Choose the correct verbs to fill the gaps. Put the verb in the correct form.
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 600.
The language of law
VOCABULARY EXTENSION I
Legal verbs
to abrogate a law/treaty: to bring a law/treaty to an official end
to bend the law/rules: to break the law/rules in a way that is considered not to be harmful
to contravene a law:to break a law
to impeach a president/governor: to make a formal statement saying that a person in
public office has committed a serious offence
to infringe someone's rights:to prevent a person doing what they are legally allowed to do
to lodge an appeal: to make an official appeal
to uphold/overturn a verdict:to say that a previous decision was correct/incorrect
to pervert the course of justice:to put obstacles in the way of justice being done
to quash a decision/conviction: to change a previous official decision/conviction
to set a precedent: to establish a decision which must, in English law, be taken into
account in future decisions
to award/grant custody to: to give one parent or adult the main responsibility for a child,
especially after separation or divorce
to annul a marriage/agreement/law: to declare that it no longer exists and never existed
1) Presidents Nixon and Clinton of the USA were both ............................ .
2) The prisoner decided to .........……. an appeal against the court's decision.
3) The appeal court ................... the the verdict of the lower court and the prisoner was released.
4) In English law any previous legal decision ................. a precedent for future decisions.
5) Judges almost always .................. custody to the mother rather than the father.
6) I'm not asking you to break the rules, just to ........................ them a little.
7) You .............. my legal rights by not allowing me to vote.
8) Witnesses charged with perjury are accused of .................... the course of justice.
9) The marriage was ........... because the man had never properly divorced his first wife.
10) The Supreme Court .................. the murder conviction and the man was freed.
Legal adjectives
Matters relating to, say, divorce are of course dealt with in a civil court rather than a criminalcourt. More serious criminal offences are said to be indictable, i.e. they are tried by indictment in a higher level of court, while summary offences are less serious and can be tried in a lower level of court. If a worker feels that his or her statutory rights have been infringed, then he or she may take the case to a tribunal, where an arbitrator has discretionary powers to rule on the dispute. The arbitrator's decision is binding on both sides - they have to abide by his or her decision.