LEGAL VOCABULARY 1

The following ordinary words have special legal meaning. Define, explain or
illustrate, and use each in a grammatically and legally correct sentence.
1. Action
- is a proceeding brought by one party against another for the prosecution
of a wrong done or for the prevention of an offense.
- The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor instituted a criminal action for
murder against Ernesto.
2. Alibi
- is a defense invoked by the accused in a criminal case that they could not
have committed the crime because they were somewhere other than the
place of the crime at the time it was committed.
- Amy’s alibi that she could not have possibly committed the crime of theft
since she was working at the coffee shop at the time it was committed
was not accepted by the court because she has ample time to go to the
place of the crime and back to the coffee shop where she was working.
3. Answer
- The Amended Rules on Civil Procedure defined answer as a pleading in
which a party sets forth his defenses.
- He set forth the affirmative defense of Statute of Frauds in his answer to
the plaintiff’s complaint for collection of sum of money with damages
against him.
4. Appearance
- In a catena of cases, the Supreme Court ruled that appearance occurs
when a party to a lawsuit physically appears in court, or does a formal act
(asking for affirmative relief) through which a defendant submits to the
jurisdiction of the court in which the lawsuit is pending.
- The Regional Trial Court did not consider Maria’s appearance as special
because in her pleading, she also asked for affirmative relief other than
questioning the lack of jurisdiction of the court over her person.
5. Attachment
- Attachment is the interlocutory action of seizing property in anticipation
of a favorable judgment for a plaintiff who claims to have lent money to
the defendant.
- Awaiting the ultimate effects of the final judgment of the case, the
plaintiff resorted to the remedy of preliminary attachment under the
 Rules of Court to preserve and protect his rights and interests during the
interim.
6. Bargain
- Bargain is an agreement between parties for the exchange of promises or
performances.
- In the case for murder, the prosecutor and the accused entered into a plea
bargaining, whereby the accused pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of
homicide in exchange for a more lenient sentence.
7. Bill
- is a written legislative proposal for the enactment of law.
- The bill for bringing back death penalty into operation has become an
enrolled bill after both houses of Congress has given its final approval
and a final copy of it was printed to be certified as correct by the
Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General of the House of
Representatives.
8. Brief
- a brief is a written legal argument that is presented to a court to aid it in
reaching a conclusion on the legal issues involved in the case.
- The appellant in a case seasonably submitted his appellant’s brief laying
down the arguments to convince the appellate court as to why the trial
court's decision should be overturned.
9. Charge
- In criminal cases, a charge is a formal accusation of criminal activity
against a person or persons who appear to be responsible for its
commission.
- The accused sought for the quashal of the charge of estafa against him on
the ground that the officer who filed the information had no authority to
do so.
10.Continuance
- is a postponement of a date of a trial, hearing or other court appearance to
a later fixed date by order of the court, or upon a stipulation by the parties
with leave of court.
- The counsel for the accused moved for the continuance of the
presentation of his primary witness on a later date because such witness
is being hospitalized and is still waiting to be discharged.
11.Cure
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12.Damages
13.Depose
14.Dispose
15.Execute
16.Garnish
17.Guardian
18.Information
19.Injunction
20.Leave of court
21.Motion
22.Order
23.Party
24.Prayer
25.Recess
26.Remand
27.Reply
28.Reprimand
29.Rest case
30.Sentence
31.Stay
32.Venue