Legal terms made simple

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Welcome to a new In Focus feature in which we will explain many of the terms used in the legal profession but which most members of the public do not understand. We welcome your feedback and urge you to send questions regarding any term you would like explained.

Many litigants and spectators are ignorant to some of the legal terms used in the courts.

Latin phrases and words are still being used in the courts and even drafted in legal documents. They result from the origins of the English Language and are retained to express concepts or ideas. We begin with:

"Sine die", one of the Latin phrases used in court.

"I heard the words for the first time five years ago when I attended court in Montego Bay. I made enquiries and later found out what the words meant," a businesswoman said.

The words "sine die" mean adjourned indefinitely or without a date being fixed.

"The procedure where a matter before the court is adjourned sine die is not the final determination of a case," says Paula Llewellyn, Acting Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

She explained that cases are usually adjourned sine die in the Resident Magistrate's Court but that is a procedure which is used sparingly. When a case is adjourned sine die, it must be with the consent of the defence lawyer, the prosecution and the Resident Magistrate.

A case which is adjourned sine die, is done in situations where the complainant in a matter cannot be found but based on information reaching the police or the court, there is the likelihood that the complainant at some time in the future will become available, Miss Llewellyn explains. The case can also be adjourned sine die in situations where a witness or complainant is studying abroad or has gone abroad to return within a specified time.

"This is not a final determination or ventilation of the matter because there is still an issue joined between the state bringing the charge against the accused and the accused as to whether the accused is culpable of the offence for which he has been charged.

"When a case is adjourned sine die, the charge is still hanging over the head of the accused, in that whenever the complainant comes forward, the accused can be re-summoned for his trial," Miss Llewellyn says.

However, after a certain time has passed, the accused can apply to have the case re-listed so that a formal verdict of acquittal can be entered in his case, Miss Llewellyn adds.

Send your questions about complicated legal terms to:

Legal Terms
c/o The Sunday Gleaner,
7 North Street,
Kingston
or Fax: 922-6223

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