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  <%-- Page Title--%> Issue No 104 <%-- End Page Title--%>  

August 10, 2003 

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Literal construction
A form of construction which does not allow evidence extrapolated beyond the actual words of a phrase or document but, rather, takes a phrase or document at face value, giving effect only to the actual words used. Also known as "strict" or "strict and literal" construction. Contrasts with liberal construction (which allows for the input from other factors such as the purpose of the document being interpreted).

Livery
Delivery. An archaic legal word from the feudal system referring to the actual legal transmission of possession of an object to another. For example, a knight would obtain an estate in land as tenure in exchange for serving in the king's army for 40 days a year. The king would give exclusive possession of the land, (i.e. "livery") to the knight. A writ of livery also developed which allowed persons to sue for possession of land under the feudal system. Livery (or "delivery") of the land was important in completing legal possession or, as it was known in the feudal system, seisin.

Locus
Latin for "the place." For example, lawyers talk of the "locus delicti" as the pace where a criminal offense was commited or "loco parentis" to refer to a person who stands in the place of a parent such as a step-parent in a common law relationship.

Long arm statutes
Each court is bound to a territorial jurisdiction and does not normally have jurisdiction over persons that reside outside of that jurisdiction. For example, a court in Scotland would not normally have jurisdiction over a resident of Ireland. Long-arm statutes are a tool which gives a court jurisdiction over a person even though the person no longer resides in the territory limits of the court. For example, UIFSA allows a court to have jurisdiction over a non-resident support payer.

 









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