Foreign Words

Legal Reasoning
(LeR– 3)
ab initio

- from the beginning

The contract was void ab initio.

This means the contract was null and void right from the beginning.
actus reus and mens rea

actus reus mens rea

- the guilty act - criminal intent
In the context of crime, it is It is the awareness of the fact
the act or the physical that his/her conduct is
components of the crime criminal
ad infinitum

- to infinity without end or limit

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.”

Similar to etcetra.
ad hoc

- a solution designed for a specific problem or task, cannot be

generalized

In order to engage residents while addressing issues, the City

Council formally approved three ad hoc subcommittees.
ad idem

- Meeting of the minds between the parties to a contract

where all understand and have accepted the contractual
commitments made by each other, respectively.

When the two parties are mistaken about the terms of the
contract, there is no consensus ad idem.

consensus ad idem
ad valorem

- according to the value

Property tax is an ad valorem tax since it is levied as a

percentage of the value of the property.
amicus curiae

- friend of the court – one who is not a party to the lawsuit,

but is allowed to advise the court regarding a point of law
or fact directly concerning the lawsuit

Supreme Court appointed Anand Grover as amicus curiae to

assist the court in a matter regarding the suo moto powers
of National Green Tribunal.
Orissa High Court appointed N K Mohanty as amicus curiae
to submit a report on the status of the Sun Temple at
Konark.
bona fide and mala fide

bona fide mala fide

- in good faith - in bad faith or with
fraudulent intention
Retirement incentives were
included as part of a bona Raghu informed his manager
fide employee benefit plan about the absence of his
colleague with malafide
intention to tarnish his image.
caveat

- a warning or a caution

A final caveat: Most experts feel that clients get

unsatisfactory results when they don't specify clearly what
they want.

a warning to consider something before taking any more action, or a

statement that limits a more general statement
caveat emptor

- let the buyer beware

The principle of caveat emptor implies that the seller is not

obliged to volunteer negative information regarding the
item that is being sold. The buyer needs to be careful of
what he/she is buying.
 compos mentis
compos mentis
- of sound mind
She tried to prove that her
grandmother was no
longer compos mentis and
needed a legal guardian.
sound mind: capable of rational
thought and decision making
non compos mentis
- not of sound mind
His grandfather was non
compos mentis when he wrote
the will bequeathing his entire
property to his arch rival.
de facto and de jure

de facto de jure
- standard by practice - standard by law

Microsoft Word is the de Possession of small amounts of

facto standard word marijuana in Texas today is
processing software in the de-facto legal, but de-jure
world. illegal, meaning it is illegal but
the state can’t prove it.
de facto, a legal concept used to refer to what happens in reality or in
practice, as opposed to de jure (“from the law”), which refers to what is
actually notated in legal code.
de novo

- anew, afresh

Since I am not happy with the way the trial was conducted, I
am applying for a trial de novo.
ex parte

- from one party,

An ex parte decision is one which is reached by one party

without the other party being present.
ex post facto

- retroactive, effective from a date in the past

One of the problems with error messages is that they are

usually ex post facto reports of failure. They say, "Bad
things just happened, and all you can do is acknowledge the
catastrophe."
in personam and in rem

in personam in rem
- against a person - against an item or thing

I have leased my house to My ownership of the house

Ravi and I have a right in gives me a right in rem and no
personam to collect the one can take it away from me.
rent from Ravi.
intra vires and ultra vires

intra vires ultra vires

- within the powers - beyond the powers

If an act requires legal If an act requires legal

authority and it is executed authority and it is executed
with the authority, it is without the authority, then it is
intra vires. ultra vires.
ipso facto

- by the very fact

The fact that we live in communities means that we

are ipso facto interdependent.
modus operandi

- manner of operation

The modus operandi of the last few robberies in the locality

is the same.
persona non grata

- an unwelcome person

He has become persona non grata in the club since his

angry tirade against the manager last month.
prima facie

- at first appearance; a fact presumed to be true unless it is

disproved

I heard thunder last night and today morning there were

puddles of water in the lawn. This is prima facie evidence
that it rained last night.

on the face of it
quid pro quo

- this for that

Natalie needs to have her air conditioning unit repaired,

and discusses the matter with her neighbour, Ralph. Ralph,
agrees to do the repairs, including labour and the cost for
parts, if Natalie will keep his dogs at her home while he goes
on a vacation to Florida for two weeks.
sine die

- without day

The court was adjourned sine die. I don’t know when the
next hearing would be held.

with no appointed date for resumption, mostly used for adjournment

sub judice

- under judgment

Since the issue is sub judice, the court has ordered not to
publish any information related to the proceedings.

a particular case or matter is under trial or being considered by a judge

or court.
suo moto

- of its own motion

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday took

suo moto notice of the suicides of debt-ridden farmers in the
two states and issued notices to the governments.

In a legal context, the term is often used to describe a situation where a

court or other authority takes action without being prompted or
requested to do so by another party.
 veto

- forbid

The President of India has the power to veto a bill after it is

passed by both the houses of parliament.

an official power or right to refuse to accept or allow something even if

most of the other people or organizations involved approve of it
vis major/force majeure

- greater force; an act of God

Generally, no one is responsible for an accident which arises

from the vis major. So the loss needs to be endured and no
one can be sued.
Ratio decidendi

- the principle on which the case was decided

The ratio decidendi is one of the most powerful tools

available to a lawyer. With a proper understanding of
the ratio of a precedent, the advocate can in effect force a
lower court to come to a decision which that court may
otherwise be unwilling to make, considering the facts of the
case.
Obiter dictum

- judge's expression of opinion uttered in court or in a

written judgement, but not essential to the decision and
therefore not legally binding as a precedent. In other
words, an incidental remark.

For instance, in a case involving the truck sale being

governed by the Uniform Commercial Code, the observation
by the judge that SUVs also ought to be governed by the
Uniform Commercial Code is obiter dicta, because it is not
dealing with the case at issue.
Pro bono

- for the public good

Lawyers in the United States are recommended

under American Bar Association (ABA) ethical rules to
contribute at least fifty hours of pro bono service per year.
Sui generis

- in a class by itself; unique

When citing cases and other authorities, lawyers and judges

may refer to "a sui generis case", or "a sui
generis authority", meaning it is a special one confined
to its own facts, and therefore may not be of broader
application.
Estoppel

- a rule of law that prevents a person from denying the

truth of a statement made.

The landlord asked the tenant to make only a partial

payment of the rent for a specific period, but later when he
claimed full rent for the same period, an estoppel arises and
he could be estopped from demanding full rent.
Time to practice…