Latin for Lawyers

L ATIN FOR L AWYERS

other party, as opposed to a motion to dismiss or to set aside the pleading for some procedural or jurisdictional defect. RES PUBLICAE [L. res / thing + poblicus , publicus / of the people; in the name of the people] Anything that belongs to the public at large, as air, light and water. See RES COMMUNES RESTITUTIO IN INTEGRUM [L. restituo , restituere / to replace, restore + in / in + integro , integrare / to complete, make whole] Restoration of a party to his condition or position before the injury or wrong complained of. The principle that a court ordering rescission of a contract should restore the parties as closely as possible to their state or condition before the contract was executed. The restoration of a thing to its original state or in its entirety. In Admiralty Law, the doctrine which provides for full and complete compension to the owner of a vessel after a loss or damage, to enable him to restore the vessel to its original condition. RESTITUTION [L. restituere / to restore] The act of returning something to its former condition or to its rightful owner. Compensation for an injury or wrong. Underlying the doctrine of restitution is the law’s interest in preventing unjust enrichment . In equity, the court will return to the plaintiff the property, or the value, by which the defendant was unjustly enriched. In contract law, the defendant who commits a breach will be required to return to the plaintiff the value which the plaintiff conferred upon him before the breach; the measure of damages is the value of the bene fit to the defendant, not the cost to the plaintiff. In tort law, restitution is the value of the plaintiff’s actual damages. In criminal law, the federal govern ment and many of the states have adopted restitution statutes under which the court may order restitution (reimbursement or indemnification for damage or injury to the victim) in lieu of, or in addition to, any other penalty or sentence imposed on the defendant; see 18 USCS § 3663. RESTORE, RESTORATION [L. restaurare / to erect, repair (from abstare / to stand)] To return an object lost or stolen. To revise or correct. A lost document may be restored by executing a new one; upon application by a party to a lost doc ument, the court may order restoration . The restoration of a party to the sta tus quo (ante) is the object of an action for rescission, i.e . , the court will restore the plaintiff to the position he occupied before entering into the con tract.

351