| Notary
Also known as "notary public": a legal officer with specific
judicial authority to attest to legal documents usually with an official
seal. Most countries do not have notaries vesting administrative legal
authority in lawyers or court officers.
Nudum
pactum
A contract-law term which stands for those agreements which are without
consideration, such as a unilateral undertaking, which may bind a person
morally, but not under contract law, in those jurisdictions which still
require consideration.
Nuisance
Excessive or unlawful use of one's property to the extent of unreasonable
annoyance or inconvenience to a neighbor or to the public. Nuisance is
a tort.
Nunc
pro tunc
Latin: now for then. It refers to the doing of something late (after it
should have been done in the first place), with effect as if it had been
done on time.
Obiter
dictum
Latin: an observation by a judge on a matter not specifically before the
court or not necessary in determining the issue before the court; a side
opinion which does not form part of the judgment for the purposes of stare
decisis May also be referred to as "dicta" or "dictum."
Obligee
The person who is to receive the benefit of someone else's obligation;
that "someone else" being the obligor. Also called a "promisee."
Some countries refer to the recipient of family support as an "obligee".
Obligor
A person who is contractually or legally, committed or obliged, to providing
something to another person; the recipient of the benefit being called
the obligee. Also known as the "promisor."
Obscenity
An elusive concept used in the context of criminal law to describe a publication
which is illegal because it is morally corruptive. The common law has
struggled with this word as society has evolved towards greater tolerance
of alternative sexual behavior. Historically, it included any lewd material
which had no apparent social value, which was offensive to contemporary
community standards of decency, and even material which tended to invoke
impure sexual thoughts. As an example of a modern definition, Canada has
defined obscene material as any publication a dominant characteristic
of which is the undue exploitation of sex, or of sex and crime, horror,
cruelty or violence.
Obstructing
justice
An act which tends to impede or thwart the administration of justice.
Examples include trying to bribe a witness or juror or providing law enforcement
officers with information known to be false.
Offense
A crime; any act which contravenes the criminal law of the state in which
it occurs. Spelled "offence" in Commonwealth countries.
Offer
A explicit proposal to contract which, if accepted, completes the contract
and binds both the person that made the offer and the person accepting
the offer to the terms of the contract. See also "acceptance".
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