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D

Legal definitions for terms and concepts beginning with D
Damages
A cash compensation ordered by a court to offset losses or suffering caused by another’s fault or negligence. - (see definition)
Dangerous offender
A person convicted of serious crimes and who is likely to re-offend. - (see definition)
Deadbeat Dad
A father who ignores a Court order to pay child support. - (see definition)
Death
Irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions and of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. - (see definition)
Death penalty
Also known as capital punishment, this is the most severe form of corporal punishment as it is requires law enforcement officers to kill the offender. - (see definition)
de bonis non
Latin and short for de bonis non administratis. A word used exclusively in estate matters and refers to situations where an estate is abandonoed by an administrator only partially administered and someone must be appointed to complete the administration of the residue of the estate; those assets not yet administered. - (see definition)
Debt
An amount of money due and payable, from one person to another. - (see definition)
Debtor
A person who owes money, goods or services to another, the latter being referred to as the creditor. - (see definition)
Decapitation
The act of beheading a person, usually instantly such as with a large and heavy knife or by guillotine, as a form of capital punishment. - (see definition)
Decedent
An individual who has died. - (see definition)
Decree absolute
The name given to the final and conclusive court order after the condition of a decree nisi is met. - (see definition)
Decree nisi
A provisional decision of a court which does not have force or effect until a certain condition is met such as another petition brought before the court or after the passage of a period time, after which it is called a decree absolute. - (see definition)
Deed
A written and signed document which sets out the things that have to be done or recognitions of the parties towards a certain object. - (see definition)
Deem
To accept a document or an event as conclusive of a certain status in the absence of evidence or facts which would normally be required to prove that status. - (see definition)
De facto
Latin: as a matter of fact; something which, while not necessarily lawful or legally sanctified, exists in fact. - (see definition)
Defalcation
1. Defaulting on a debt or other obligation such to account for public or trust funds. Usually used in the context of public officials. 2. Defalcation has another legal meaning referring to the setting-off of two debts owed between two people by the agreement to a new amount representing the balance. - (see definition)
Defamation
An attack on the good reputation of a person, by slander or libel. - (see definition)
Defamatory Libel
Deliberate publication of defamatory lies which the publisher knows to be false. - (see definition)
Defeasance
A side-contract which contains a condition which, if realized, could defeat the main contract. - (see definition)
Defendant
The person, company or organization who defends a legal action taken by a plaintiff and against whom the court has been asked to order damages or specific corrective action redress some type of unlawful or improper action alleged by the plaintiff. - (see definition)
Defense Attorney or Defence Counsel
Lawyers who represent persons facing criminal charges. - (see definition)
Dehors
French for outside. In the context of legal proceedings, it refers to that which is irrelevant or outside the scope of the debate. - (see definition)
De jure
Latin: 'of the law.' The term has come to describe a total adherence of the law. - (see definition)
Delegatus non potest delegare
One of the pivotal principles of administrative law: that a delegate cannot delegate. - (see definition)
Delict
A Quebec civil law term which imposes liability on a person who causes injury to another, or for injury caused by a person or thing under his custody. - (see definition)
Demand Letter
A letter from a lawyer, on behalf of a client, that demands payment or some other action, which is allegedly in default. - (see definition)
Demarche
A word coined by the diplomatic community and referring to a strongly worded warning by one country to another and often, either explicitly or implicitly, with the threat of military consequence. - (see definition)
De minimis non curat lex
Latin: a common law principle whereby judges will not sit in judgement of extremely minor transgressions of the law. - (see definition)
Democracy
A form of government in which the people freely govern themselves; where the executive (or administrative) and law-making (or legislative) power is given to persons chosen by the population; the free people. - (see definition)
Demurrage
A term of maritime law which refers to the damages payable by a ship charterer, to the ship owner, as compensation for loss time; where a chartered ship is not returned to the owner on a specified date. - (see definition)
Demurrer
A mostly obsolete motion put to a trial judge after the plaintiff has completed his or her case, in which the defendant, while not objecting to the facts presented, and rather than responding by a full defence, asks the court to reject the petition right then and there because of a lack of basis in law or insufficiency of the evidence. - (see definition)
De novo
Latin: new. This term is used to refer to a trial which starts over, which wipes the slate clean and begins all over again, as if any previous partial or complete hearing had not occurred. - (see definition)
Deportation
The removal of a foreign national under immigration laws for reasons such as illegal entry or conduct dangerous to the public welfare. - (see definition)
Deposition
The official statement by a witness taken in writing (as opposed to testimony which where a witnesses give their perception of the facts verbally). - (see definition)
Descendant
Those person who are born of, or from children of, another are called that person’s descendants. - (see definition)
Detention
The exercise of an element of physical constraint of an individual. - (see definition)
Deterrence
A principle or objective of sentencing a person guilty of a crime which ensures that the punishment is sufficient to deter the guilty person, and others, from committing the same crime. - (see definition)
Detinue
A common law action similar to conversion and also involving the possession of property by the plaintiff may also ask for damages for the duration of the possession. - (see definition)
Devastavit
Latin for 'he has wasted.' This is the technical word referring to a personal representative who has mismanaged the estate and allowed an avoidable loss to occur. - (see definition)
Devise
The transfer or conveyance of real property by will. - (see definition)
Dicta or dictum
Latin: an observation by a judge on a matter not specifically before the court or not necessary in determining the issue before the court; a side opinion which does not form part of the judgment for the purposes of stare decisis. May also be called 'obiter dictum.' - (see definition)
Dictatorship
A form of government with a single person as decision-maker; a single ruler. - (see definition)
Diligence
The degree of attention or care required of a person in a given situation. - (see definition)
Diplomacy
Peaceful representations between states. - (see definition)
Diplomat
An official representative of a state, present in another state for the purposes of general representation of the state-of-origin or for the purpose of specific international negotiations on behalf of the diplomat's state-of-origin. - (see definition)
Diplomatic Immunity
Immunity extended to diplomat officers from criminal and civil jurisdiction of their host state. - (see definition)
Directed Verdict
When the Court stops a trial determining that an essential fact has not been proven. - (see definition)
Direct Evidence
Evidence tendered in trial in the form of recounting of personal observations or a document which directly establishes a fact sought to be proven. - (see definition)
Disability Insurance
An insurance contract in which the insurer agrees to pay money or to other benefits in the event that the person insured becomes disabled. - (see definition)
Disbursement
Miscellaneous expenses other than lawyer fees and court costs (i.e. filing fees) which paid on behalf of another person and for which reimbursement will eventually be demanded of that person. - (see definition)
Discharge
A sentence of a person found guilty of a crime in which that person does not receive a criminal record of conviction, either absolutely or conditionally. - (see definition)
Discretionary trust
A trust in which the settlor has given the trustee full discretion to decide which (and when) members of a group of beneficiaries is to receive either the income or the capital of the trust. - (see definition)
Disrate
A term of maritime law where an officer or other seaman is either demoted in rank or deprived of a promotion. - (see definition)
Dissent
To disagree. The word is used in legal circles to refer to the minority opinion of a judge which runs contrary to the conclusions of the majority. - (see definition)
Dissolution
The act of ending, terminating or winding-up a company or state of affairs. - (see definition)
Distraint
The right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant which is in the premises being rented, as collateral against a tenant that has not paid the rent or has otherwise defaulted on the lease, such as wanton disrepair or destruction of the premises. - (see definition)
District Attorney
A lawyer in the USA charged with prosecution of criminal charges on behalf of the government. - (see definition)
Diversity Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction of a US federal court to dispose of a matter meeting a monetary threshold and between residents of different states. - (see definition)
Dividend
A proportionate distribution of profits made in the form of a money payment to shareholders, by a for-profit corporation. Dividends are declared by a company's board of directors. - (see definition)
Divorce
The final, legal ending of a marriage, by Court order. - (see definition)
Divorce a mensa et thoro
An obselete form of divorce order which did not end the marriage but allowed the parties to reside separate; in effect, a legal or judicially-sanctioned separation of two married persons. - (see definition)
DNA
Abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. A chromosome molecule which carries genetic coding unique to each person with the only exception of identical twins (that is why it is also called 'DNA fingerprinting'). - (see definition)
Docket
An official court record book which lists all the cases before the court and which may also note the status or action required for each case. - (see definition)
Doctrine
A rule or principle or the law established through the repeated application of legal precedents. - (see definition)
Domicile
The permanent residence of a person; a place to which, even if he or she were temporary absent, they intend to return. - (see definition)
Dominant tenement
Used when referring to easements to specify that property (i.e. tenement) or piece of land that benefits from, or has the advantage of, an easement. - (see definition)
Dominion directum
Latin: the qualified ownership of a landlord, not having possession or use of property but retaining ownership. - (see definition)
Dominion utile
Latin: the property rights of a tenant. While not owning the property in a legal sense, the tenant, as having dominion utile, enjoys full and exclusive possession and use of the property. - (see definition)
Donatio mortis causa
A death-bed gift, made by a dying person, with the intent that the person receiving the gift shall keep the thing if death ensues. - (see definition)
Donee
Another word to describe the beneficiary of a trust. - (see definition)
Donor
The person who donates property to the benefit of another, usually through the legal mechanism of a trust. - (see definition)
Double Jeopardy
A prohibition against being tried or sentenced twice for the same offense. - (see definition)
Dower
Dower: a widow's life estate interest in an intestate's real property - (see definition)
Duces tecum
Latin: bring with you. Used most frequently for a species of subpoena (as in subpoena duces tecum) which seeks not so much the appearance of a person before a court of law, but the surrender of a thing (eg. a document or some other evidence) by its holder, to the court, to serve as evidence in a trial. - (see definition)
Due process
A term of US law which refers to fundamental procedural legal safeguards of which every citizen has an absolute right when a state or court purports to take a decision that could affect any right of that citizen. - (see definition)
Dum casta
Latin: for so long as she remains chaste. - (see definition)
Dum sola
Latin: for so long as she remains unmarried. - (see definition)
Dum vidua
Latin: for so long as she remains a widow. - (see definition)
Duplex
A house which has separate but complete facilities to accommodate two families as either adjacent units or one on top of the other. - (see definition)
Duress
Where a person is prevented from acting (or not acting) according to their free will, by threats or force of another, it is said to be 'under duress'. - (see definition)

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Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.

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