Glossary E-H

ejectment
an action for the recovery of land.

encumbrance
a charge (see definition) of liability (e.g. a mortgage).

enduring power of attorney
a power of attorney that continues to have effect even if the principal has lost legal capacity (see legal capacity).

enforce
to make people obey the law or terms of agreement.
enforcement debt
the amount awarded to be paid under a court order.

entrapment
the action of a law enforcement officer that induces someone to commit an offence that they would not otherwise have committed.

equitable estoppel
a doctrine that stops a party from making a claim if the claim contradicts something that the party has said or done previously.

equity
1. fairness;
2. a system of legal rules developed by the Lord Chancellor and Courts of Chancery in England, to modify the harshness of the common law;
3. the extent of a person’s interest or ownership in property.

escrow
a deed or document delivered conditionally that will only take effect or become operative when a specified event occurs or some condition is fulfilled.

estate
the property of a deceased or a bankrupt person.

eviction
recovering possession of land or property by legal proceedings.

evidence
the factual information that can be used in a court hearing.

evidence-in-chief
the evidence of a witness, obtained by verbal examination by the party calling the witness or given direct by the witness where self-representing.

ex gratia
a matter of favour; an act done when there is no legal obligation to do so (e.g. an ex gratia payment of compensation by the government).

ex parte
an application to the court made by one party to the proceedings without the other being present; such an application may also be made by an interested person who is not a party to the proceedings.

exclusion clause
a clause in a contract that attempts to exclude or avoid liability.

executor
the person whose duty it is to carry out the provisions of a will; the term executrix is sometimes used if the executor is female.

exemplary damages
damages that are awarded both to compensate the person who has suffered a loss and to punish the offender.

exhibit
a document or thing tendered as evidence in a court hearing or referred to in an affidavit.

ex-nuptial
outside of marriage.

ex officio indictment
an indictment that can be presented against an accused in a superior court without the need for a committal hearing.

express warranty
an undertaking or statement made when offering goods for sale that would naturally encourage people to buy the goods.

extradition
a process whereby authorities deliver a person to another country to face criminal charges in that country.

facilitation
the act of aiding or helping.

false imprisonment
detaining someone in custody without lawful excuse.

fiduciary
a person who holds a position of trust in relation to another, and who is legally obliged to look after the interests of the other in preference to their own interests (e.g. a trustee has a fiduciary duty to beneficiaries of the trust; a company director has a fiduciary duty to the company).

final address or submission
a persuasive summary of the issues and evidence put forward to the court by a party to support their case after all of the evidence has been heard.

foreclosure
the forced sale of a property to pay a mortgage or debt.

forum non conveniens
doctrine allowing a court to transfer a case if it would be more conveniently heard in another court that has the power to hear that type of case.

freedom of information
the right of a person to have access to certain documents held by government agencies.

garnishment
proceedings to have a person or body who owes money to a debtor to pay that money instead to a creditor (e.g. an employer may be required to garnish the wages of an employee (i.e. pay part of their wages to a creditor)).

general damages
damages paid for out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. medical costs, lost wages).

grievance procedure
a defined process for attempting to settle disputes within an organisation (e.g. an employment dispute).

guarantee
to undertake that a contract or the performance of a legal act shall be correctly carried out; the person giving the undertaking is called the guarantor.

guardian
a person who has the right and duty to protect another person, their property and their rights.

habeas corpus
literally ‘to have the body’; a prerogative writ commanding a person who holds someone in custody to produce that person before a court.

hand-up brief
documents tendered by the prosecution in a committal hearing, containing the charges and
a summary of evidence on which the prosecution proposes to rely.

hearing
a proceeding conducted by a court, tribunal or administrator with a view to resolving issues of fact or law in which evidence is presented.

hearing de novo
a completely new hearing of a case, as if a first hearing had not happened.

hearsay evidence
evidence given by a witness of what another person has said; hearsay evidence is normally not admissible in court proceedings, but there are some exceptions to this rule.

hire purchase
where goods are sold with instalment payments required from the purchaser; no rights of ownership lie with the purchaser until the final payment due has been made.