The name of an American federal labor law which was passed in 1947, and
which sought to "equalize legal responsibilities of labor organizations and employers"; ie.
balance the Wagner Act, which, it was felt, may have gone to far in protecting union rights.
Where the Wagner Act had was aimed primarily at employer behavior, the Taft-Hartley was
aimed at unions and sought to restrain their activities under certain circumstances, by detailing
union rights and duties. For example, the Taft-Hartley Act exempted supervisors from it's
provisions, allowed employees to decline participation in union activities and permitted union
decertification petitions.
To interfere improperly or in violation of the law such as to tamper with a document.
The term "jury tampering" means to illegally disrupt the independence of a jury member with a
view to influencing that juror otherwise than by the production of evidence in open court.
A form of co-ownership in English law where, when a husband
transferred land to his wife, the property could not be sold unless both spouses agreed nor
could it be severed except by ending the marriage.
A person to whom a landlord grants temporary and exclusive use of land or a part of
a building, usually in exchange for rent. The contract for this type of legal arrangement is called
a lease. The word "tenant" originated under the feudal system, referring to land "owners" who
held their land on tenure granted by a lord.
in common Similar to joints tenants. All tenants in common share equal property
rights except that, upon the death of a tenant in common, that share does not go to the surviving
tenants but is transferred to the estate of the deceased tenant. Unity of possession but distinct
titles.
Property that could be subject to tenure under English land law; usually land,
buildings or apartments. The word is rarely used nowadays except to refer to dominant or
servient tenements when qualifying easements.
A right of holding or occupying land or a position for a certain amount of time. The
term was first used in the English feudal land system, whereby all land belonged to the king but
was lent out to lords for a certain period of time; the lord never owning, but having tenure in the
land. Used in modern law mostly to refer to a position a person occupies such as in the
expression "a judge holds tenure for life and on good behavior."
A trust which is to take effect only upon the death of the settlor and is
commonly found as part of a will. Trusts which take effect during the life of the settlor are called
inter vivos trusts.
A land registration system invented by Robert Torrens
and in which the government is the keeper of the master record of all land and their owners. In
the Torrens system, a land title certificate suffices to show full, valid and indefeasible title. Used
in Australia and several Canadian provinces.
Derived from the Latin word tortus which meant wrong. In French, "tort" means a wrong".
Tort refers to that body of the law which will allow an injured person to obtain compensation
from the person who caused the injury. Every person is expected to conduct themselves without
injuring others. When they do so, either intentionally or by negligence, they can be required by a
court to pay money to the injured party ("damages") so that, ultimately, they will suffer the pain
cause by their action. Tort also serves as a deterrent by sending a message to the community
as to what is unacceptable conduct.
A legal proceeding taken under the law of equity where the plaintiff attempts to
reclaim specific property, through the court, whether the property is still in the first acquirer's
hands or it has passed onto others, and even if the property has been converted (related
common law terms: conversion, trover and detinue). This is a procedure frequently used by a
trust beneficiary to recover misappropriated trust property.
A person from whom property moves. Property is transferred from the transferor
to the transferor. I sell you my house and in transferring title to you, I am the transferor and you,
the transferee.
A formal agreement between two states signed by official representatives of each
state. A treaty may be "law-making" in that it is the declared intention of the signatories to
make or amend their internal laws to give effect to the treaty. The Berne Convention is an
example of such as treaty. Other treaties are just contracts between the signatories to conduct
themselves in a certain way or to do a certain thing. These latter type of treaties are usually
private to two or a limited number of states and may be binding only through the International
Court of Justice.
An old English and common law legal proceeding against a person who had found
someone else's property and has converted that property to their own purposes. The action of
trover did not ask for the return of the property but for damages in an amount equal to the
replacement value of the property. English law replaced the action of trover with that of
conversion in 1852.
Property given by a person called the donor or settlor, to a trustee, for the benefit of
another person (the beneficiary or donee). The trustee manages and administers the property,
actual ownership is shared between the trustee and the beneficiary and all the profits go to the
beneficiary. The word "fiduciary" can be used to describe the responsibilities of the trustee
towards the beneficiary. A will is a form of trust but trusts can be formed during the lifetime of
the settlor in which case it is called an inter vivos or living trust.
The person who holds property rights for the benefit of another through the legal
mechanism of the trust. A trustee usually has full management and administration rights over
the property but these rights must always be exercised to the full advantage of the beneficiary.
All profits from the property go to the beneficiary although the trustee is entitled to
reimbursement for administrative costs. There is no legal impediment for a trustee to also be a
beneficiary of the same property.
A trustee "of his own wrong"; a person who is not a regularly appointed
trustee but because of his or her intermeddling with the trust and the exercise of some control
over the trust property, can be held by a court as "constructive" trustee which entails liability for
losses to the trust.