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negligence

(Encyclopedia)negligence, in law, especially tort law, the breach of an obligation (duty) to act with care, or the failure to act as a reasonable and prudent person would under similar circumstances. For a plaintif...

Nussbaum, Martha Craven

(Encyclopedia)Nussbaum, Martha C., 1947–, American philosopher, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard University, 1975. The Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor o...

USA PATRIOT Act

(Encyclopedia)USA PATRIOT Act [Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists], 2001, U.S. federal law intended to give federal authorities increased ...

Mattarella, Sergio

(Encyclopedia)Mattarella, Sergio, 1941–, Italian political leader. Born into a prominent Sicilian family, he studied law at the Sapienza Univ. of Rome and taught constitutional law at the Univ. of Palermo. He was...

Hale, Sir Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Sir Matthew, 1609–76, English jurist. He was successively a judge in the Court of Common Pleas (1654), chief baron of the Exchequer (1660), and chief justice of the Court of King's Bench (1671...

Domat, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Domat, Jean zhäN dōmäˈ [key], 1625–96, French jurist. His Les Loix civiles dans leur ordre naturel [civil laws in their natural order] (3 vol., 1689–94) is a restatement of Roman law considere...

entrapment

(Encyclopedia)entrapment, in law, the instigation of a crime in the attempt to obtain cause for a criminal prosecution. Situations in which a government operative merely provides the occasion for the commission of ...

Altamira y Crevea, Rafaél

(Encyclopedia)Altamira y Crevea, Rafaél räfäĕlˈ ältämēˈrä ē krāvāˈä [key], 1866–1951, Spanish jurist and historian. He was appointed professor of the history of the law in the universities at Ovied...

Theodore I , Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)Theodore I (Theodore Lascaris), d. 1222, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1204–22), son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor Alexius III. He escaped from Constantinople after it was captured (1204) by the La...

Puy de Dôme

(Encyclopedia)Puy de Dôme, extinct volcano of the Massif Central and the second highest peak (4,806 ft/1,465 m) of the Auvergne Mts., central France, W of Clermont-Ferrand. Crops are raised on the lower slopes; th...