9,901 articles
Acceptance and approval of treaties
Acceptance and approval of treaties are acts by which a State expresses consent to be bound, with the same legal effect as ratification under the Vienna Convention.
Accession of Albania to the European Union
Albania's EU accession process: applied April 2009, candidate since June 2014, negotiations opened July 2022, all 33 chapters opened by December 2025, four provisionally closed by October 2026, targeting 2027 closure.
Accession to treaties
Accession to treaties is the act by which a state consents to be bound by an unsigned treaty, with the same legal effect as ratification under the Vienna Convention.
Accessory (legal term)
Accessory (legal term): a person who aids, abets, counsels or procures a crime, or assists the offender afterward; also called a secondary party. Punished as a principal in England and Wales; US federal law caps accessory-after-the-fact penalties at half the principal's.
Account of profits
An account of profits, also called accounting for profits, is an equitable remedy requiring a wrongdoer to disgorge net profits made from wrongful conduct, measured by gain rather than loss.
Accounting scandals
Accounting scandals: corporate financial misreporting such as Enron ($63.4B bankruptcy, 2001) and WorldCom ($9B false entries), driving the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, PCAOB creation, and auditor-independence reforms.
Achaemenid imperial arrangements and Levantine state agreements
Achaemenid imperial arrangements and Levantine state agreements: how the Persian Empire ruled subjects through satraps, tribute, and gift exchange rather than formal treaties, with Levantine provinces and Phoenician cities bound by tribute and naval service.
Acid attack
Acid attack (vitriolage): violent assault throwing acid or corrosives to injure or disfigure. Concentrated in South Asia; UK has highest per capita recorded attacks; laws include UK Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and India BNS 2023 section 124.
Acquittal
Acquittal: the criminal-law judgment that a defendant was not proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Covers double jeopardy finality, UK 2003 retrial reform, ICC prosecution appeals, and compensation.
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal
ACAT (ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal) is the Australian Capital Territory's super tribunal, operating since 2 February 2009 under the ACAT Act 2008, handling civil disputes, tenancy, guardianship, mental health, and government decision review.
Act for the Government and Protection of Indians
The Act for the Government and Protection of Indians was a California statute passed in 1850 that subjected Native Americans to forced labor and child indenture.
Act of God
Act of God: legal term for a severe, unforeseeable natural event without human agency, used as a tort and contract defense; also called act of nature, tied to force majeure clauses and insurance exclusions.
Act of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701: English statute securing the Protestant succession by placing the crown with Sophia of Hanover's heirs, barring Catholics, and establishing judicial tenure during good behavior; produced George I in 1714.
Act of state doctrine
Act of state doctrine: a judicial rule barring courts from questioning the validity of foreign sovereign acts within the foreign state's own territory, traced from Underhill v Hernandez (1897) through Sabbatino (1964) to Kirkpatrick (1990) and English Belhaj law.
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, the 1807 U.S. federal statute (2 Stat. 426) signed by Jefferson, banning slave importation from January 1, 1808, the earliest constitutional date, with forfeitures and prison terms, while leaving slavery and the domestic trade legal until 1865.
Acting (law)
Acting (law): doing acts on behalf of a principal under agency law. Covers express, implied, and apparent (ostensible) authority, ratification, attorney-in-fact powers, vicarious tort liability, and rules on who may represent parties in court.
Actus reus
Actus reus ("guilty act") is the physical element of a crime in common-law criminal law: a voluntary act, omission, possession, or state of affairs, distinguished from mens rea and often requiring proof of causation in result crimes.
Ad hoc and hybrid international criminal tribunals
Ad hoc and hybrid international criminal tribunals are courts prosecuting atrocity crimes for a specific conflict, including the ICTY, ICTR, Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Cambodia's ECCC.
Ada E. Brown
Ada E. Brown, also known as Ada Elene Brown, is an American jurist serving as a US district judge for the Northern District of Texas since 2019.
Adalberto J. Jordan
Adalberto J. Jordan, born Adalberto Jose Jordan, is an American circuit judge on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals since 2012, appointed by President Barack Obama.
Adam B. Abelson
Adam Ben Abelson (born 1982) is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the District of Maryland since 2024, appointed by President Biden.
Adam Lanza
Adam Lanza, born 1992, was the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter of December 14, 2012, also called Adam Peter Lanza, who killed his mother, 20 children, and 6 educators; official reports found he acted alone with no established motive.
Adam Worth
Adam Worth (c. 1844–1902), the "Napoleon of Crime", was a German-born American bank robber and art thief who lived in London as Henry J. Raymond and stole Gainsborough's Duchess of Devonshire in 1876, keeping it 25 years; he inspired Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty.
Adams–Onís Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty (Transcontinental Treaty, 1819, ratified 1821) between the U.S. and Spain: Spain ceded Florida, renounced Pacific Northwest claims, the Louisiana boundary was fixed, and the U.S. recognized Spanish Texas.
Adarsh Kumar Goel
Adarsh Kumar Goel (born 1953, Hissar, Haryana) is a retired Supreme Court of India judge (2014–2018) and former Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (2018–2023), earlier Chief Justice of the Gauhati and Orissa High Courts.
Additional Act of 1834
The Additional Act of 1834 (Ato Adicional de 1834) was the sole constitutional amendment of the Empire of Brazil, creating elected provincial assemblies and a single regent.
Additional Solicitor General of India
Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG): non-constitutional Union law officer under the 1987 Law Officers Rules, ranking below Attorney-General and Solicitor-General; President-appointed, pay level-15, ₹72,000 monthly retainer from 2026, three-year terms across the Supreme Court and High Courts.
Adjudication
Adjudication is the legal process of resolving a dispute or deciding a case, and the decision itself. Covers court adjudication, ripeness, res judicata, and U.S. administrative adjudication under the APA, including ALJs and formal versus informal procedures.
Adjudicator
Adjudicator: a neutral decision-maker who renders decisions on disputes, in tribunals, construction contracts, or government complaint review; distinguished from mediators by deciding outcomes, guided by Franks principles of openness, fairness, impartiality.
Adjusted gross income
Adjusted gross income (AGI) is a US taxpayer's total gross income minus specified above-the-line adjustments from Schedule 1 of Form 1040, reported on line 11; it gates credits, MAGI tests, and 31 states' income taxes.