9,901 articles
Mahadev Govind Ranade (महादेव गोविंद रानडे)
Mahadev Govind Ranade (महादेव गोविंद रानडे, 1842–1901), Justice Ranade, Indian judge, economist, and social reformer of Pune; Prarthana Samaj leader, Sarvajanik Sabha head, Indian National Congress founder, mentor of Gokhale, founder of Indian Political Economy.
Mahalwari
Mahalwari system: British Indian land revenue settlement begun in 1822 under Holt Mackenzie, treating a village or village group (mahal) as one unit with collective revenue responsibility, mainly in Punjab, United Provinces, and Central Provinces.
Maharaj Libel Case
The Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, tried in Bombay, pitted Pushtimarg leader Jadunathji Maharaj against reformist journalist Karsandas Mulji of Satyaprakash over published sexual-misconduct charges; the defendants successfully defended the Rs 50,000 libel suit.
Mahek Bukhari
Mahek Bukhari, known as Maya, is a British TikTok influencer convicted in 2023 of murdering Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin in an A46 car pursuit; her minimum term was reduced to 26 years 285 days in 2025.
Mahlon Pitney
Mahlon Pitney (1858–1924) was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice (1912–1922), Taft appointee from New Jersey, formerly congressman, New Jersey chancellor, and author of Coppage v. Kansas and INS v. AP.
Mahmoud v. Taylor
Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. _ (2025), a 6-3 Supreme Court Free Exercise decision by Justice Alito requiring Montgomery County, Maryland schools to grant religious parents notice and opt-outs from LGBTQ+-inclusive storybook instruction.
Mahmud Jamal
Mahmud Jamal, born 1967 in Nairobi, is a Supreme Court of Canada justice appointed July 1, 2021, the first person of colour and first Bahá'í on the Court, formerly an Ontario Court of Appeal judge and Osler litigation partner.
Mahon Tribunal
Mahon Tribunal, formally the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, also the Planning or Flood Tribunal, was an Irish public inquiry into planning corruption, established in 1997 and known for its 2012 final report finding 14 politicians corrupt.
Mahr (مهر)
Mahr (مهر), also called sadaq, is the dower a Muslim husband must settle on his wife as part of the marriage contract, becoming her exclusive property.
Mahr enforcement in secular courts
Mahr enforcement in secular courts is the treatment of the Islamic dower, a payment promised to a Muslim wife, as a civil contract that courts can order paid.
Maiden and married names
Maiden and married names: the birth surname versus the surname adopted at marriage. Covers coverture, Lucy Stone and the Lucy Stone League, U.S. trends, and laws in Quebec, Greece, France, Japan, and South Africa.
Mail and wire fraud
Mail and wire fraud are parallel U.S. federal crimes (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343) punishing schemes to defraud executed through the mails or interstate wires, including honest-services fraud limited by Skilling to bribery and kickbacks.
Maintenance pending suit
Maintenance pending suit is a court order requiring one spouse to make periodical payments to the other while divorce, nullity, or judicial separation proceedings are still pending.
Maite Oronoz Rodríguez
Maite D. Oronoz Rodríguez, Puerto Rican jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico since 22 February 2016; first openly LGBTQ chief justice in the United States, third woman and youngest to preside; formerly associate justice from 2014.
Majli ibn Jumay'
Majli ibn Jumay' (مجلي بن جميع) was a Shafi'i jurist who served as qadi of Egypt from 547 AH and wrote al-Dhakhair, a leading work of the school.
Major Crimes Act
The Major Crimes Act is a United States federal statute, enacted March 3, 1885, that places serious crimes committed by Indians in Indian country under exclusive federal jurisdiction.
Makau Mutua
Makau W. Mutua is a Kenyan-American legal scholar at the University at Buffalo School of Law, known for critiquing the human rights movement and founding TWAIL.
Makgatho Mandela
Makgatho Lewanika Mandela (1950-2005), South African attorney, second son of Nelson Mandela and Evelyn Mase, named after ANC president Sefako Mapogo Makgatho; father of Mandla; died of AIDS, publicly announced by his father.
Mako Nishimura
Mako Nishimura is a Japanese former yakuza, probably the only woman ever to be a full-fledged member of the syndicates, who performed the sakazuki and yubitsume rituals.
Malachy E. Mannion
Malachy E. Mannion is an American jurist serving as a senior US district judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, appointed by President Obama in 2012.
Malala Yousafzai (ملاله یوسفزۍ)
Malala Yousafzai (ملاله یوسفزۍ), Pakistani girls' education activist born 1997 in Mingora, Swat; BBC Urdu blogger as Gul Makai; survived a 2012 Taliban shooting; youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2014, with Kailash Satyarthi); co-founder of Malala Fund.
Malawi Independence Act 1964
The Malawi Independence Act 1964 is an Act of the UK Parliament that ended British responsibility for Nyasaland, which became Malawi on 6 July 1964.
Malaysia–Thailand border
Malaysia–Thailand border: the Malay Peninsula land frontier set by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 10 March 1909, which ceded Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis to Britain; runs along watersheds and the Sungei Golok, with about twenty crossings and major trade at Bukit Kayu Hitam and Padang Besar.
Malcolm Rifkind
Malcolm Rifkind, British Conservative politician, MP for Edinburgh Pentlands 1974–97 and Kensington 2005–15; Cabinet minister for Scotland, Transport, Defence, and Foreign Secretary 1995–97; ISC chairman 2010–15.
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Australian lawyer, investment banker and Liberal politician, 29th Prime Minister of Australia 2015–2018; defeated Tony Abbott in 2015, legalized same-sex marriage, replaced by Scott Morrison in 2018.
Malcolm Webster (murderer)
Malcolm Webster (born 1959), English former nurse, convicted 2011 in Scotland of murdering first wife Claire Morris in a staged 1994 Aberdeenshire car crash and of attempting to murder second wife Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1999 for insurance money; life sentence, 30-year minimum.
Malice (law)
Malice in law is the intention, without justification or excuse, to commit an unlawful act. Key forms: malice aforethought in murder (express and implied, depraved heart), actual malice in defamation under New York Times v. Sullivan, and malice in malicious prosecution.
Malice aforethought
Malice aforethought is the common law mens rea for murder, covering intent to kill, grievous bodily harm, depraved heart, and felony murder; still used in 18 U.S.C. § 1111 and California law.
Malice murder
Malice murder is a Georgia homicide offense under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-1(a): unlawfully killing a human being with malice aforethought, express or implied, distinguished from felony murder.
Malleus Maleficarum
Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches), 1486–87 Latin witch-hunting manual by Heinrich Kramer (Institoris), with disputed Sprenger co-authorship; three-part demonology and trial procedure, 28+ editions, torture-sanctioning influence on early modern witch trials.