Latin for Lawyers

QUARE CLAUSUM FREGIT

QUARE CLAUSUM FREGIT [L. quare / why, for what reason + claudo , claudere / to shut, close + frango , frangere / to break, shatter] Literally, why did he break (into) the closed area? Why did he violate the enclosure? An early form of common law trespass for wrongful entry upon another’s land. QUASH [L. cassus / empty, void, hollow] To make void, to rescind, annul, vacate or abrogate. To set aside. The court may quash an indictment or a subpoena. QUASI [L. quasi / as if, just as, almost as, sort of, approximating, so to speak; about, nearly, almost, like] In the law, quasi is used before other words to suggest that those words are limited and qualified in some respect. The resulting phrase conveys the sense of approximate but inexact similarity. Examples: A quasi admission is an admission which is implied from prior inconsistent statements made by a wit ness, including statements made extra-judicially. A quasi-judicial proceeding is one which has all the elements of a trial — submission of evidence, trying the facts, applying the law, etc., — but is conducted by an administrative agency or officer and not by a court. A quasi in rem claim is one in which the plaintiff seeks to recover damages against a party who is unreachable for per sonal jurisdiction, by attaching some of his property. See QUASI IN REM QUASI CRIMINAL A proceeding which is sufficiently similar to a criminal trial as to require application and observance of the same procedural due process elements, e.g., the right to a statement of the charges, to hear and examine witnesses, to present evidence, etc. Examples: Parole hearings; school disciplinary and expulsion hearings; hearings on complaints of professional misconduct. QUASI EX CONTRACTUS [L. quasi + ex / from, out of + contraho , contra here / to bring together, to unite] A right or obligation growing out of a contract which is implied by the law in order to avoid the unjust enrichment of one party at the expense of another. See QUANTUM MERUIT QUASI IN REM [L. quasi + in + rem , res / thing, object] A proceeding which tries the relative rights and interests of some of the par ties in a parcel of real property, but not the rights of all the parties to the par cel (the latter is called an action in rem) . Example of an action quasi in rem : an action for partition of interests. Example of action in rem : an action to quiet title. Also, jurisdiction by a court over a claim against an individual ini-

316