Legal Terms, Crimes, and Types of Law: A Comprehensive List
Posted on Jan 15, 2025 in Linguistics
People in Law
- Adjudicator: Someone who decides who is right and what should be done in a disagreement or dispute.
- Advocate: Someone who has the right to speak in open court as the representative of a party in a legal case.
- Appellant: A person who appeals to a higher court in order to get it to change a decision or a sentence imposed by a lower court.
- Applicant: A person who applies for a court order.
- Attorney: Someone who is legally allowed to act on behalf of someone else.
- Barrister: A member of the legal profession who can plead or argue a case in one of the higher courts of law.
- Beneficiary: Someone who receives something under a will.
- Claimant: A person who takes legal action against someone in the civil courts.
- Client: A person who is represented by a lawyer.
- Convict: Someone who is kept in prison as punishment for a crime.
- Coroner: A public official who investigates the cause of death or the reason for it, especially if it is sudden or unexpected.
- Counsel: The term for a barrister acting for one of the parties in a legal action.
- Defendant: Someone who is sued in a civil case or somebody who is accused of a crime in a criminal case.
- Foreman: The person who is elected by the other 11 members of the jury.
- Judge: An official who presides over a court and in civil cases decides which party is in the right.
- Judiciary: The collective word for all judges in a country, as well as the court system in general.
- Juror: A member of a jury.
- Jury: A group of 12 citizens who are sworn to decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty on the basis of the evidence they hear in court.
- Lawyer: A general term for any qualified member of the legal profession.
- Magistrate: An official who tries cases in a lower court (only in the UK).
- Probation Officer: Supervises people who have committed something wrong but are not sent to prison, or people who have been released early from prison on certain conditions.
- Prosecutor: The person who brings criminal charges against someone in a court.
- Solicitor: A lawyer who has passed the examinations of the Law Society and has a valid certificate to practice, who gives advice to members of the public and acts for them in legal matters.
- Suspect: Someone whom the police believe has committed a crime.
- Testator: A man who has made a will.
- Tortfeasor: Someone who has committed a civil wrong or tort.
- Witness: Someone who sees something happen or is present when it happens.
Types of Criminal Acts/Violations
- Armed Robbery: The act of using a weapon or the threat of violence to steal property or money from another person or entity.
- Arson: The act of intentionally setting fire to property, often a building, with malicious intent.
- Assault: The intentional act of causing harm or injury to another person, typically involving physical force or the threat of physical force.
- Battery: The intentional and unlawful use of force against another person, resulting in harmful or offensive contact.
- Bribery: Offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting something of value (such as money, gifts, or favors) to influence the actions of a person in a position of power or trust, often in violation of laws or ethical standards.
- Burglary: Illegally entering a building or structure with the intent to commit a crime, usually theft.
- Domestic Violence: Physical, emotional, or psychological abuse between individuals in a domestic or intimate relationship.
- Drug Trafficking: The illegal production, transportation, distribution, or sale of controlled substances, such as narcotics or illegal drugs.
- Drunk Driving: Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, often leading to impaired driving ability and an increased risk of accidents.
- Embezzlement: The unlawful misappropriation or theft of funds or property entrusted to one’s care, typically by someone in a position of trust or responsibility.
- Extortion: Obtaining money, property, or services from someone through coercion, intimidation, or threats of violence.
- Forgery: The act of creating, altering, or imitating a document, signature, or other item with the intent to deceive or defraud.
- Fraud: Deliberate deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, often involving misrepresentation or concealment of facts.
- Homicide: The killing of one person by another, which may be classified as murder, manslaughter, or justifiable homicide depending on the circumstances.
- Insider Dealing: Illegally trading securities based on material non-public information, typically obtained by someone with a fiduciary duty or inside knowledge of a company.
- Joyriding: The unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, often for the purpose of temporary enjoyment or thrill-seeking, without the owner’s permission.
- Kidnapping: The unlawful abduction or confinement of a person against their will, often for ransom or other unlawful purposes.
- Larceny: The unlawful taking and carrying away of someone else’s personal property with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of it.
- Manslaughter: The unlawful killing of another person without malice aforethought, often classified as voluntary or involuntary manslaughter based on the circumstances.
- Money Laundering: The process of concealing the origins of illegally obtained money or assets by transferring them through a complex sequence of banking or commercial transactions.
- Obstruction of Justice: Interfering with the administration of justice or the investigation of a crime, such as by tampering with evidence, providing false information, or intimidating witnesses.
- Rape: Non-consensual sexual intercourse or other sexual acts, often involving force, coercion, or incapacity on the part of the victim.
- Shoplifting: The act of stealing goods from a retail store without paying for them or without the owner’s consent.
- Stalking: Repeatedly harassing or threatening another person, often causing fear or emotional distress, through unwanted and obsessive behavior.
- Tax Evasion: Illegally avoiding paying taxes owed to the government by underreporting income, inflating deductions, or other fraudulent means.
- Theft: The unlawful taking of another person’s property with the intent to permanently deprive them of it.
- Vandalism: The deliberate destruction or defacement of property belonging to another person or entity, often motivated by malice or disregard for others.
- White-Collar Crime: Non-violent, financially motivated crimes typically committed by individuals or corporations in positions of trust or authority, such as fraud, embezzlement, or insider trading.
Types of Law
- Maritime Law: The law that deals with everything connected with the sea or ships.
- The Law of Tort: The law that deals with every citizen’s responsibility not to harm other people in any way, even if it is not a contractual or criminal situation.
- Business and Company Law: The law that deals with the way businesses are set up (created) and run (operated) and how they must work in relation to each other and the general public.
- Contract Law: The law that deals with private agreements between people or companies and tries to make sure that no one suffers a loss if an agreement is broken.
- The Law of Equity & Trusts: The law that deals with situations where someone has control of property for a period of time and must look after it for the benefit of someone else.
- IT Law: The law that deals with everything connected with information and how it is passed between people, especially by means of the Internet.
- Intellectual Property Law: The law that deals with the protection of the rights of inventors (who might invent a new drug or machine) or artists (who might write a book or a song).
- Family Law: The law that deals with events such as divorce and the custody of (the right to look after) children.
- Employment/Labor Law: The law that deals with people’s rights, pay, or conditions in the workplace.
- The Law of Real Property/Conveyancing: The law that deals with land, including transferring the ownership of buildings or land from one person to another.
- Criminal Law: The law that punishes acts against a person or against property that people consider to be harmful to the whole community. The state prosecutes criminals.
- Civil Law: The law concerning the rights and duties of private individuals and companies rather than criminal matters.