A Dictionary of Law: Oxford Quick Reference

I have not bought a law dictionary for over 40 years. The last and only one I acquired was during my law degree. I wanted a guide to the odd expressions, code words, Latin terminology and jargon. I found it useful in my studies and interesting as most of these words have historical significance. Words are important to us as a way of communicating, and jargon and technical words provide a sense of cohesion and continuity.

I was caught out by a person who accused me of champerty. I denied that I knew what he meant, which he did not believe, but I was in earnest. Champerty and maintenance both mean the crime or civil wrong committed where a third party pays another person to pursue a court case. Usually, the third person’s motive is a share of the compensation. My accuser was not a client but the estranged spouse of a client who could not believe that his wife would take him to court unless some evil lawyer (me) was at the back of it, purely for his own gain. The fact that the crimes and torts of champerty had been abolished in the 1960s did not bother my accuser.

This is the 10th edition of a book first published in the 1980s. The last was in 2018 and much has changed since then. There are 120 new entries, many arising from Brexit. There are many entries which relate to international law. There are also plenty of Latin words and phrases which is strangely pleasing despite the recent policy to make legal terminology more understandable. Plaintiff became claimant, decree nisi became conditional order; but ‘defendant’ was not changed.

Brexit gets a long entry but Magna Carta has only a few lines and we are told it only has symbolic significance. The devil gets two definitions. There are entries on the Northern Ireland protocol, the Miller (prorogue parliament) cases and emergency powers which relate to Covid.

My favourite word definition is ubuntu, a term from Bantu languages, meaning humanity in the sense of decency arising from one’s own community not imposed by others from outside.

This is a delightful romp through legal language.

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury