Latin for Lawyers

PRESCRIPTION

PRESCRIPTION [L. prae + scribere / to engrave, to write; to lay down a rule or course of conduct; to instruct in advance] A bar to further claim, action or interference. Acquisition of an interest in real property through adverse possession. A prescriptive easement is the right acquired by an adverse or hostile user over a prescribed period of time to use a passageway, or water, light or air, affecting land of another. In international law, one country may acquire sovereignty over the land of another by contin uous occupation and control under the doctrine of prescription . See ADVERSE POSSESSION; USUCAPIO PRESENTMENT [L. praesum, praesesse / to be over, to stand above, to pre side over] A document which is presented to the court for consideration and which requires action or response. A formal accusation by a grand jury of the com mission of a crime, arrived at from the jurors’ own knowledge and on their own initiative, as distinguished from an indictment, which is an accusation of crime at the instigation of a public prosecutor. Also, the presentation of a doc ument or instrument by the payee, holder, or other person entitled to pay ment, to the maker or drawer, constituting a demand for acceptance, honor and payment of the instrument. PRESUMPTION [L. prae + sumere / to take, to take for oneself; to take for granted] Something believed or taken for granted. The belief that a fact or event is more likely or probable than not. An inference about the truth of a fact which is unproven, arrived at from other facts which are known. In the law, a con clusion which is based upon intuition or upon general knowledge of a set of facts or circumstances which are considered so reliable in most instances as to require general acceptance. A rule imposed by statute or judicial decision which requires that if one fact is found, other facts or conclusions must be drawn, at least until they are rebutted by convincing proof to the contrary. Examples: If a person disappears for a given period (usually seven years) without apparent reason or explanation, she is presumed dead. An accused in a criminal trial is presumed innocent; the state has the burden of proving his guilt. A married man is presumed to be the father of any child born to his wife. A conclusive presumption is one which the parties are not permitted to rebut. A rebuttable presumption is one which may be disproved by evidence to the contrary. PRETERMISSION [L. praetermittere / to neglect, pass over, omit] The omission of a child or heir from a testator’s will. Under most statutes, the child will be restored to the interest he would have received if the testator had

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