10 Legal Terms That Are Often Misunderstood
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2025 9:13 am
Let's look at examples
Many professions have their own language of specialized terms and phrases, often even slang. Lawyers are no exception. In addition to complex legal terms, there are words that are also found in everyday speech, but many people misunderstand them. Here are some examples.
Copyright and the right of authorship. The author of a work of science, literature and art has several rights, which together are called copyrights: the exclusive right to the work, the right of authorship, the right to publish the work and others. As we can see, the right of authorship is only one of the copyrights and means the right to be recognized as the author of the work, and it is impossible to renounce this right.
Apartments. This is often considered to be elite housing. However, housing algeria phone number lead legislation does not recognize such a concept as apartments, and therefore apartments are classified as non-residential premises that are not intended for permanent residence of citizens and can only be a place of their temporary stay. Because of this, for example, in them, unlike an apartment, it is impossible to register at the place of residence.
Emancipation. Commonly understood as granting women equal rights in public, work and family life. In Russian law, emancipation is the declaration of a minor as fully capable. This is possible after reaching the age of 16 and under certain conditions.
Earnest money and advance payment. Earnest money is one of the ways to ensure the performance of a contract – a sum of money given by one party to the other. Moreover, if the contract is not performed and the party that gave the earnest money is responsible for this, it remains with the other party. If the party that received the earnest money is responsible for the failure to perform the contract, it is obliged to pay the other party double the amount of the earnest money. An advance payment, unlike a earnest money, does not perform a security function, therefore, regardless of the reasons for which the obligation is not performed, the party that received the advance money is obliged to return it.
Contract and transaction . Any contract is a transaction, but not every transaction is a contract. A transaction is any action that entails civil law consequences, in particular the emergence, change, or termination of rights and obligations. A transaction can be unilateral, and a contract has at least two parties. Therefore, a contract is always an agreement between the parties.
Loan. It is often thought that this is a synonym for credit – borrowing money from a bank at interest. However, a loan is not about money. It is a gratuitous temporary use of property. That is, a garage or a car is transferred for use, and interest cannot be taken for this.
Requisition and confiscation. Requisition is the forcible seizure of property in the interests of the state or society, and the losses are compensated. It is carried out in an emergency. Confiscation is the seizure of property without compensation for its value. It is carried out as a punishment for an offense.
Civil marriage. This is the accepted name for actual family relations without marriage registration. The concept of "civil marriage" is absent from the legislation; only marriage registered in the established manner in the Civil Registry Office is recognized.
Agency and suretyship. Under an agency agreement, one party (the agent) undertakes to perform certain legal actions on behalf of and at the expense of the other party (the principal). In this case, the rights and obligations under the transaction performed by the agent arise for the principal. And suretyship is one of the ways to ensure the fulfillment of an obligation. It assumes that the surety or sureties will pay the creditor if the debtor fails to do so.
Emigrant and immigrant. An emigrant is a person who moves, leaves his country for another state for permanent residence. And an immigrant is a person who enters a country for a long time or for permanent residence.
Many professions have their own language of specialized terms and phrases, often even slang. Lawyers are no exception. In addition to complex legal terms, there are words that are also found in everyday speech, but many people misunderstand them. Here are some examples.
Copyright and the right of authorship. The author of a work of science, literature and art has several rights, which together are called copyrights: the exclusive right to the work, the right of authorship, the right to publish the work and others. As we can see, the right of authorship is only one of the copyrights and means the right to be recognized as the author of the work, and it is impossible to renounce this right.
Apartments. This is often considered to be elite housing. However, housing algeria phone number lead legislation does not recognize such a concept as apartments, and therefore apartments are classified as non-residential premises that are not intended for permanent residence of citizens and can only be a place of their temporary stay. Because of this, for example, in them, unlike an apartment, it is impossible to register at the place of residence.
Emancipation. Commonly understood as granting women equal rights in public, work and family life. In Russian law, emancipation is the declaration of a minor as fully capable. This is possible after reaching the age of 16 and under certain conditions.
Earnest money and advance payment. Earnest money is one of the ways to ensure the performance of a contract – a sum of money given by one party to the other. Moreover, if the contract is not performed and the party that gave the earnest money is responsible for this, it remains with the other party. If the party that received the earnest money is responsible for the failure to perform the contract, it is obliged to pay the other party double the amount of the earnest money. An advance payment, unlike a earnest money, does not perform a security function, therefore, regardless of the reasons for which the obligation is not performed, the party that received the advance money is obliged to return it.
Contract and transaction . Any contract is a transaction, but not every transaction is a contract. A transaction is any action that entails civil law consequences, in particular the emergence, change, or termination of rights and obligations. A transaction can be unilateral, and a contract has at least two parties. Therefore, a contract is always an agreement between the parties.
Loan. It is often thought that this is a synonym for credit – borrowing money from a bank at interest. However, a loan is not about money. It is a gratuitous temporary use of property. That is, a garage or a car is transferred for use, and interest cannot be taken for this.
Requisition and confiscation. Requisition is the forcible seizure of property in the interests of the state or society, and the losses are compensated. It is carried out in an emergency. Confiscation is the seizure of property without compensation for its value. It is carried out as a punishment for an offense.
Civil marriage. This is the accepted name for actual family relations without marriage registration. The concept of "civil marriage" is absent from the legislation; only marriage registered in the established manner in the Civil Registry Office is recognized.
Agency and suretyship. Under an agency agreement, one party (the agent) undertakes to perform certain legal actions on behalf of and at the expense of the other party (the principal). In this case, the rights and obligations under the transaction performed by the agent arise for the principal. And suretyship is one of the ways to ensure the fulfillment of an obligation. It assumes that the surety or sureties will pay the creditor if the debtor fails to do so.
Emigrant and immigrant. An emigrant is a person who moves, leaves his country for another state for permanent residence. And an immigrant is a person who enters a country for a long time or for permanent residence.