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statute

(Encyclopedia)statute, in law, a formal, written enactment by the authorized powers of a state. The term is usually not applied to a written constitution but is restricted to the enactments of a legislature. Statut...

burglary

(Encyclopedia)burglary, at common law, the breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another at night with the intent to commit a felony, whether the intent is carried out or not. This definition has been genera...

Ruth

(Encyclopedia)Ruth, book of the Bible. It tells a story, set in the days of the judges, of the fidelity of a Moabite widow (Ruth) to her widowed mother-in-law (Naomi). After the death of her husband in Moab, Ruth r...

Abbot, George

(Encyclopedia)Abbot, George, 1562–1633, archbishop of Canterbury. He was one of the collaborators (from the Univ. of Oxford) on the Authorized Version of the Bible and was an authority on geography. He became arc...

Star Chamber

(Encyclopedia)Star Chamber, ancient meeting place of the king of England's councilors in the palace of Westminster in London, so called because of stars painted on the ceiling. The court of the Star Chamber develop...

commercial law

(Encyclopedia)commercial law, the laws that govern business transactions, except those relating to the maritime transportation of goods (see maritime law). Commercial law developed as a distinct body of jurispruden...

consanguinity

(Encyclopedia)consanguinity kŏnˌsăng-gwĭnˈĭtē [key], state of being related by blood or descended from a common ancestor. This article focuses on legal usage of the term as it relates to the laws of marriage...

Hale, Sir Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Sir Matthew, 1609–76, English jurist. He was successively a judge in the Court of Common Pleas (1654), chief baron of the Exchequer (1660), and chief justice of the Court of King's Bench (1671...

felony

(Encyclopedia)felony fĕlˈənē [key], any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. In early English law a felony was a heinous act that cancele...

Diggers

(Encyclopedia)Diggers, members of a small English religio-economic movement (fl. 1649–50), so called because they attempted to dig (i.e., cultivate) the wastelands. They were an offshoot of the more important gro...
 

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