Glossary of Legal Terms Beginning with R

Duhaime's Law Dictionary

R: Legal definitions for terms and concepts beginning with R

Remanet: Latin: an action that has been put over, deferred to a later time.
Remedy: Remedial judicial action to right a wrong or to prevent a infringement upon a legal right.
REMO: Abbreviation for reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders, an international system of enforcement of support orders.
Renewable Energy: Electrical energy derived from naturally occurring resources and which do not deplete the source as energy is produced.
Rent: Money or other consideration paid by a tenant to a landlord in exchange for the exclusive use and enjoyment of land, a building or a part of a building.
Replevin: A legal action taken to reclaim goods which have been distrained.
Republic: A form of government where the law-makers and administrators are chosen by the people and not king or queen, or chosen thereby.
Republication: The validation of a previously invalid will by express reference to it in a subsequent will or codicil.
Rescind: To abrogate or cancel a contract putting the parties in the same position they would have been in had there been no contract.
Rescue: Taking and setting at liberty, against the law, either goods or imprisoned persons.
Res Derelicta: Latin: a thing abandoned.
Research: Investigating or closely studying a subject.
Reserve: Government-owned land set aside for the exclusive use of Aboriginal people.
Res Gestae: Latin: things done.
Residential Tenancy: The lease of residential premises for residential purposes.
Res Ipsa Loquitur: Latin: the thing speaks for itself.
Res Judicata: Latin: already subject to judicial determination.
Res Noviter Veniens Ad Notitiam: Latin: Fact(s) newly coming to knowledge.
Resolution: The formal decision of an organization. A motion which has obtained the necessary majority vote in favor.
Respondeat superior: Latin: let the principal answer.
Respondent: The party that responds to a claim filed in court against them by a plaintiff.
Restitutio In Integrum: Latin: restitution to the original position.
Restitution: The return to a rightful owner of a thing wrongfully taken.
Restorative Justice: An alternate form of dealing with crime by engaging both offender and victim in post-offence mediation.
Restrictive Covenant: A contract in which a party agrees to be restricted in some regards as to future conduct.
Resulting Trust: A trust that is presumed by the court from certain situations.
Retainer: A contract between a lawyer and his (or her) client, wherein the lawyer agrees to represent and provide legal advice to the client, in exchange for money.
Retorsion: Discriminatory actions against the citizens of one state by and within that of another, as a gentle reprisal against some perceived injustice imposed upon their own citizens in and by the targeted state.
Retraxit: Latin: a withdrawal of a legal action.
Reverse Mortgage: A loan made by the homeowner on which the home stands as collateral, and which payment is not required until the homeowner sells, moves out or dies, and the loan amount and interest, is then paid out of the proceeds of sale.
Reverse Passing-Off: The action of a provider of goods or services who purchases another's goods or services, removes the latter's trademark and replaces it with its own.
Reverse Payment: A payment by a patent holder to an infringer in consideration of the infringer's cease and desist.
Reversion: A future interest left in a transferor or his (or her) heirs. A reservation in a real property conveyance that the property reverts back to the original owner upon the occurrence of a certain event.
Reversionary Interest: Any interest, vested or contingent, the enjoyment of which is postponed.
Revocable Trust: A trust which can be revoked at the discretion of the settlor.
Revolution: Rebellion, often by organized military action, but always with the support of a significant proportion of the population, aimed at the replacement of an existing government.
Rex Debet Esse Sub Lege, Quia Lex Facit Regem: The king should be subject to the law for the law makes the king.
Rex Non Potest Peccare: Latin: the king can do no wrong.
Rex Nunquam Moritur: Latin: the king never dies.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: A chronic and permanent inflammatory disease of the joints.
Ridda: Muslim law: the rejection of the religion of Islam by a Muslim.
Rider: A written amendment as to the coverage of an existing life or health insurance policy.
Right to be Forgotten: A right to have personal information deleted from some second party's electronic or paper records or databases.
Right: A claim or an advantage possessed by a person or persons, which is conferred or protected by law, and which implies a corresponding duty on the part of another
Right of First Refusal: A right given to a person to be the first person allowed to purchase a certain object if it is ever offered for sale.
Right of Hot Pursuit: The right of a state to chase and arrest a vessel which has committed an offense within its waters.
Riot: Three or more persons who assemble and advance a purpose together, with the intent to use force if necessary, and raising alarm of a reasonable person(s).
Riparian Rights: Special rights of people who own land that runs into a water bank (a riparian owner is a person who owns land that runs into a river).
River: A watercourse with a current and which is of capacity to be navigated.
Robbery: Theft under threat or use of force.

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