Law, Crime & Punishment, PIR-RAS
Every society draws lines between order and disorder. Explore the laws, crimes, courts, and punishments that reveal how communities define justice and respond when rules are broken.
Law, Crime & Punishment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Pirates, Privateers, Corsairs, Buccaneers: Whatâs the Difference?
In casual conversation the words pirate, buccaneer, and corsair tend to be used more or less interchangeably. Some......
plagiarism
plagiarism, the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as oneâs own. The fraudulence......
Plaintiff
Plaintiff, the party who brings a legal action or in whose name it is broughtâas opposed to the defendant, the......
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, legal case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992,......
Plea bargaining
Plea bargaining, in law, the practice of negotiating an agreement between the prosecution and the defense whereby......
Pleading
Pleading, in law, written presentation by a litigant in a lawsuit setting forth the facts upon which he claims......
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, pledge to the flag of the United States. It was......
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on May 18, 1896, by a seven-to-one majority (one......
poaching
poaching, in law, the illegal shooting, trapping, or taking of game, fish, or plants from private property or from......
pocket veto
pocket veto, the killing of legislation by a chief executive through a failure to act within a specified period......
Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
In March 2018 former Russian spy Sergei Skripal went out to lunch with his daughter Yulia, who had come to England......
Poisons, Affair of the
Affair of the Poisons, one of the most sensational criminal cases of 17th-century France. In 1679 an inquiry revealed......
police
police, body of officers representing the civil authority of government. Police typically are responsible for maintaining......
- Introduction
- Law Enforcement, Reforms, History
- Constabulary, Decline, Reform
- Professionalism, England, Reforms
- Law Enforcement, US History, Reforms
- Reform, Law Enforcement, 19th Century
- Canadian Law, Enforcement, Reform
- Crime Fighting, Law Enforcement, Reform
- Due Process, Rights, Law
- Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, Security
- Decentralization, Organizations, Reform
- Interpol, Law Enforcement, Crime Prevention
- Racial Profiling, Discrimination, Reform
- Crowd Control, Tactics, Strategies
- Law Enforcement, Crime Prevention, Community Relations
- Mobility, Reforms, Training
- Equipment, Tactics, Training
- K9, Detection, Training
- Lie Detection, Polygraphs, Interrogations
- Fingerprinting, Identification, Forensics
- Crime Scene, Forensics, Investigation
- Criminal Profiling, Evidence Analysis, Investigation
Police Gazette, The
The Police Gazette, daily publication of the London Metropolitan Police that carries details of stolen property......
Police power
Police power, in U.S. constitutional law, the permissible scope of federal or state legislation so far as it may......
political correctness
political correctness (PC), term used to refer to language that seems intended to give the least amount of offense,......
political prisoner
political prisoner, a person who is imprisoned because that personâs actions or beliefs are contrary to those of......
Political Violence in the U.S. in the 21st Century
Political violence often translates to assassination, and when we think about political assassinations and assassination......
Pollock v. Farmersâ Loan and Trust Company
Pollock v. Farmersâ Loan and Trust Company, (1895), U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court voided portions......
Pontifical Gendarmerie
Pontifical Gendarmerie, former police force of Vatican City. The Pontifical, or Papal, Gendarmerie was created......
Ponzi scheme
Ponzi scheme, fraudulent and illegal investment operation that promises quick, easy, and significant returns on......
Poor Law
Poor Law, in British history, body of laws undertaking to provide relief for the poor, developed in 16th-century......
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), organization providing an institutional framework for militant......
Population Registration Act
Population Registration Act, South African law, promulgated in 1950, that provided for the creation of a population......
pornography
pornography, representation of sexual behaviour in books, pictures, statues, films, and other media that is intended......
Porteous Riots
Porteous Riots, (1736), celebrated riots that erupted in Edinburgh over the execution of a smuggler. The incident......
posse comitatus
posse comitatus, ancient English institution consisting of the shireâs force of able-bodied private citizens summoned......
Possession
Possession, in law, the acquisition of either a considerable degree of physical control over a physical thing,......
powers, delegation of
delegation of powers, in U.S. constitutional law, the transfer of a specific authority by one of the three branches......
PoznaĆ Riots
PoznaĆ Riots, (June 1956), uprising of Polish industrial workers that caused a crisis among the Polish communist......
Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, (July 7, 1438), decree issued by King Charles VII of France after an assembly had......
Pragmatic Sanction of Emperor Charles VI
Pragmatic Sanction of Emperor Charles VI, (April 19, 1713), decree promulgated by the Holy Roman emperor Charles......
Pragmatic Sanction of King Ferdinand VII
Pragmatic Sanction of King Ferdinand VII, (March 29, 1830), decree of Ferdinand VII of Spain, which promulgated......
Precedent
Precedent, in law, a judgment or decision of a court that is cited in a subsequent dispute as an example or analogy......
preemption
preemption, in U.S. history, policy by which first settlers, or âsquatters,â on public lands could purchase the......
Prenuptial agreement
Prenuptial agreement, in family law, a contract made between two persons before their marriage to, or civil union......
Prerogative court
Prerogative court, in English law, court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities......
Prescription
Prescription, in both domestic and international law, the effect of the lapse of time in creating and destroying......
preventive detention
preventive detention, the practice of incarcerating accused individuals before trial on the assumption that their......
Priestsâ Charter
Priestsâ Charter, (October 1370), treaty that unified the legal system in all the Swiss cantons, particularly highlighting......
Primogeniture and ultimogenitureultimogeniture
Primogeniture and ultimogenitureultimogeniture, preference in inheritance that is given by law, custom, or usage......
Principal in the second degree
Principal in the second degree, person who assists another in the commission of a crime and is present when the......
prior restraint
Prior restraint is any attempt by government to prevent the expression of ideas prior to publication. As interpreted......
prison
prison, an institution for the confinement of persons who have been remanded (held) in custody by a judicial authority......
Prisoner of war
Prisoner of war (POW), any person captured or interned by a belligerent power during war. In the strictest sense......
Privacy Act of 1974
Privacy Act of 1974, U.S. legislation that restricts the dissemination of personal information about an individual......
Privileged communication
Privileged communication, in law, communication between persons who have a special duty of fidelity and secrecy......
Prize
Prize, in law, a vessel, aircraft, or goods acquired through capture by a belligerent state, which is subject to......
prize cases
prize cases, (1863), in U.S. history, legal dispute in which the Supreme Court upheld President Abraham Lincolnâs......
Prize court
Prize court, a municipal (national) court in which the legality of captures of goods and vessels at sea and related......
Probate
Probate, in Anglo-American law, the judicial proceedings by which it is determined whether or not a paper purporting......
probation
probation, correctional method under which the sentences of selected offenders may be conditionally suspended upon......
Procedural law
Procedural law, the law governing the machinery of the courts and the methods by which both the state and the individual......
- Introduction
- Common Law, Civil Law, Equity
- Court Rules, Litigation, Judgments
- Civil Codifications, Litigation, Disputes
- Jury, Evidence, Decision
- Litigation, Rules, Courts
- Parties, Litigation, Disputes
- Pre-Trial, Hearing, Litigation
- Pleadings, Hearings, Judgments
- Discovery, Evidence, Litigation
- Trial, Evidence, Judgement
- Civil Hearing, Evidence, Judgments
- Judgment, Execution, Appeals
- Appeals, Review, Judgments
- Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Trials
- Prosecution, Evidence, Trials
- Trial, Evidence, Adjudication
- Postconviction, Appeals, Hearings
Proctor
Proctor, in English law, formerly a practitioner in ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, who performed duties similar......
Procuracy
Procuracy, in the former Soviet legal system, a government bureau concerned with ensuring administrative legality.......
Profumo affair
Profumo affair, in British history, political and intelligence scandal in the early 1960s that helped topple the......
Property
Property, an object of legal rights, which embraces possessions or wealth collectively, frequently with strong......
Property law
Property law, principles, policies, and rules by which disputes over property are to be resolved and by which property......
proscription
proscription, in ancient Rome, a posted notice listing Roman citizens who had been declared outlaws and whose goods......
Prosecutor
Prosecutor, government official charged with bringing defendants in criminal cases to justice in the name of the......
prostitution
prostitution, the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with someone who......
Provost
Provost, in French law, an inferior royal judge under the ancien régime, who, during the later Middle Ages, often......
Proxy
Proxy, a term denoting either a person who is authorized to stand in place of another or the legal instrument by......
Prussian Civil Code
Prussian Civil Code, (âGeneral State Lawâ), the law of the Prussian states, begun during the reign of Frederick......
Préfecture de Police
Préfecture de Police, one of the three main police forces of France. Controlled by the Ministry of the Interior,......
Public defender
Public defender, attorney permanently employed by a government to represent indigent persons accused of crimes.......
Public domain
Public domain, category of creative works that are unprotected by intellectual property law. Since these works......
punishment
punishment, the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person for a misdeed (i.e., the transgression of......
punitive damages
punitive damages, legal damages a judge or a jury may grant a plaintiff to punish and make an example of the defendant.......
Purcell principle
Purcell principle, a legal doctrine holding that courts should avoid changing election rules shortly before an......
Pure Food and Drug Act
Pure Food and Drug Act, in U.S. history, legislation passed in 1906 to ensure the sanitary preparation of consumable......
pyramid scheme
pyramid scheme, fraudulent business model that seeks to funnel revenue from recruited members to the schemeâs organizers......
Qaeda in Iraq, al-
al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), militant Sunni network, active in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, comprising......
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Yemen-based militant group, formed in 2009 by the merger of radical networks......
Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib, al-
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib (AQIM), Algeria-based Islamic militant group, active in North Africa and the Sahel......
Qaeda, al-
al-Qaeda, broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s and became one......
quackery
quackery, the characteristic practice of quacks or charlatans, who pretend to knowledge and skill that they do......
Quarter sessions
Quarter sessions, formerly, in England and Wales, sessions of a court held four times a year by a justice of the......
Quartering Act
Quartering Act, (1765), in American colonial history, the British parliamentary provision (actually an amendment......
Quebec Act
Quebec Act, act of the British Parliament in 1774 that vested the government of Quebec in a governor and council......
Queenâs Bench Division
Queenâs Bench Division, in England and Wales, one of three divisions of the High Court of Justice, the others being......
Queiroz Law
Queiroz Law, (1850), measure enacted by the Brazilian parliament to make the slave trade illegal. In the mid-19th......
Quia Emptores, Statute of
Statute of Quia Emptores, English law of 1290 that forbade subinfeudation, the process whereby one tenant granted......
Quirin, Ex Parte
Ex Parte Quirin, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on July 31, 1942, unanimously ruled to allow the military,......
quorum
quorum, in parliamentary procedure, the number of members whose presence is required before a meeting can legally......
Québec Values Charter
QuĂ©bec Values Charter, statement of principles and subsequent legislation introduced in 2013 to QuĂ©becâs National......
Rabulist riots
Rabulist riots, (1838), in Swedish history, wave of popular demonstrations in Stockholm that led to a loosening......
racial profiling
Racial profiling is the discriminatory mistreatment of racial, ethnic, or religious minorities by police officers......
rack
rack, a bedlike open frame suspended above the ground that was used as a torture device. The victimâs ankles and......
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), U.S. federal statute targeting organized crime and white-collar......
racketeering
racketeering, engaging in a pattern of illegal scheming and activity for profit. A âracketâ is a fraudulent and......
Radio Act of 1927
The Radio Act of 1927 was signed into law by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge on February 23, 1927, and is considered......
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indiaâs bicameral legislature (Parliament). The Rajya Sabha was designed by the......
Rampart scandal
Rampart scandal, official inquiry (1998â2000) into corruption among officers of the Rampart Division of the Los......
ransomware
ransomware, malicious software (malware) that permanently blocks access to data or devices until the owner of the......
rape
rape, unlawful sexual activity, most often involving sexual intercourse, against the will of the victim through......
Rape shield law
Rape shield law, statute or court rule, introduced in the late 20th century, which limits the ability of the defendantâs......
Rapid Support Forces
Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Darfur-based paramilitary group in Sudan. The RSF was established in 2013 by the government......
Rapporteur
Rapporteur, French civil lawin, a judge who furnishes a written report on the case at hand to other judges of the......
Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2004, that U.S. courts have jurisdiction......