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  <%-- Page Title--%> Issue No 111 <%-- End Page Title--%>  

October 5, 2003 

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NCND Agreement
An international trade instrument; "non circumvention/non disclosure agreement" used in the preliminary stages of a business transaction where the Seller and Buyer do not know each other, but are brought into contact with each other by one or more intermediaries (also known as brokers or middlemen), to fulfill the transaction. Non Circumvention/Non Disclosure Agreements ensure that the intermediaries in the transaction are not cicumvented and excluded from the transaction by the Buyer and/or Seller and/or the other intermediaries. Many trade transactions are chain-like. Product flows like this: seller-broker-broker-broker-buyer. The brokers in the middle use NCNDs to ensure that they are not circumvented by anyone else in the chain; also, to ensure that information on the other parties in the chain is not disclosed to outside parties. They are valid for a specified term; usually two years.

Negligence
Not only are people responsible for the intentional harm they cause, but their failure to act as a reasonable person would be expected to act in similar circumstances (i.e. "negligence") will also give rise to compensation. Negligence, if it causes injury to another, can give rise to a liability suit under tort. Negligence is always assessed having regards to the circumstances and to the standard of care which would reasonably be expected of a person in similar circumstances. Everybody has a duty to ensure that their actions do not cause harm to others. Between negligence and the intentional act there lies yet another, more serious type of negligence which is called gross negligence. Gross negligence is any action or an omission in reckless disregard of the consequences to the safety or property of another. See also contributory negligence and comparative negligence.

Negotiate
To communicate on a matter of disagreement between two parties, with a view to first listen to the other party's perspective and to then attempt to arrive at a resolution by consensus.

Nemo judex in parte sua
Latin and a fundamental principle of natural justice which states that no person can judge a case in which he or she is party. May also be called nemo judex in sua causa or nemo debet esse judex in propria causa.

Next of kin
The nearest blood relative of a deceased. The expression has come to describe those persons most related to a dead person and therefore set to inherit the decesased's property.

Nolo contendere
Latin for "I will not defend it." Used primarily in criminal proceedings whereby the defendant declines to refute the evidence of the prosecution. In some jurisdictions, this response by the defendant has same effect as a plea of guilty.

Non est factum
Latin for "not his deed" and a special defense in contract law to allow a person to avoid having to respect a contract that she or he signed because of certain reasons such as a mistake as to the kind of contract. For example, a person who signs away the deed to a house, thinking that the document signed was only a guarantee for another person's debt, might be able to plead non est factum in a court and on that basis get the court to void the contract.

Non-joinder
When a person who should have been made a party to a legal proceedings has been forgotten or omitted. This is usually addressed by asking the court to amend documents and including the forgotten party to the proceedings. It is the opposite of mis-joinder.

 









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