecutive tortfeasors

See TORTFEASOR.

consensual

(kan-sen-shoo-al), 1. Having, expressing, or occurring with full consent <consensual relations>. 2, Created or existing by mutual consent without formalities such as a written document or ceremony <consensual marriage>. Also termed consentaneous; consentient.

consensual contract

See CONTRACT.

consensual contract-

A contract arising from the mere consensus of the parties, without any formal or symbolic acts performed to fix the obligation. Although the consensual contract was known to the common law, it originated in Roman law, where it embraced four types of contracts in which informal consent alone was sufficient: (1) an agency agreement (mandatum), (2) a partnership agreement (societas), (3) a sale (emptio venditio), or (4) a letting or hiring (locatio conductio). Cf. real contract. "[T]he peculiarity of these Consensual Contracts is that no formalities are required to create them out of the Pact. Much that is indefensible, and much more that is obscure, has been written about the Consensual Contracts, and it has even been asserted that in them the consent of the Parties is more emphatically given than in any other species of agreement. But the Consensual merely indicates that the Obligation is here annexed at once to the ConsenslJs. The Consensus, or mutual assent of the parties, is the final and crowning ingredient in the Convention, and it is the characteristic of agreements falling under one four heads of Sale, Partnership, Agency, and Hiring. that, as soon as the assent of the parties has supplied this ingredient, there is at once a Contract. The Consensus draws with it the Obligation, performing, in transactions of the sort specified, the exact functions which are discharged, in the other contracts, by the Res or Thing ... ."' Henry S. Maine, Ancient Law 322-23 (10th ed. 1884).

consensual crime

See victimless crime under CRIME.

consensual crime-

See victimless crime.

consensual marriage

See MARRIAGE (1).

consensual search

See consent search under SEARCH.

consensus

A general agreement; collective opinion. See general consent under CONSENT (2). "The regular method for the chair to use is to ask the members, 'Is it the consensus of this meeting that .. . is agreed to?' or, 'Is it the will of the assembly that .. . is agreed to?' or, 'Is there an objection?' Consensus has been used successfully throughout the years by Quakers. Indians, New England town meetings, and others as a decision·making procedure. It permits compromise. In small groups where less formality is required, it is a simple method for making deCisions. "General consent is an equivalent to consensus, when done without objection. OtherWise, a formal vote must be taken." Floyd M. Riddick & Miriam H. Butcher, Riddick's Rufes of Procedure 56 (1985).

consensus ad idem

(kan-sen-sas ad I-dem). [Latin] An agreement of parties to the same thing; a meeting of minds. Also termed consensus in idem; consensus in idem, placitum et conventio. "Agreement between the parties or consensus in idem is the basis of contractual obligation ...." 2 David M. Walker, Principles of Scottish Private Law 11 (4th ed. 1988).

consent

1. Agreement, approval, or permission as to some act or purpose, esp. given voluntarily by a competent person; legally effective assent. Consent is an affirmative defense to assault, battery, and related torts, as well as such torts as defamation, invasion of privacy, conversion, and trespass. Consent may be a defense to a crime if the victim has the capacity to consent 'and if the consent negates an element of the crime or thwarts the harm that the law seeks to prevent. See Model Penal Code § 2.11. "The consent [to a contract] is none the less 'genuine' and 'real,' even though it be induced by fraud, mistake, or duress. Consent may be induced by a mistaken hope of gain or a mistaken estimate of value or by the lie of a third person, and yet there is a contract and we do not doubt the 'reality of the consent.' Fraud, mistake, and duress are merely collateral operative facts that co-exist with the expressions of consent and have a very important effect upon the resulting legal relations." William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of Contract199 n.l (Arthur L. Corbin ed., 3d Am. ed. 1919).

consent judgment

See agreed judgment under JUDGMENT.

consent agenda

See consent calendar under CALENDAR (4).

consent agenda-

See consent calendar under CALENDAR (4).

consent calendar

A list of business awaiting a deliberative assembly's vote that is not expected to be substantially opposed and is therefore scheduled for a vote without debate, or for automatic adoption unless a member objects. Also termed consent agenda; unanimous-consent agenda; unanimous-consent calendar. "An assembly with a large number of routine or noncontroverSial matters on its agenda may find it not only convenient but expeditious to consider these matters under unanimous consent procedure. This gives every member an opportunity to object. At the same time, it gives the presiding officer an opportunity to dispose of a great deal of the agenda confronting the assembly quickly and efficiently, particularly when it would be most helpful to the assembly to get its job done. This can even be done by taking en bloc action (that is, dispOSing of various items at the same time without taking separate consideration of them) when matters are not controversial or are of minor importance to the assembly, though every member has the right to object." Floyd M. Riddick & Miriam H. Butcher, Riddick's Rules of Procedure 56 (1985).

consent calendar-

1. A schedule of informal hearings involving a child, usu. arranged when it appears that the child's best interests will be served if the case is heard informally . The child and all interested parties must first consent before the case goes on the consent calendar. 2. For the parliamentary sense relating to a deliberative assembly's business, see consent calendar under CALENDAR (4).

consent clause

See AUTHORIZATION CLAUSE.

consent decree

See DECREE.

consent decree-

A court decree that all parties agree to. - Also termed consent order.

consent dividend

See DIVIDEND.

consent dividend-

A dividend that is not actually paid to the shareholders, but is taxed to the shareholders and increases the basis in their stock investment. A corporation declares a consent dividend to avoid or reduce an accumulated-earnings or personal-holding-company penalty tax.

consent judgment

See agreed judgment.

consent jurisdiction

See JURISDICTION.

consent jurisdiction

Jurisdiction that parties have agreed to, either by accord, by contract, or by general appearance. Parties may not, by agreement, confer subject-matter jurisdiction on a federal court that would not otherwise have it.

consent order

See consent decree under DECREE.

consent search

See SEARCH.

consent search

A search conducted after a person with the authority to do so voluntarily waives Fourth Amendment rights. The government has the burden to show that the consent was given freely not under duress. Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 548-49, 88 S.Ct. 1788, 1792 (1968). Also termed consensual search. The voluntariness of a consent to search is to be determined from the totality of all the circumstances. [Schneckloth v. Bustamante, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041 (1973).] Among the factors to be considered in determining the effectiveness of an alleged consent to search are whether the defendant (1) has minimal schooling or was of low intelligence; (2) was mentally ill or intoxicated; (3) was under arrest at the time the consent was given; (4) was overpowered by officers, handcuffed, or similarly subject to physical restriction; (5) has seized from him by the police the keys to the premises thereafter searched; (6) employed evasive conduct or attempted to mislead the police; (7) denied guilt or the presence of any incriminatory objects in his premises; (8) earlier gave a valid confession or otherwise cooperated, as by instigating the search, or at least the investigation leading to the search; (9) was hesitant in agreeing to the search; or (10) was refused his request to consult with counsel. The presence of some of these factors is not controlling, however, as each case must stand or fall on its own special facts."Jerold H.lsrael & Wayne R. LaFave, Criminal Procedure in a Nutshell 141-42 (5th ed. 1993).

consent to be sued

Agreement in advance to be sued in a particular forum. See COGNOVIT CLAUSE.

consent to notice

A provision stating that notice required by a document may be given beforehand or to a designated person.

consentaneous

See CONSENSUAL.

consentient

See CONSENSUAL.

consequential contempt

See CONTEMPT.

consequential contempt-

1. Contempt that, although not amounting to gross insolence or direct opposition, tends to create a universal disregard of the power and authority of courts and judges. 2. See indirect contempt.

consequential damages

See DAMAGES.

consequential damages-

Losses that do not flow directly and immediately from an injurious act but that result indirectly from the act. Also termed indirect damages.

consequential economic loss

See ECONOMIC LOSS.

consequential economic loss-

Economic loss that proximately results from a defective product and that is beyond direct economic loss. Examples include lost profits and loss of goodwill or business reputation.

consequential injury

See consequential loss under LOSS.

consequential injury

See consequential loss under LOSS.

consequential loss

See LOSS.

consequentialism

Ethics. An ethical theory that judges the rightness or wrongness of actions according to their consequences. One of the best-known types of consequentialism is utilitarianism. See UTILITARIANISM. Cf. VIRTUE ETHICS.

conservation

Environmental law. The supervision, management, and maintenance of natural resources; the protection, improvement, and use of natural resources in a way that ensures the highest social as well as economic benefits.

conservation easement

See EASEMENT.

conservation easement-

A recorded, perpetual, nonpossessory interest in real property held by a government entity or by a qualified nonprofit entity that imposes restrictions or affirmative obligations on the property's owner or lessee to retain or protect natural, scenic, or open-space values of real property, ensure its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational, or open-space use, protect natural resources and habitat, maintain or enhance air or water quality, or preserve the historical, architectural, archeological, or cultural aspects of the real property. - Also termed conservation restriction; conservation servitude.

conservation restriction

See conservation easement under EASEMENT.

conservation restriction

See conservation easement under EASEMENT. 3. Military law. A deprivation of liberty involving moral and legal, rather than physical, restraint. A military restriction is imposed as punishment either by a commanding officers nonjudicial punishment or by a summary, special, or general court-martial. Restriction is a lesser restraint because it permits the restricted person to perform full military duties. See nonjudicial punishment under PUNISHMENT.

conservation servitude

See conservation easement under EASEMENT.

conservation servitude

See conservation easement under EASEMENT.

conservator

(kan-sar-va-tar or kon-sar-vay-tar), n. A guardian, protector, or preserver. Conservator is the modern equivalent of the common-law guardian. Judicial appointment and supervision are still required, but a conservator has far more flexible authority than a guardian, including the same investment powers that a trustee enjoys. The Uniform Probate Code uses the term conservator, and Article 5 is representative of modern conservatorship laws. --conservatorship, n.

conservator of the peace

See PEACE OFFICER.

conserve

1. To take care of; to care for. 2. To protect from change, destruction, or depletion. 3. To reduce or minimize the use of.

consideration

1.Something (such as an act, a forbearance, or a return promise) bargained for and received by a promisor from a promisee; that which motivates a person to do something, esp. to engage in a legal act. Consideration, or a substitute such as promissory estoppel, is necessary for an agreement to be enforceable. See Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 81 (1979). "A 'consideration' has been explained to be 'any act of the plaintiff from which the defendant, or a stranger, derives a benefit or advantage, or any labour, detriment, or inconvenience sustained by the plaintiff, however small the detriment or inconvenience may be, if such act is performed, or inconvenience suffered by the plaintiff with the assent, express or implied, of the defendant, or, in the language of pleading, at the special instance and request of the defen· dant.'·' Thomas E. Holland, The Elements of Jurisprudence 286 (13th ed. 1924). "A conSideration in its widest sense is the reason, motive, or inducement, by which a man is moved to bind himself by an agreement. It is not for nothing that he consents to impose an obligation upon himself, or to abandon or transfer a right. It is in consideration of such and such a fact that he agrees to bear new burdens or to forgo the benefits which the law already allows him." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 3S9 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947). 'The word 'consideration' has been around for a long time, so it is tempting to think we have had a theory of consideration for a long time. In fact until the nineteenth century the word never acquired any particular meaning or stood for any theory." Grant Gilmore, The Death of Contract 18 (1974).

consideration seriatim

Consideration serially, whereby a deliberative assembly considers a long or complex motion in a series of readily divisible parts before on the entire motion. Also termed consideration by paragraph (in which case a "paragraph" means not a literary paragraph but any readily divisible part of a motion, which may include more than one literary paragraph); serial consideration. "When a proposition, motion or resolution has many parts (paragraphs, sections, or clauses), or many articles (as a set of bylaws which is up for revision or amendment), it is best and most prudent that no vote be taken on each separate part. Instead, a single vote covering all its parts should be taken after each of them has been duly considered, amended, and perfected. Seriatim (Lat.) literally means 'serially,' and when applied to several or more parts of a parliamentary proposal or question it means consideration paragraph by paragraph or part by part. "Hence, under the doctrine of consideration by paragraph, or seriatim, each part is discussed and may be amended and perfected to suit; then, without putting it to a vote for final adoption, the next part or paragraph is Similarly open to discussion and amendment, but is not voted on for final adoption yet; and, in like manner, each additional part is perfected in turn until all the parts of a proposal have been considered." George Demeter, Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure 146 (1969).

consideration by paragraph

See consideration seriatim.

consideration, failure of

See FAILURE OF CONSIDERATION.

consideration, want of

See WANT OF CONSIDERATION.

consideratum est per curiam

(kan-sid-a-ray-tam est par kyoor-ee-am). [Latin] Hist. It is considered by the court. This was the formal language preceding the judgment of a common-law court. Sometimes shortened to consideratum est. Cf. IDEO CONSIDERATUM EST. "A judgment is the decision or sentence of the law, given by a court of justice, as the result of proceedings instituted therein for the redress of an injury. The language of the judgment is not, therefore, that 'it is decreed,' or 'resolved,' by the court, but that 'it is considered by the court,' consideratum est per curiam, that the plaintiff recover his debt, etc. In the early writers, considerare, consideratio always means the judgment of a court." 1 John Bouvier, Bouvier's Law Dictionary 619 (8th ed. 1914).

consign

(kam-sin), vb. 1. To transfer to another's custody or charge. 2. To give (goods) to a carrier for delivery to a designated recipient. 3. To give (merchandise or the like) to another to sell, usu. with the understanding that the seller will pay the owner for the goods from the proceeds.

consignation

(kon-sig-nay-shan), n. 1. A debtor's delivery of money to an authorized third party after the creditor refuses to accept the payment. Unlike a tender, a valid consignation discharges the debtor. Cf. TENDER (1). 2. CONSIGNMENT (1).

consignator

(kan-sig-na-tor), n. A person authorized to accept delivery of money from a debtor if a creditor refuses to accept it. See CONSIGNATION.

consignee

(kon-si-nee or kan-). One to whom goods are consigned. Cf. CONSIGNOR.

consignment

(kan-sin-mant). 1. The act of consigning goods for custody or sale. Also termed (archaically) consignation. 2. A quantity of goods delivered by this act, esp. in a Single shipment. 3. Under the UCC, a transaction in which a person delivers goods to a merchant for the purpose of sale, and (1) the merchant deals in goods of that kind under a name other than the name of the person making delivery, is not an auctioneer, and is not generally known by its creditor to be substantially engaged in selling others' goods, (2) with respect to each delivery, the aggregate value of the goods is $1,000 or more at the time of delivery, (3) the goods are not consumer goods immediately before delivery, and (4) the transaction does not create a security interest that secures an obligation. UCC § 9-102(a)(20). 4. See bailment for sale under BAILMENT.

consignment sale

A sale of an owners property (such as clothing or furniture) by a third party entrusted to make the sale. UCC 9-102(a)(20). See CONSIGNMENT.

consignment sale

See SALE.

consignor

(kan-si-nar or kon-si-nor). One who dispatches goods to another on consignment. Cf. CONSIGNEE.

consiliarius

(kan-sil-ee-air-ee-as), n. [fr. Latin consilium "advice"]. 1. Roman law. A person who advises a magistrate; one who sits with the judge and assists in deciding cases. See CONCILIUM (1). 2. Hist. A counselor learned in law. See APOCRISARIUS.

consimili casu

See CASU CONSIMILI.

consistorial court

See CONSISTORY COURT.

Page 86 of 376