644 articles
Precautionary principle
The precautionary principle is a risk-management rule allowing protective action against possible serious harm despite scientific uncertainty. Key forms: EU Article 191 TFEU, Rio Declaration 1992, Wingspread 1998 burden-shifting.
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The presidency of Bill Clinton, also called the Clinton administration, was the tenure of the 42nd US president, a Democrat from Arkansas who held office from 1993 to 2001.
President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
The JFK Records Collection Act of 1992 (PL 102-526) requires all government records on President Kennedy's assassination to be disclosed in a single National Archives collection, enforced by the five-member Assassination Records Review Board under a clear-and-convincing-evidence standard.
President's rule
President's rule (Article 356, Indian Constitution; State Emergency) is direct Union rule over a state when its constitutional machinery fails, approved by Parliament within two months, renewable to three years, limited by the 1994 Bommai judgment.
Presidential eligibility of Donald Trump
Presidential eligibility of Donald Trump covers Article II qualifications and the Fourteenth Amendment Section 3 challenge resolved in Trump v. Anderson (2024), which kept him on the 2024 ballot.
Presidential Succession Act
Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. §19), successor to the 1792 and 1886 acts: US statute for double vacancies, placing the House Speaker, then Senate President pro tempore, then Cabinet officers in department-creation order as acting President.
Primary and secondary legislation
Primary and secondary legislation in the UK: Acts of Parliament versus delegated or subordinate law such as statutory instruments, about 3,500 made yearly, scrutinized by negative or affirmative procedure.
Project 2025
Project 2025 (Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise) is the Heritage Foundation's 920-page, April 2023 conservative transition blueprint with 100 coalition partners; Trump disavowed it, but roughly half its recommendations were implemented in his second term's first year.
Propiska in the Soviet Union
Propiska (прописка), Soviet mandatory residence registration stamp in the internal passport, established 27 December 1932; controlled access to housing, jobs, and services, restricted migration to cities like Moscow, and persisted post-Soviet times.
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
PAFACA, a 2024 U.S. federal law in Division H of Public Law 118-50, bans distribution and hosting of foreign adversary controlled apps such as TikTok unless divested, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2025.
Provisional Constitution of 1950
The Provisional Constitution of 1950, or UUDS 1950, was Indonesia's third constitution, in force from 1950 to 1959 and replacing the federal 1949 constitution with a unitary parliamentary republic.
Public holiday
Public holiday: a legally designated nonworking day, also called bank holiday, statutory holiday, or federal holiday. Median 13 per country (2026); UK has 8-10 bank holidays; no automatic day-off right in the UK.
Public interest litigation in India
Public interest litigation in India, or PIL, is constitutional litigation where any public-spirited person may sue on behalf of those unable to reach the courts, without showing personal injury.
Public law
Public law is the branch of law governing the state and its relations with individuals, covering constitutional, administrative, and criminal law. Rooted in Ulpian's Roman definition, it is an organizing principle in civil law systems but only implicit in common law.
Qualified immunity
Qualified immunity is a US judicial doctrine shielding government officials from civil damages suits unless they violated clearly established constitutional or statutory rights; established by Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982) after Pierson v. Ray (1967), applied in Section 1983 civil cases only.
Quartering Acts
The Quartering Acts were two British laws of 1765 and 1774 requiring American colonies to house and pay for British soldiers, a major grievance of the Revolution.
Real Cédula of 1789
The Real Cédula of 1789 comprises two Spanish royal decrees of King Charles IV, one opening the slave trade and one regulating the treatment of enslaved people.
Recess appointment
Recess appointment: temporary U.S. presidential appointment under Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 made without Senate confirmation during a Senate recess, expiring at the next session's end; limited by NLRB v. Noel Canning (2014) to recesses of at least 10 days without pro forma sessions.
Reconstruction Amendments
The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments (1865-1870), also called the Civil War Amendments, which abolished slavery, established birthright citizenship with due process and equal protection, and barred racial voting discrimination.
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals
REACH (Regulation EC 1907/2006) is the EU's main chemicals law, requiring registration of substances above 1 tonne per year with ECHA and providing evaluation, authorisation, and restriction processes; its planned revision was abandoned in 2026.
Regulation of electronic cigarettes
Regulation of electronic cigarettes (ENDS, vapes) spans FDA deeming rule and PMTA review in the US, EU Tobacco Products Directive Article 20 limits, UK rules, and WHO guidance, with 74 countries lacking any regulation.
Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act
Federal process to move marijuana (cannabis) out of Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act into Schedule III, distinct from descheduling or legalization; spans Biden's 2022 review, HHS's 2023 recommendation, the May 2024 DEA proposed rule, and the 2026 partial rescheduling and hearings.
Renewed Land Ordinance
The Renewed Land Ordinance (Czech Obnovené zřízení zemské) was a 1627 land statute of Emperor Ferdinand II for Bohemia, making the Habsburg crown hereditary and Catholicism the only permitted faith.
Reparations for slavery
Reparations for slavery: compensation, apologies, and restitution sought from governments, churches, and firms for transatlantic slavery. Key facts: CARICOM 10-point plan, H.R. 40, 2001 Durban conference, 2026 UN resolution, $131 trillion Brattle estimate.
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights, also called reproductive choice or reproductive health rights, are recognized human rights to decide freely and responsibly whether and when to have children, first affirmed at the 1968 Teheran conference.
Resolution
In law and parliamentary practice, a resolution is a formal expression of opinion or intent voted by an official body, such as a written motion adopted by a deliberative body.
Right to Information Act, 2005
India's Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act, No. 22 of 2005): law giving all citizens access to information held by public authorities, with 30-day (48-hour life-or-liberty) timelines, Section 8 exemptions, Information Commissions, appeals, and the 2019 and DPDP 2023 amendments.
Right to keep and bear arms
Right to keep and bear arms: the Second Amendment individual right to possess and carry firearms, defined in Heller (2008), extended by McDonald and Bruen, limited by Rahimi, and rare among national constitutions.
Right to keep and bear arms in the United States
The right to keep and bear arms in the United States is the Second Amendment individual right, defined by Heller (2008), extended to states by McDonald (2010), and tested under Bruen's 2022 history-and-tradition standard, refined by Rahimi (2024).
Right to privacy
Right to privacy: legal and human right against arbitrary interference with private life, family, home, correspondence, and personal data. Rooted in Warren and Brandeis's 1890 essay, Griswold v. Connecticut, UDHR Article 12, ECHR Article 8, and the EU GDPR.