Scope
This glossary is a guide to the meaning of certain legal
expressions as used in these rules, but it does not give the expressions any
meaning in the rules which they do not otherwise have in the law.
- Expression
- Meaning
- Affidavit
- A written, sworn, statement of evidence.
- Cross-examination
- Questioning of a witness by a party other than the party who
called the witness.
- Evidence in chief
- The evidence given by a witness for the party who called
him.
- Injunction
- A court order prohibiting a person from doing something or
requiring a person to do something.
- Official copy
- A copy of an official document, supplied and marked as such by
the office which issued the original.
- Pre-action protocol
- Statements of best practice about pre-action conduct which
have been approved by the President of the Family Division and which are
annexed to a Practice Direction.
- Privilege
- The right of a party to refuse to disclose a document or
produce a document or to refuse to answer questions on the ground of some
special interest recognised by law.
- Seal
- A seal is a mark which the court puts on document to indicate
that the document has been issued by the court.
- Service
- Steps required by rules of court to bring documents used in
court proceedings to a person's attention.
- Set aside
- Cancelling a judgment or order or a step taken by a party in
the proceedings.
- Stay
- A stay imposes a halt on proceedings, apart from the taking of
any steps allowed by the rules or the terms of the stay. Proceedings can be
continued if a stay is lifted.
- Strike out
- Striking out means the court ordering written material to be
deleted so that it may no longer be relied upon.
- Without prejudice
- Negotiations with a view to settlement are usually conducted
"without prejudice" which means that the circumstances in which the content of
those negotiations may be revealed to the court are very restricted.