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Adly Mansour (عدلي محمود منصور)
Adly Mansour (عدلي محمود منصور), born 1945, Egyptian judge, president of the Supreme Constitutional Court from 2013, and interim President of Egypt July 4, 2013 to June 8, 2014 after Morsi's removal.
Administration of Muslim Law Act
The Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) is a Singapore statute, passed in 1966 and in force from 1968, that regulates Muslim religious affairs and establishes a Syariah Court.
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed Australian government administrative decisions on their merits from 1976 until its abolition in 2024, when it was replaced by the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council
Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC), UK advisory non-departmental public body established by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to oversee administrative justice, tribunals, and inquiries; replaced the Council on Tribunals and was abolished in August 2013.
Administrative law
Administrative law, also called administrative law doctrine, governs the creation and operation of government agencies, their rulemaking and adjudication, and judicial review, defined by the US APA and reshaped by Loper Bright, Jarkesy, and Slaughter.
Administrative Office of the United States Courts
Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO): judicial-branch agency created by the Act of August 7, 1939, providing budget, statistics, IT, and administrative support to the federal courts under the Judicial Conference, led by a Director appointed by the Chief Justice.
Administrative Review Tribunal
The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) is an Australian Commonwealth tribunal that reviews federal government decisions, replacing the Administrative Appeals Tribunal when it commenced operation on 14 October 2024.
Admission to practice law
Admission to practice law: the formal authorization, by courts or bar associations, to work as a lawyer. Covers bar examinations, character and fitness, supervised training routes, and requalification for foreign-qualified lawyers.
Admission to the bar in the United States
Admission to the bar in the United States: jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction lawyer licensing via bar exams (MBE, UBE, NextGen UBE), character and fitness review, and apprenticeship alternatives.
Admission to the Union
Admission to the Union, also known as US statehood, is the constitutional process by which a territory becomes a US state under the Admissions Clause.
Adolf, Freiherr von
Adolf, Freiherr von Scheurl (1811–1893) was a Bavarian Lutheran jurist, professor of Roman and canon law at Erlangen from 1845, and a founder of Protestant church-law scholarship.
Adoption and Authentication of Treaty Text
Adoption and authentication of treaty text are the steps under VCLT Articles 9 and 10 by which negotiators settle a treaty's final wording and establish it as authoritative.
Adoption and Safe Families Act
Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA), P.L. 105-89, US federal child welfare law signed November 19, 1997; set the 15/22 termination rule, permanency timelines, and adoption incentive payments, shifting policy from family preservation to adoption.
Adoption from foster care (United States)
Adoption from foster care in the United States is the adoption of a child in public custody, typically after termination of parental rights, often with state subsidies.
Adoption Information Disclosure Act
The Adoption Information Disclosure Act, 2005 (Bill 183) is an Ontario statute opening sealed adoption records: adoptees 18+ and birth parents gain access to original birth registrations and adoption orders, with notice protections, later amended by the 2008 Access to Adoption Records Act after a 2007 unconstitutionality ruling.
Adoption reunion registry
Adoption reunion registry, also called mutual consent registry: a database where adoptees and birth relatives register so a match can be made; about 30 US states plus Puerto Rico run one, and the nonprofit ISRR (founded 1975) is the largest private registry.
Adrienne C. Nelson
Adrienne C. Nelson, born Adrienne Camille Nelson in 1967, is an American federal judge in Oregon since 2023, formerly the first African American justice on the Oregon Supreme Court.
Adult adoption
Adult adoption: a court procedure making one adult the legal child of another, creating inheritance and parent-child rights. Also called adoption of adults. Varies by US state; requires adoptee consent; does not confer immigration benefits.
Adultery law in India
Adultery law in India: Section 497 IPC criminalized adultery, punishable up to five years, prosecuted only against men at husbands' complaints; struck down unanimously by the Supreme Court in Joseph Shine v. Union of India, 27 September 2018, and omitted from the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Advance-fee scam
Advance-fee scam, also called advance-fee fraud or the 419 or Nigerian prince scam, is fraud demanding upfront payment for a promised loan, prize, or investment that never materializes; named for section 419 of Nigeria's Criminal Code.
Adversarial system
The adversarial system is party-controlled legal procedure of common law countries (US, UK, Canada), contrasted with the judge-driven inquisitorial system of civil law; covers fact-finding, litigation-cost economics, and hybrid convergence.
Adverse possession
Adverse possession, also called acquisitive prescription, lets a trespasser in open, exclusive, continuous, hostile possession of another's land acquire title after a statutory period, typically 5 to 20 years in the US and 10 to 12 in England.
Advocate
An advocate pleads or promotes another's interests; in law, a barrister, solicitor, or CILEx advocate representing clients in courts and tribunals, with higher rights of audience needed for higher courts.
ADX Florence
ADX Florence is the United States' only federal supermax prison, located in Florence, Colorado. It opened in 1995 and houses high-profile inmates like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
AerCap
AerCap Holdings N.V. (AER), headquartered in Dublin, is the world's largest commercial aircraft owner and aviation lessor, formed from debis AirFinance and the 2014 ILFC acquisition, with 1,589 aircraft, ~1,300 engines, and over 300 helicopters as of June 30, 2026.
Affidavit
Affidavit: a written statement of fact sworn or affirmed before a notary, Commissioner for Oaths, or other authorized officer, used as court evidence; also called a sworn statement; false statements risk perjury charges.
Affirmative action in the United States
Affirmative action in the United States: employment and admissions policies for federal contractors and universities. Key facts: Executive Order 11246 (1965, revoked 2025), Bakke, Grutter, and the 2023 SFFA ruling ending race-conscious college admissions.
Affirmative defense
Affirmative defense: a legal defense in which the defendant, even after the alleged acts are proven, avoids liability by proving matters such as self-defense, duress, insanity, necessity, or entrapment; the party raising it bears the burden of proof, typically by a preponderance of the evidence.
Affray
Affray is a public order offence of using or threatening unlawful violence that would make a person of reasonable firmness fear for their safety; statutory in England and Wales (3 years), NSW (10 years), common law in Hong Kong (7 years).
Afghanistan–China border
The Afghanistan–China border, also called the Afghan–Chinese border, is a roughly 76 km frontier in the high Pamirs along the Wakhan Corridor against Xinjiang, fixed by a 1963 treaty and closed to all traffic.