Basic Legal Concepts
Definitions
custom
- a group pattern of habitual activity usually transmitted from one generation to another.
- a habitual practice; the usual way of acting in given circumstances.
- habits or usages collectively; convention.
- a practice so long established that it has the force of law.
rule
- the customary or normal circumstance, occurrence, manner, practice, quality, etc.
- a principle or regulation governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc.
law
- the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision.
- any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nation,as by the people in its constitution.
- a system or collection of such rules.
values
- the moral principles and beliefs or accepted standards of a person or social group
ethics
- Ethics is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous and non-virtuous characteristics of people.
- a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group, profession, or individual
justice
- the principle of fairness that like cases should be treated alike
- particular distribution of benefits and burdens fairly in accordance with a particular conception of what are to count as like cases
- the principle that punishment should be proportionate to the offence
- conformity to the law; legal validity
- the administration of law according to prescribed and accepted principles
equality
- the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.
fairness
- the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice
access
- the ability, right, or permission to approach, enter, speak with, or use