Legal Systems and Constitutional Principles Vocabulary

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards defining legal terms, criminal vs. civil law concepts, court roles, burden of proof standards, and US constitutional principles based on the lecture notes.

Human Rights

All the rights someone has because they are a human, which can apply anywhere and everywhere and are meant to be fulfilled and protected by the government.

UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

A declaration stating that everyone has the right to liberty, education, religious and political freedoms, and economic well-being.

Criminal Law

Law that applies when someone breaks public conduct and does not uphold their responsibility to their community to help protect and respect others. (Does not have to testify)

Felony

A serious crime, such as murder or robbery, that carries a consequence of at least more than a year in prison. (Felony expunngment where charges can be dropped)

Misdemeanor

A less serious crime, like assault or robbery, which carries a consequence of under one year in prison.

Civil Law

Law between a group of people concerning private matters like business, contracts, property, family law, personal injuries, and private rights.

Civil Action

A non-criminal lawsuit started by a person who feels wronged by another person, where money is given or some kind of amends are made.

Defendant

The person against whom a claim is made, such as a person being sued in a civil action or being accused of robbing someone in a criminal case.

Plaintiff

The person bringing legal action against another person, such as the suer in a civil case or the person who was robbed in a criminal case.

Prosecutor

The government attorney in a criminal case who tries to prove that the criminal is guilty.

Reasonable Doubt

The level of proof required to convict a person in a criminal case, meaning there has to be no doubt at all that they are guilty.

Preponderance of Evidence

The standard of proof used in a civil case that a party must meet to win by providing better evidence than the other party.

Limited Government

A basic principle of the Constitution that limits the government's powers so that it cannot just take over.

Separation of Powers

A principle in the Constitution stating that power should be separated among the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.

Statutes

Laws that are written by the legislature or legislative branch.

Checks and Balances

The powers that the three branches of government have over each other to prevent the abuse of power.

Veto

To prohibit; in government, it means that the executive chief can stop a bill from becoming a law.

Judicial Review

The process of reviewing laws in courts to see if they are constitutional or not.

Unconstitutional

Conflicting with or going against something in the Constitution.

Federalism

The separation of powers between the states and the federal government.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments of the Constitution, which are individual rights for everyone and are enforced in the United States.

Reservation

A legal way of making a provision less than it could be, which requires giving reasons when applied to Human Rights agreements signed by the US.

Appellate courts

An appeal is for when something was wrong in the trial. Something went wrong in the trial. No jury, usually three panel. They usually just say you get a new trial. 

What is law and its purpose?

Law is a binding system of rules that is made by our government to help keep people safe and restore justice in an equal way. The purpose of law is for everyone to be safe and to protect the people.

Relationship between rulers and their people

The relationship between rulers and their people can be known as rulers being supreme and the people being their subjects. The social contract depends on whether you are a democracy or not.

Purpose of our founding documents

Our founding documents are there to firstly give all humans rights and set the foundation of our rules for the future.

Difference between rights and responsibilities

Rights are things that are given to you as a way of life, like human rights, which are commonly legal or moral things that are benefits, and responsibilities can vary and be things you contribute to society and give to society. Rights are given to you; responsibilities you give to them.

Difference between reasonable doubt and preponderance of evidence (when are each utilized)

Reasonable doubt is used in criminal cases usually, and preponderance of evidence is used in civil cases. Reasonable doubt means that in a criminal case you have some doubt that the person is guilty, and for a case to be fully resolved you can’t have any reasonable doubt. A preponderance of evidence is used in a civil case, which means you have to have evidence against the defendant to make it seem reasonable and make the defendant guilty and have the plaintiff win. 

International law - what makes it complicated

International law is difficult because every country has different laws and rules, and some people have broken rules in other places, which means that some people may be wanted in another country. Like President Putin is wanted in other countries, and he is to be seized if he goes there. It can also get tricky when allies don’t act on what they are supposed to do, and international law is just so complex and big. Like some people don’t even believe in the highest court, which is the International Court, which makes it not really an international court. 

Appellate vs. original jurisdiction

An appeal can happen when a trial is misjudged. This can happen if some evidence was shown that wasn’t supposed to be; the jury may have had some emotional feelings that are very biased, and some other things could happen. The original jurisdiction is whatever verdict was first decided at trial, whether it be fair or not. 

Federal judges lifetime appointment

The federal judges have a lifetime job because they don’t want many switches. One, it is hard to find someone, and the people already in office have their emotions, and it is kept the same instead of always switching around and different people having different answers. 

Bystander effect

The bystander effect can happen when there are more than 1 or 2 people around, and everyone of the people start to think that everyone else will call the police or step in, so they start walking by and don’t rethink it. Also, some people may be afraid of getting hurt or injured during the process.