General

• Acknowledgement of serviceThis must be filed by a defendant if they are unable to file their defence within a specified period or if they wish to dispute the jurisdiction of a...
• ActAct of Parliament - primary legislation enacted by...
• ActionProceedings issued in the County or High Court. (Now known as...
• Address for ServiceThis is where one party will accept the delivery or service of legal...
• AdjournmentThe temporary suspension of the hearing of a...
• AdjudicationJudgment or decision in a...
• Administrative CourtPart of the High Court which deals with Judicial...
• Admissible(Evidence) which is allowed to be used in a...
• AdversarialThe system of justice used in British courts for trying to get at the truth, based upon argument between two...
• AdvocateSomeone (generally a Barrister or Solicitor) who represents a party in a Court...
• Affidavit A written statement which is confirmed on oath or by...
• AffirmAlternative to swearing a document on oath to promise that it is...
• Allocation questionnaireThis is issued to all parties after a defence has been filed, and is used to decide which track the case will be allocated...
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)This is the collective term for the ways in which parties can settle civil disputes without the need for a formal court...
• AppealAn application to a higher court for a review of the decision of a lower...
• AppellantPerson who instigates an...
• ApplicantThe person who is bringing the proceedings to...
• Arbitration The process of using an independent third party, agreed by both sides, to settle disputes without going to...
• Assisted PersonA party to legal proceedings who is receiving legal...
• AwardThe amount of damages assessed by a...
• BarThe body to which all Barristers...
• BarristerLegal professionals who have rights of audience before all...
• Basic ChargesGeneral charges incurred for legal...
• Bench WarrantA warrant issued by a judge for a defendant who is missing which requires them to be arrested and brought before...
• Bill of CostsA detailed statement of a party's...
• Bona FideIn good...
• BriefWritten instructions and history of a case which is sent to a...
• Burden of ProofThe standard of proof which must be shown in order to win a...
• Case NumberA unique reference number which is allocated to each...
• ChambersOffices used by a barrister. Alternatively, a private Court from which the public are excluded in which a Judge may conduct certain...
• Chancery DivisionA section of the High Court, divided between Chancery Chambers and Bankruptcy and Companies...
• Circuit JudgeCircuit judges must be lawyers who have held a 'right of audience' for at least ten years, and must also have served either part-time as a recorder on criminal cases or full-time as district judges on civil cases before they can be...
• CivilMatters concerning private rights as opposed to offences against the...
• ClaimProceedings issued in the County or High Court. Previously known as an...
• Claim FormForm on which a Claim is issued (previously known as a...
• ClaimantPerson issuing a Claim (previously known as the...
• Co-RespondentA person joined as a party to...
• Commissioner of OathsSolicitors authorised by the Lord Chancellor to administer oaths and affirmations to a statement of...
• Common LawLaw established by precedent from judicial...
• CompensationSum of money paid in respect of loss, breakage, hardship, inconvenience or personal...
• ConciliationThis is where disputing parties attempt to reach an agreement out of...
• Concurrent WritThis is a duplicate of an original...
• Conduct MoneyMoney paid to a witness in advance of the hearing of a case as compensation for time spent attending...
• Conjoined AppealThis is when appeal claims are joined in...
• Contempt of CourtDisobedience or wilful disregard to the judicial...
• Costs orders An order in court proceedings determining who should pay for each party’s...
• CounselA...
• CounterclaimA claim made by a defendant against a claimant in an...
• County CourtCourt dealing with civil...
• CourtBody with judicial...
• Court Order The recorded decision of a judge, once he has heard and considered the evidence from all parties in the...
• Court RoomPlace where cases are...
• Court of AppealThe second highest court in the land, after the House of...
• Court of ProtectionThe branch of the High Court with jurisdiction over the estates of people mentally incapable of handling their own financial...
• CovenantA formal agreement or a contract which constitutes an obligation to perform an...
• DamagesAn amount of money claimed as compensation for physical or material...
• DeclarationCourt order setting out the rights of a party in the form of a...
• DecreeAn order of the Court in proceedings commenced by...
• DeedA formal document signed and witnessed or...
• Default JudgmentObtained by the claimant as a result of the failure of a defendant to comply with the requirements of a...
• DefendantThe party against whom proceedings are...
• DeponentPerson giving evidence by...
• DepositionA statement of evidence written down and sworn on oath or by...
• Detailed Assessment (of costs)Where costs are dealt with by the drawing of a bill of...
• DeterminationAct of scrutinising a bill of costs in criminal proceedings to see if the work done and amount claimed is...
• Direct ExaminationThe questioning of a witness by the party who called...
• Directions Instructions given by a judge to proceed the case once he has considered the facts presented by the...
• DisbursementPayments made by a solicitor or barrister other than those covered by the Basic...
• Disclaimer A document which denies legal...
• DisclosureProviding information to both the court and to the other...
• DiscontinuanceNotice given by the Court, on instruction by the claimant, that they no longer wish to proceed with the...
• Discovery of documentsMutual exchange of evidence and all relevant information held by each party relating to the...
• DismissalTo make order or decision that a claim be...
• District JudgeJudges whose duties involve hearing applications made within proceedings and final...
• DomicileThe country in which a person is normally...
• Duty of CareA duty to take reasonable care not to cause physical, psychiatric or economic loss or...
• Engrossment The final version of a...
• Entry of JudgmentDecision of the Court in favour of one or other of the...
• European Court of JusticeThe highest court in the European...
• Ex parteMeaning 'on behalf of only one...
• Expert WitnessPerson employed to give evidence on a subject in which they are qualified or have...
• Fee EarnerA solicitor who is carrying out specific...
• FilingDocuments sent to the court for sealing and...
• GuarantorSomeone who promises to pay money to creditors in case it isn't paid by a...
• High Court A Civil...
• House of LordsThe highest court in the...
• InjunctionAn order by a Court either preventing or requiring someone to carry out a certain...
• InquisitorialThis system of justice aims to get at the truth without the "conflict" part of the Adversarial...
• Inspection of DocumentsArrangements made to allow mutual exchange and copying of documents, following disclosure of...
• InstructionJob given to a...
• Interim HearingA court hearing which does not reach a final...
• Interim OrderAn order during the course of court proceedings which is not the final...
• Interim Payments/DamagesA payment made as a result of a court order or as offered by an opponent before the case is...
• InterlocutoryInterim or pending a full...
• IssueTo initiate legal proceedings in pursuit of a...
• JudgeAn officer appointed to administer the law and who has authority to hear and try cases in a Court of...
• Judgment The final decision of a Court  A Judge’s final decision ...
• Judicial ReviewThe review of decisions of lower courts and public bodies by the High...
• JurisdictionThe area and the matters over which a Court has legal...
• JurorA person who has been summoned by a Court to be a member of the...
• JuryBody of jurors sworn to reach a verdict according to the evidence in a...
• Jury SummonsOrder to attend jury...
• Justice of the PeaceA lay person who is appointed to administer judicial business in a Magistrates...
• LawThe system made up of rules established by legislation, custom or...
• Law LordsThe judges who sit in the House of...
• Legal Aid Money paid by the Government for legal expenses of people who are deemed not able to afford it Government help for those who cannot afford legal representation ...
• Legal Executive Solicitor’s "unadmitted"...
• LibelA written and published statement or article which causes harm to...
• LitigationLegal...
• LodgingThe process of delivering documents to a...
• Lord ChancellorThe cabinet minister who acts as speaker of the House of Lords and oversees the hearings of the Law...
• Lord Chief JusticeSenior judge of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) who also heads the Queens Bench Division of the High Court of...
• Lord Justice of AppealTitle given to certain judges sitting in the Court of...
• Master of the RollsSenior judge of the Civil Division of the Court of...
• MitigationReasons submitted in proceedings on behalf of the defendant in order to minimise the...
• MotionAn application by one party to the High Court for an order in their...
• Notary PublicSomeone who is authorised to swear oaths and certify the execution of...
• Notice of IssueNotice sent by a Court to a claimant which gives notification of the case number allocated to their action and any details of fees...
• Notice of applicationThe document by which proceedings are brought to a...
• OathA verbal promise by a person with religious beliefs to tell the truth in...
• Official SolicitorA solicitor or barrister appointed by the Lord Chancellor and working in the Lord Chancellor's...
• On NoticeWhen the other party is given notice of, and served with, an...
• Open correspondenceCorrespondence between solicitors which is not marked “without...
• Oral ExaminationA method of questioning a person under oath before an officer of the Court to obtain details of their financial...
• OrderA direction by a...
• Part 36 OfferThis is essentially a settlement...
• ParticularsDetails relevant to a...
• PartyAny of the participants in a Court action or...
• PatientA person who is deemed incapable of handling their own affairs by reason of mental...
• Penal NoticeA court warning notifying the recipient that a breach of the order will result in committal to...
• Personal ApplicationApplication made to the Court without legal...
• Personal ServicePersonal delivery of a claim, summons or...
• PlaintiffPerson issuing a Claim (now known as...
• PleadingDocuments setting out a claim or defence of parties involved in civil...
• Power of ArrestAn order attached to some injunctions to allow the police to arrest a person who has broken the terms of an...
• Pre-trial ReviewA preliminary appointment to consider the issues before the Court and fix the timetable for the...
• PrecedentThe decision of a case which established principles of law that act as an authority for future cases of a similar...
• ProcessThe document commencing a claim or subsequent...
• Public TrusteeOfficial who can act as an executor or administrator of an estate of a deceased person, or as a...
• Puisne JudgeRefers to any judge of the High Court other than the heads of each...
• QuantumIn a damages claim the amount to be determined by the...
• QuashTo declare no longer...
• Queen's Counsel (QC)Senior...
• Queens Bench DivisionDivision of the High...
• ReceiverPerson appointed by the Court of Protection to act on behalf of a...
• RecorderMembers of the legal profession who are appointed to act in a judicial capacity on a part time...
• RedeterminationAn application by a solicitor or barrister to reconsider amounts assessed by...
• RemedyPayments or other actions ordered by a court in order to settle a...
• RespondentThe party against whom proceedings are...
• Restitution When a Warrant of Restitution must be...