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  <%-- Page Title--%> Issue No 113 <%-- End Page Title--%>  

October 26, 2003 

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Ombudsman
A person whose occupation consists of investigating customer complaints against his or her employer. Many governments have ombudsmen who will investigate citizen complaints against government services.

Onus
Latin: the burden. It is usually used in the context of evidence. The onus of proof in criminal cases lies with the state. It is the state that has the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt. In civil cases, the onus of proof lies with the plaintiff who must prove his case by balance of probabilities. So "onus" refers both to the party with the burden, and to the scope of that burden, the latter depending whether the context is criminal or civil.

Open-ended agreement
An agreement or contract which does not have an ending date but which will continue for as long as certain conditions, identified in the agreement, exist.

Ordinance
An executive decision of a government which has not been subjected to a legislative assembly (contrary to a statute). It is often detailed and not, as would be a statute, of general wording or application. This term is in disuse in many jurisdictions and the words "regulations" or "bylaws" are preferred.

Paralegal
A person who is not a lawyer or is not acting in that capacity but who provides a limited number of legal services. Each country differs in the authority it gives paralegals in exercising what traditionally would be lawyers' work.

Pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime, to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if never convicted. It is typically used to remove a criminal record against a good citizen for a small crime that may have been committed during adolescence or young adulthood. Although procedures vary from one state to another, the request for a pardon usually involves a lengthy period of time of impeccable behaviour and a reference check. Generally speaking, the more serious the crime, the longer the time requirement for excellent behaviour. In the USA, the power to pardon for federal offences belongs to the President.

Parens patriae
Latin: A British common law creation whereby the courts have the right to make unfettered decisions concerning people who are not able to take care of themselves. For example, court can make custody decisions regarding a child or an insane person, even without statute law to allow them to do so, based on their residual, common law-based parens patriae jurisdiction.

Pari delicto
Latin for "of equal fault." For example, if two parties complain to a judge of the non-performance of a contract by the other, the judge could refuse to provide a remedy to either of them because of "pari delicto": a finding that they were equally at fault in causing the contract's breach.

Pari passu
Latin: Equitably and without preference. This term is often used in bankruptcy proceedings where creditors are said to be "pari passu" which means that they are all equal and that distribution of the assets will occur without preference between them.

Parole
An early release from incarceration in which the prisoner promises to heed certain conditions (usually set by a parole board) and under the supervision of a parole officer. Any violation of those conditions would result in the return of the person to prison.

 









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