2015 FIFA corruption scandal | Explained, Qatar, & 2022 World Cup

2015 FIFA corruption scandal, bribery and corruption scandal involving the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of international football (soccer). More than two dozen FIFA officials and their associates were implicated in a 24-year self-enrichment scheme

2015 FIFA corruption scandal: Sepp Blatter and Jérôme Valcke

2015 FIFA corruption scandal

Abatement | Environmental, Pollution & Regulation

abatement, in law, the interruption of a legal proceeding upon the pleading by a defendant of a matter that prevents the plaintiff from going forward with the suit at that time or in that form. Pleas in abatement raise such matters as objections to the place, mode, or time of the plaintiff’s claim.

abatement

Abduction | law

abduction, in law, the carrying away of any female for purposes of concubinage or prostitution. The taking of a girl under a designated age for purposes of marriage is in most jurisdictions also included in the crime of abduction. Abduction is generally regarded as a form of kidnapping

abduction

Abettor | law

abettor, in law, a person who becomes equally guilty in the crime of another by knowingly and voluntarily aiding the criminal during the act itself. An abettor is one kind of accomplice (q.v.), the other being an accessory, who aids the criminal prior to or after the

abettor

Ableman v. Booth | U.S. Supreme Court, Slavery Abolition, Free State

Ableman v. Booth, (1859), case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld both the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Act and the supremacy of the federal government over state governments. Sherman Booth was an abolitionist newspaper editor in Wisconsin who had been sentenced to jail by a federal

Ableman v. Booth

Abood v. Detroit Board of Education | Definition, History, Significance, & Facts

Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 23, 1977, ruled unanimously (9–0) that agency-shop (or union-shop) clauses in the collective-bargaining agreements of public-sector unions cannot be used to compel nonunion employees to fund political or

Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 23, 1977, ruled that public-sector unions may impose service fees on nonunion employees to support collective-bargaining activities but not to fund the union’s political or ideological activities.

Abood v. Detroit Board of Education

Abdul Scam

Abscam | FBI Sting Operation, Political Corruption & Impact on US History

Abscam, undercover criminal investigation (1978–80) by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), whose most prominent targets were U.S. elected officials. Although some saw the investigators’ methods as excessive—critics characterized them as entrapment—the convictions of one U.S. senator, six

Abscam

Abu Ghraib prison | What Happened, Location, & Abuses

Abu Ghraib prison, large prison complex in Abū Ghurayb, Baghdad governorate, Iraq. During the presidency of Saddam Hussein (1979–2003), it became notorious for the detention of a massive number of political prisoners and the use of torture. It was reopened by the U.S. military in August 2003 after

Abu Ghraib prison

Accessory | Contracts, Torts & Liability

accessory, in criminal law, a person who becomes equally guilty in the crime of another by knowingly and voluntarily aiding the criminal before or after the crime. An accessory is one kind of accomplice, the other being an abettor, who aids the criminal during the act itself. Common law once

accessory

Accomplice | Criminal Liability, Accessory & Participation

accomplice, in law, a person who becomes equally guilty in the crime of another by knowingly and voluntarily aiding the other to commit the offense. An accomplice is either an accessory or an abettor. The accessory aids a criminal prior to the crime, whereas the abettor aids the offender during the

accomplice

Achille Lauro hijacking | Palestinian Terrorists, Mediterranean Sea [1985]

Achille Lauro hijacking, hijacking of the Italian cruise ship the MS Achille Lauro on Oct. 7, 1985, by four Palestinian militants associated with a faction of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF). The Achille Lauro left Genoa, Italy, on October 3 for a 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean Sea. Aboard

Achille Lauro hijacking

Acquittal | Criminal Procedure, Evidence & Jury

acquittal, in criminal law, acknowledgment by the court of the innocence of the defendant or defendants. Such a judgment may be made by a jury in a trial or by a judge who rules that there is insufficient evidence either for conviction or for further proceedings. An acquittal removes all guilt in

acquittal

Act of Settlement | Great Britain, Succession, Constitutional Law [1701]

Act of Settlement, (June 12, 1701), act of Parliament that, since 1701, has regulated the succession to the throne of Great Britain. Toward the end of 1700 William III was ill and childless; his sister-in-law, the prospective queen, Anne, had just lost her only surviving child; and abroad the

Act of Settlement

Act of Supremacy | Henry VIII, Church of England, Royal Supremacy

Act of Supremacy, (1534) English act of Parliament that recognized Henry VIII as the “Supreme Head of the Church of England.” The act also required an oath of loyalty from English subjects that recognized his marriage to Anne Boleyn. It was repealed in 1555 under Mary I, but in 1559 Parliament

Act of Supremacy

Act of Union | Ireland, Scotland & England

Act of Union, (Jan. 1, 1801), legislative agreement uniting Great Britain (England and Scotland) and Ireland under the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 brought the Irish question forcibly to the attention of the British Cabinet; and William Pitt

Act of Union

Acto Adicional of 1834 | Independence of Brazil, Emperor Pedro I & Constitutional Reform

Acto Adicional of 1834, amendment to the Brazilian constitution of 1824 that abolished some of that charter’s extremely centralist and authoritarian aspects. It was enacted as a concession to federalists and republicans who threatened to sunder the nation. The abdication of the unpopular Brazilian

Acto Adicional of 1834

Adat | Customs, Rituals & Practices

adat, customary law of the indigenous peoples of Malaysia and Indonesia. It was the unwritten, traditional code governing all aspects of personal conduct from birth to death. Two kinds of Malay adat law developed prior to the 15th century: Adat Perpateh developed in a matrilineal kinship structure

adat

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital | Child Labor, Minimum Wage & Unconstitutional

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital, (1923), U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court invalidated a board established by Congress to set minimum wages for women workers in the District of Columbia. Congress in 1918 had authorized the Wage Board to ascertain and fix adequate wages for women employees in

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital

Administration | Administrative Procedure, Regulatory Compliance & Public Policy

administration, in law, the management of an estate by a person, other than the legal owner, appointed or supervised by a court. The term is most often used to describe the management of a decedent’s estate by an administrator or executor, a ward’s estate by a guardian, the estate of a person

administration

Murder Act

Administration of Justice Act | Definition & Facts

Administration of Justice Act, British act (1774) that had the stated purpose of ensuring a fair trial for British officials who were charged with capital offenses while upholding the law or quelling protests in Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was one of several punitive measures, known as the

Administration of Justice Act, British act (1774) that had the stated purpose of ensuring a fair trial for British officials who were charged with capital offenses while upholding the law or quelling protests in Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was one of the Intolerable Acts passed by the British government.

Administration of Justice Act

Administrative law | Definition, Principles, Examples, Types, & Facts

administrative law, the legal framework within which public administration is carried out. It derives from the need to create and develop a system of public administration under law, a concept that may be compared with the much older notion of justice under law. Since administration involves the

lampoon of Interstate Commerce Commission

administrative law

Administrative Procedure Act (APA)

Administrative Procedure Act (APA), U.S. law, enacted in 1946, that stipulates the ways in which federal agencies may make and enforce regulations. The APA was the product of concern about the rapid increase in the number of powerful federal agencies in the first half of the 20th century,

Administrative Procedure Act

accusatorial procedure

Adversary procedure | Legal Process, Evidence & Procedure

adversary procedure, in law, one of the two methods of exposing evidence in court (the other being the inquisitorial procedure). The adversary procedure requires the opposing sides to bring out pertinent information and to present and cross-examine witnesses. This procedure is observed primarily in

adversary procedure

Advisory opinion | International Law, Judicial Review & Precedent

advisory opinion, in law, the opinion of a judge, a court, or a law official, such as an attorney general, upon a question of law raised by a public official or legislative body. Advisory opinions adjudicate nothing and are not binding, though courts sometimes cite them as evidence of the law.

advisory opinion

Advocate | Advocate | Legal Representation & Advocacy Skills

advocate, in law, a person who is professionally qualified to plead the cause of another in a court of law. As a technical term, advocate is used mainly in those legal systems that derived from the Roman law. In Scotland the word refers particularly to a member of the bar of Scotland, the Faculty

advocate

aediles, aedilis

Aedile | Civic Duties, Elections & Magistrates

aedile, (from Latin aedes, “temple”), magistrate of ancient Rome who originally had charge of the temple and cult of Ceres. At first the aediles were two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes (494 bc), whose sanctity they shared. These magistrates were elected in the

aedile

Affair of the Necklace

Affair of the Diamond Necklace | Summary & Facts

Affair of the Diamond Necklace, scandal at the court of Louis XVI in 1785 that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution. It began as an intrigue on the part of an adventuress, the comtesse (countess) de La Motte, to procure, supposedly for Queen Marie-Antoinette but in

Affair of the Diamond Necklace, scandal at the court of Louis XVI in 1785 that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution.

Affair of the Diamond Necklace

Affair of the Poisons | Poison Plot, Louis XIV, Witchcraft

Affair of the Poisons, one of the most sensational criminal cases of 17th-century France. In 1679 an inquiry revealed that nobles, prosperous bourgeois, and the common people alike had been resorting secretly to female fortune-tellers—at that time numerous in Paris—for drugs and poisons, for black

Affair of the Poisons

Affidavit | Witness Testimony, Evidence & Sworn Statements

affidavit, a written statement of fact made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before a notary or other officer empowered to administer such oaths. Affidavits generally name the place of execution and certify that the person making it states certain

affidavit

Affirmation | Self-Empowerment, Positive Thinking & Mindfulness

affirmation, in law, a promise by a witness concerning testimony allowed in place of an oath to those who cannot, because of conscience, swear an oath. For example, members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other persons who have objections against taking an oath are

affirmation

Affordable Care Act cases | Healthcare Law, Supreme Court Rulings

Affordable Care Act cases, set of three legal cases—Florida et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services et al.; National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al.; and Department of Health and Human Services et al. v.

Affordable Care Act cases

Affray | Definition

affray, fighting in public in a way that endangers or alarms others. Actual violence is not necessary for the offense to occur, however, and an affray may be committed even when an individual brandishes a weapon so as to cause terror to the public. Abusive and threatening words alone will not

Affray, fighting in public in a way that endangers or alarms others.

affray

agency law, agent

Agency | Definition, Law, Examples, Elements, Types, & Facts 

agency, in law, the relationship that exists when one person or party (the principal) engages another (the agent) to act for him—e.g., to do his work, to sell his goods, to manage his business. The law of agency thus governs the legal relationship in which the agent deals with a third party on

agency

Aggression | Definition, Causes & Consequences

aggression, in international relations, an act or policy of expansion carried out by one state at the expense of another by means of an unprovoked military attack. For purposes of reparation or punishment after hostilities, aggression has been defined in international law as any use of armed force

aggression

Agostini v. Felton | Supreme Court Case, Education Equality

Agostini v. Felton, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 1997, held (5–4) that the New York City Board of Education’s practice of employing teachers to provide on-site remedial instruction to educationally deprived students in parochial schools did not violate the establishment

Agostini v. Felton

AAA, Farm Relief Bill

Agricultural Adjustment Act | Definition, History, Description, Purpose, Significance, & Facts 

Agricultural Adjustment Act, in U.S. history, legislation signed in May 1933 by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the Hundred Days phase of his New Deal domestic program. The Agricultural Adjustment Act was designed to provide immediate economic relief to farmers during the Great Depression

Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Agricultural Adjustment Act

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Air law | Aviation Regulations & International Agreements

air law, the body of law directly or indirectly concerned with civil aviation. Aviation in this context extends to both heavier-than-air and lighter-than-air aircraft. Air-cushion vehicles are not regarded as aircraft by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but the practice of

air law

Airspace

Air space | Aviation Regulation, Airspace Management & Air Traffic Control

air space, in international law, the space above a particular national territory, treated as belonging to the government controlling the territory. It does not include outer space, which, under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, is declared to be free and not subject to national appropriation. The

air space

Alabama claims | US-UK Diplomacy, International Law & Impact

Alabama claims, maritime grievances of the United States against Great Britain, accumulated during and after the American Civil War (1861–65). The claims are significant in international law for furthering the use of arbitration to settle disputes peacefully and for delineating certain

Alabama claims

Alcatraz | Prison, Island, History & Facts

Alcatraz, former maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, off the coast of California. Alcatraz, originally envisioned as a naval defense fortification, was designated a residence for military offenders in 1861, and it housed a diverse collection of prisoners in its

Alcatraz

Alexander v. Choate | Supreme Court Case, Civil Rights & Education

Alexander v. Choate, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 9, 1985, ruled unanimously (9–0) that the state of Tennessee’s reduction in the number of annual inpatient hospital days covered by Medicaid (a health-insurance program for low-income persons run jointly by the federal

Alexander v. Choate

Alien and Sedition Acts | Summary & Significance

Alien and Sedition Acts, (1798), four internal security laws passed by the U.S. Congress, restricting aliens and curtailing the excesses of an unrestrained press, in anticipation of an expected war with France. After the XYZ Affair (1797), war with France had appeared inevitable. Federalists, aware

Alien and Sedition Acts, four internal security laws passed by the U.S. Congress in 1798, restricting aliens and curtailing the excesses of an unrestrained press, in anticipation of an expected war with France as a result of the XYZ Affair (1797). The acts were part of a series of military preparedness measures.

Alien and Sedition Acts

ATCA, Alien Tort Statute

Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA)

Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), U.S. law, originally a provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789, that grants to U.S. federal courts original jurisdiction over any civil action brought by an alien (a foreign national) for a tort in violation of international law or a U.S. treaty. (A tort is any wrongful

Alien Tort Claims Act

Alimony | Spousal Support, Maintenance & Divorce

alimony, in divorce law, compensation owed by one spouse to the other for financial support after divorce. Alimony aims at support of the one spouse, not punishment of the other. In some places, the term means simply a property settlement irrespective of future support. Alimony has traditionally

alimony

allodial land

Allodium | Definition, History, Law, & Facts

allodium, land freely held, without obligation of service to any overlord. Allodial land tenure was of particular significance in western Europe during the Middle Ages, when most land was held by feudal tenure. At the end of the 9th century the extent of allodial land in France was increased by the

Allodium, land freely held, without obligation of service to any overlord. Allodial land tenure was of particular significance in western Europe during the Middle Ages, when most land was held by feudal tenure. Learn more about allodium in this article.

allodium

Amendment | Definition & Facts

amendment, in government and law, an addition or alteration made to a constitution, statute, or legislative bill or resolution. Amendments can be made to existing constitutions and statutes and are also commonly made to bills in the course of their passage through a legislature. Since amendments to

Amendment, in government and law, an addition or alteration made to a constitution, statute, or legislative bill or resolution. Amendments can be made to existing constitutions and statutes and are also commonly made to bills in the course of their passage through a legislature.

amendment

Amercement | Penalty, Fines & Punishment

amercement, in English law, an arbitrary financial penalty, formerly imposed on an offender by his peers or at the discretion of the court or the lord. Although the word has become practically synonymous with “fine,” there is a distinction in that fines are fixed by statute, whereas amercements are

amercement

American Bar Association (ABA)

American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary association of American lawyers and judges. The ABA was founded in 1878, and by the late 20th century it had about 375,000 members. Its headquarters are in Chicago, Ill. Nongovernmental in nature, the ABA seeks to encourage improvements in the legal

American Bar Association

ACLU

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), organization founded by Roger Baldwin and others in New York City in 1920 to champion constitutional liberties in the United States. The ACLU works to protect Americans’ constitutional rights and freedoms as set forth in the U.S. Constitution and its

American Civil Liberties Union

ALEC

American Legislative Exchange Council | Definition, Leadership, History, Model Legislation, & Facts

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), American nonprofit organization whose members draft and promulgate model state legislation and legislative policies designed to advance corporate interests and to promote conservative positions on a range of political, economic, and social issues. The

American Legislative Exchange Council

ARRA, the Stimulus

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), legislation, enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by Pres. Barack Obama in 2009, that was designed to stimulate the U.S. economy by saving jobs jeopardized by the Great Recession of 2008–09 and creating new jobs. In December 2007 the U.S.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) | History & Facts

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), U.S. legislation that provided civil rights protections to individuals with physical and mental disabilities and guaranteed them equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), U.S. legislation that provided civil rights protections to individuals with physical and mental disabilities and guaranteed them equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. 

Americans with Disabilities Act

Amicus curiae | Friend of Court, Legal Briefs, Intervenor

amicus curiae, (Latin: “friend of the court”), one who assists the court by furnishing information or advice regarding questions of law or fact. He is not a party to a lawsuit and thus differs from an intervenor, who has a direct interest in the outcome of the lawsuit and is therefore permitted to

amicus curiae

Amistad mutiny | Description, History, & Facts

Amistad mutiny, (July 2, 1839), slave rebellion that took place on the slave ship Amistad near the coast of Cuba and had important political and legal repercussions in the American abolition movement. The mutineers were captured and tried in the United States, and a surprising victory for the

Amistad mutiny

Amnesty | Definition & Facts

amnesty, in criminal law, sovereign act of oblivion or forgetfulness (from Greek amnēsia) for past acts, granted by a government to persons who have been guilty of crimes. It is often conditional upon their return to obedience and duty within a prescribed period. Amnesty is granted usually for

Amnesty, in criminal law, a sovereign act of oblivion or forgetfulness for past acts that is granted by a government to persons who have been guilty of crimes. It is often conditional upon their return to obedience and duty within a prescribed period. 

amnesty

Ancient lights | Property Rights, Adverse Possession & Easements

ancient lights, in English property law, the right of a building or house owner to the light received from and through his windows. Windows used for light by an owner for 20 years or more could not be obstructed by the erection of an edifice or by any other act by an adjacent landowner. This rule

ancient lights

Angary | Maritime Rights, State Immunity & Self-Help

angary, in international law, the right of belligerents to requisition for their use neutral merchant vessels, aircraft, and other means of transport that are within their territorial jurisdiction. Generally, the right of angary should be applied only in case of pressing need in time of war, and

angary

Anglo-Saxon law | Origins, Principles & Development

Anglo-Saxon law, the body of legal principles that prevailed in England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest (1066). In conjunction with Scandinavian law and the so-called barbarian laws (leges barbarorum) of continental Europe, it made up the body of law called Germanic law. Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon law

Annapolis Convention | Overview & Significance

Annapolis Convention, in U.S. history, regional meeting at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 that was an important rallying point in the movement toward a federal convention to address the inadequate Articles of Confederation. In 1785 Maryland and Virginia differed on the matter of rights of

Overview of the Annapolis Convention, the meeting in Maryland in 1786 that led to a convention to address the inadequate Articles of Confederation.

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