View source for Law French

{{short description|Archaic linguistic form used in English courts after 1066}}
{{about|the dialect of French used in the courts of England|laws of the French|Law of France|law descended from France|Civil code|dialect once used in Jersey|Jersey Legal French<!-- note that [[Legal French]] redirects here -->}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Law French
| altname          = Lawe Frensch
| region           = [[British Isles]]
| ethnicity        = 
| era              = Used in [[English law]] from {{c.}} 13th century until c. 18th century
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]ic
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Western Romance languages|Western]]
| fam8             = Gallo-Iberian?<ref name="glottoOil">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Oil |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111104954/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |archive-date=2023-11-11 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam9             = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam10            = Gallo-Rhaetian?<ref name="glottoOil"/>
| fam11            = [[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]–[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam12            = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam13            = [[Langues d'oïl#Frankish zone (zone francique)|Frankish zone]]<ref>''Manuel pratique de philologie romane'', Pierre Bec, 1970–1971</ref>
| fam14            = Northern [[Norman language|Norman]]
| fam15            = [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]]
| ancestor         = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2        = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old Gallo-Romance language|Old Gallo-Romance]]
| ancestor5        = [[Old French]]
| ancestor6        = [[Old Norman]]
| iso3             = 
| glotto           = 
| glottorefname    = 
| linglist         = 
| notice           = IPA
}}

[[File:Norman dictionary 1779 Kelham.jpg|thumb|Kelham's ''Dictionary of the Norman or Old French Language'' (1779) provided English translations of Law French terms from parliamentary and legal records.]]

'''Law French''' ({{langx|enm|Lawe Frensch}}) is an archaic language originally based on [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]], but increasingly influenced by [[Parisian French]] and, later, English. It was used in the [[Courts of England and Wales|law courts of England]] from the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laske |first=Caroline |date=2016-04-01 |title=Losing touch with the common tongues – the story of law French |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijld-2016-0002/html |journal=International Journal of Legal Discourse |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=169–192 |doi=10.1515/ijld-2016-0002 |issn=2364-883X|hdl=1854/LU-7239351 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Its use continued for several centuries in the courts of [[England and Wales]] and [[Ireland]].  Although Law French as a narrative legal language is obsolete, many individual Law French terms continue to be used by lawyers and judges in [[common law]] jurisdictions.

==History==
The earliest known documents in which 'French', i.e. Anglo-Norman, is used for discourse on [[English law]] date from the third quarter of the thirteenth century, and include two particular documents. The first is the 1258 ''[[Provisions of Oxford]]'',<ref>Printed in William Stubbs, ''Select Charters illustrative of English Constitutional History'' (9th ed., ed. H. C. F. Davis) (Oxford, 1913), pp. 378 et seqq.</ref> consisting of the terms of oaths sworn by the 24 magnates appointed to rectify abuses in the rule of [[King Henry III of England|King Henry III]], together with summaries of their rulings. The second is the ''Casus Placitorum''<ref>W. F. Dunham (ed.), ''The Casus Placitorum and Cases in the King's Courts 1272&ndash;1278'' (Selden Society, vol. 69) (London, 1952)</ref> ({{Circa|1250|1270}}), a collection of legal maxims, rules, and brief narratives of cases.

In these works the language is already sophisticated and technical, well equipped with its own legal terminology. This includes many words that are of Latin origin, but whose forms have been shortened or distorted in a way that suggests a long history of French usage. Some examples include ''[[advowson]]'' from the Latin {{lang|la|advocationem}}, meaning the legal right to nominate a [[parish]] priest; ''neif[e]'', from the Latin {{lang|la|nātīvā}}, meaning a female [[serf]], and ''essoyne'' or ''essone'' from the Latin {{lang|la|sunnis}}, meaning a circumstance that exempts one from a royal summons. Later ''{{lang|la|essonia}}'' replaced {{lang|la|sunnis}} in Latin, thus replacing the Latin form with the French one.

Until the early fourteenth century, Law French largely coincided with the French used as an everyday language by the upper classes. As such, it reflected some of the changes that northern dialects of mainland French had undergone. Hence, in the documents mentioned above, 'of the king' is rendered as ''del rey'', or ''del roy'', whereas by about 1330 it had become {{lang|fr|du roi}}, as in modern French, or ''du roy''.<ref>{{cite web|title= Cotton MS Vitellius A XIII/1 |url= https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_vitellius_a_xiii!1_f005r |work=	Les roys de Engeltere |access-date=1 June 2023 |quote=Five rectangles of red linen, formerly used as curtains for the miniatures.ff. 3–6: Eight miniatures of the kings of England from Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–1066) to Edward I (r. 1272–1307); each one except the last is accompanied by a short account of their reign in Anglo-Norman prose. 'del Roy Phylippe de Fraunce' | year=1280–1300 }}</ref><ref>Many examples in D. W. Sutherland (ed.),  ''The Eyre of Northamptonshire, 3&ndash;4 Edward III, A.D. 1329&ndash;1330'' (Selden Society, vol. 97&ndash;8) (London, 1983) (note however that this text also shows instances of ''rei'' or ''rey'')</ref>

During the 14th century, vernacular French in England suffered a rapid decline. The use of Law French was criticized by those who argued that lawyers sought to restrict entry into the legal profession. The [[Pleading in English Act 1362]] ("Statute of Pleading") acknowledged this change by ordaining that thenceforward all court [[pleading]] must be in English, so "every Man&nbsp;... may the better govern himself without offending of the Law".<ref>Peter M. Tiersma, [http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199572120-e-2 ''A History Of The Languages Of Law''] (2012), accessed 2 February 2018</ref> From that time, Law French lost much of its status as a spoken language. 

Law French remained in use for the 'readings' (lectures) and 'moots' (academic debates), held in the [[Inns of Court]] as part of the education of young lawyers, but it rapidly became only a written language. It ceased to acquire new words and its grammar broke down. By about 1500, gender was often neglected, giving rise to ''une home'' ('a (feminine) man') or ''un feme'' ('a (masculine) woman'). More and more of its vocabulary became [[English Language|English]], as it was only used by English, Welsh, and Irish lawyers and judges who often spoke no real French.

In the seventeenth century, the moots and readings fell into neglect, and the rule of [[Oliver Cromwell]], with its emphasis on removing the relics of archaic ritual from legal and governmental processes, struck a further blow to the language. Even before then, in 1628, [[Sir Edward Coke]] acknowledged in his preface to the ''First Part of the Institutes of the Law of England'', that Law French had almost ceased to be a spoken tongue. It was still used for case reports and legal textbooks until almost the end of the seventeenth century, but only in an anglicized form. A frequently quoted example of this change comes from one of [[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas|Chief Justice]] Sir [[George Treby (judge)|George Treby]]'s marginal notes in an annotated edition of ''[[James Dyer|Dyer's]] Reports'', published 1688:

{{blockquote|
{{lang|fr-GB|Richardson Chief Justice de Common Banc al assises de Salisbury in Summer 1631 fuit assault per prisoner la condemne pur felony, que puis son condemnation ject un brickbat a le dit justice, que narrowly mist, et pur ceo immediately fuit indictment drawn per Noy envers le prisoner et son dexter manus ampute et fix al gibbet, sur que luy mesme immediatement hange in presence de Court.}}

"[[Thomas Richardson (judge)|Richardson]], [[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas|Chief Justice]] of the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Common Bench]] at the [[Assize Court|Assizes]] at [[Salisbury]] in Summer 1631 was [[assault]]ed by a prisoner there condemned for [[felony]], who, following his condemnation, threw a brickbat at the said justice that narrowly missed, and for this, an [[indictment]] was immediately drawn by [[William Noy|Noy]] against the prisoner and his right hand was cut off and fastened to the [[gibbet]], on which he himself was immediately hanged in the presence of the Court."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1oG-VnnfBMYC&dq=ject+un+brickbat+a+le+dit+Justice%2C+que+narrowly+mist&pg=PA33 ''Legal Language''], Peter Tiersma, p. 33</ref>{{NoteTag|The [[Macaronic language|macaronic]] nature of this production can be more easily seen if it is reproduced in a modernized form with the (pseudo) '''French''' elements in bold, (pseudo) '''''Latin''''' in italics and bold, and the rest in English: "Richardson, Chief Justice '''de''' Common '''Banc aux''' assizes '''de''' Salisbury in Summer 1631 '''''fuit''''' assaulted '''''per''''' prisoner '''là''' condemn'''é pour''' felony, '''que puis son''' condemnation '''jeta un''' brickbat '''au dit''' justice, '''que''' narrowly missed, '''et pour cela''' immediately '''''fuit''''' indictment drawn '''''per''''' Noy '''envers le''' prisoner '''et son ''dexter manus'' amputée et fixée au''' gibbet, '''sur que lui-même immédiatement''' hang'''é''' in presence '''de''' Court." Admittedly, many of the English words (assault, prisoner, condemn, gibbet, presence, Court) could be interpreted as misspellings (or alternative spellings) of French words, while ''justice'' is the same in French as in English; but even under the most favourable analysis, the note represents poor usage of French, English, and Latin simultaneously. What is perhaps most striking is that Treby could not remember the French even for a concept as familiar at the time as being 'hanged' (''pendu''). Perhaps even more striking is the use of both the French and English words for "immediately" and the use of Old French ("ceo") and Latin ("fuit") forms of non-legal and, in fact, core vocabulary.}}}}

The [[Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730]] made English, instead of Law French and [[Latin]], the obligatory language for use in the courts of England and in the [[Court of Exchequer (Scotland)|court of exchequer]] in Scotland. It was later extended to Wales, and seven years later a similar act was passed in Ireland, the [[Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Amendment No. 1) |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/857001/Final_Combined_Legislation_for_publication.pdf |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Survivals in modern legal terminology==
The [[postpositive adjective]]s in many legal [[noun phrase]]s in English—''[[attorney general]], [[fee simple]]''—are a heritage from Law French. Native speakers of French may not understand certain Law French terms not used in [[modern French]] or replaced by other terms.  For example, the current French word for "[[mortgage law|mortgage]]" is {{lang|fr|hypothèque}}. Many of the terms of Law French were converted into modern English in the 20th century to make the law more understandable in common-law jurisdictions. Some key Law French terms remain, including the following:

{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Term or phrase
! Literal translation
! Definition and use
|-
|  {{anchor|A}}  [[arson]] 
| burning 
|From [[Old French language|Old French]] {{lang|fro|arsion}}, from [[Late Latin]] {{lang|la|ārsiōnem}} "a burning," ([[accusative case|acc.]]) from the verb {{lang|la|ardēre}}, "to burn."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/arson|title=arson |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=June 2, 2019|archive-date=June 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601222729/https://www.etymonline.com/word/arson|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxU39E56bvIC&q=arson+arsionem&pg=PT192|title=Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|last=Various|publisher=Library of Alexandria|via=Google Books|isbn=9781465562883|access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=January 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125085347/https://books.google.com/books?id=gxU39E56bvIC&q=arson+arsionem&pg=PT192|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/arson|title=Definition of arson - Dictionary.com|website=www.dictionary.com|access-date=June 1, 2019|archive-date=June 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601222728/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/arson|url-status=live}}</ref> The original [[Old English]] term for illegal burning was {{lang|ang|bernet}}, {{lang|ang|bærnet}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&dq=arsonist&pg=PA467|title=A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles|website=www.books.google.com|access-date=November 13, 2023|archive-date=November 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113115134/https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&pg=PA467&dq=arsonist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgxcuYlb-CAxUZm2oFHfjuCtY4HhDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=arsonist&f=false|url-status=live |last1=Murray |first1=James Augustus Henry |last2=Craigie |first2=Sir William Alexander |last3=Onions |first3=Charles Talbut |date=December 2, 1888 }}</ref>
|-
|''[[assizes]]''
| sittings (Old French ''{{lang|fro|assise}}'', sitting)
|Sitting of the court held in different places throughout a province or region.<ref name=Willes/>
|-
|''[[Attorney at law|attorney]]''
|appointed (Old French ''{{lang|fro|atorné}}'')
|[[Attorney at law|attorney-at-law]] ([[lawyer]], equivalent to a [[solicitor]] and [[barrister]]) or attorney-in-fact (one who has [[power of attorney]]).
|-
|''autrefois acquit'' or ''[[autrefois convict]]''
| acquitted (literally 'acquired') / convicted another time
| [[peremptory plea]]s that one was previously acquitted or convicted of the same offence.
|-
|{{anchor|B}} ''[[bailiff]]''
|Anglo-Norman ''baillis, baillif'' "steward; administrator", from ''bail'' "custody, charge, office"
|
# Court bailiff: marshal of the court; a court attendant; any person to whom authority, guardianship or jurisdiction is entrusted whose main duty is keeping order in the courtroom.<ref name=Yogis/>
# Bound bailiff or bum-bailiff: person employed by the sheriff to serve writs, execute court orders, collect debts, and in some regions, make arrests. In some regions, the bailiff is bound to the sheriff with sureties for the proper execution of the office.<ref name=Yogis/>
|-
|{{anchor|C}} [[charterparty]]
| Originally ''charte partie'' (split paper)
| contract between an owner and a hirer (charterer) over a ship.
|-
|{{anchor|C}} ''[[cestui que]] trust'', ''cestui que use''
|shortened form of ''cestui a que use le feoffment fuit fait'', "the one for whose use the [[feoffment]] was made", and ''cestui a que use le trust est créé'', "the one for whom the trust is created"
|sometimes shortened to ''cestui''; the beneficiary of a [[trust law|trust]].
|-
|''[[Personal property|chattel]]''
|property, goods (Old French ''{{lang|fro|chatel}}'', ultimately from Latin ''{{lang|la|capitale}}'')
|personal property
|-
|''[[chose]]''
|thing (from Latin ''{{lang|la|causa}}'', "cause")
| thing, usually as in phrases: "chose in action" and "chose in possession".
|-
|''[[culprit]]''
| Originally ''cul. prit'', abbreviation of {{lang|xno|Culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille)}}, meaning "guilty, ready (to prove our case)", words used by prosecutor in opening a trial.
| guilty party
|-
|[[cy-près doctrine|''cy-près'' doctrine]]
|"so near/close" and can be translated as "as near as possible" or "as near as may be"
|the power of a court to transfer the property of one charitable trust to another charitable trust when the first trust may no longer exist or be able to operate.
|-
|[[defendant]]
|"defending" ({{langx|xno|défendant}})
|the party against whom a criminal proceeding is brought. 
|-
|[[demise]]
|"to send away", from {{lang|xno|démettre}}
|Transfer, usually of [[real property]], but also [[demise of the Crown|of the Crown]] on the monarch's death or abdication, whence the modern colloquial meaning "end, downfall, death".
|-
|''de son tort''
|"by their wrong", i.e. as a result of their own wrong act
|acting and liable but without authorization; e.g. executor ''de son tort'', trustee ''de son tort'', agent ''de son tort'', guardian ''de son tort''.
|-
|''[[en ventre sa mere]]''
|"in its mother's womb"
|foetus in utero or in vitro but for beneficial purposes legally born.
|-
|{{anchor|E}} ''[[escheats]]''
|Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|eschete}}, {{lang|xno|escheoite}} "reversion of property" (gave the legal French verb {{lang|xno|échoir}})
|{{plainlist|
*Pre-1660: reversion of unclaimed property to a feudal lord, or the state where the property is [[Allodial title|allodial]].
*Post-1660: After the [[Tenures Abolition Act 1660]], which changed all tenures to free and common [[socage]], the only revenue-generating incidents that remained were escheat, whereby land returned to the Crown if a landholder died both intestate and heirless, and forfeiture, whereby land held by the grantee convicted of treason forfeited to the Crown.<ref name=Benson/>
*Present day: The reversion of land to the Crown when a person possessed of the fee dies intestate (i.e., no will) and without heirs (see [[Bona vacantia]]). Land seldom reverts to the Crown, because it is freely [[Alienation (property law)|alienable]] by way of sale, will or inheritance. As long as the land is disposed of in one of these three ways it does not revert to the Crown.<ref name=Willes/>}}
|-
| [[escrow]]
| Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|escrowe}}, from Old French {{lang|xno|escro(u)e}} "scrap of paper, scroll of parchment"
| a contractual arrangement in which a third party receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacting parties
|-
| [[estoppel]]
| Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|estoup(p)ail}} "plug, stopper, bung"
| prevention of a party from contradicting a position previously taken.
|-
|[[estovers]]
|"that which is necessary"
|wood that tenants may be entitled to from the land in which they have their interest.
|-
|''feme covert'' vs. ''feme sole''
|"covered woman" vs. "single woman"
|the legal status of adult married women and unmarried women, respectively, under the [[coverture]] principle of common law.
|-
|{{anchor|F}} ''[[force majeure]]''
|modern French, "superior force"
|clause in some contracts that frees parties from liability for [[Act of God|acts of God]].
|-
|{{anchor|G}} ''[[grand jury]]''
| "large [[#J|jury]]" (q.v.)
| a legal body empowered to conduct official proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought.
|-
|{{anchor|I}} in pais
| "in the countryside"
| out of court, extrajudicial: (1) settlement in pais: voluntary amicable settlement reached without legal proceedings; (2) matter in pais: matter to be proved solely by witness testimony unsupported by any judicial record or other documentary or tangible evidence; (3) estoppel in pais: estoppel in respect of out-of-court statements; (4) trial per pais: trial by jury.
|-
|{{anchor|J}} ''[[jury]]''
| Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|jurée}} "oath, legal inquiry"
| a group of citizens sworn for a common purpose.
|-
|{{anchor|L}} ''[[Laches (equity)|laches]]''
|Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|lachesse}} "slackness, laxness"
|Under English common law, the unnecessary delaying bringing an action against a party for failure to perform is known as the doctrine of laches. The doctrine holds that a court may refuse to hear a case not brought before it after a lengthy period since the right of action arose.<ref name=Willes/>
|-
| [[larceny]]
| {{langx|xno|lar(e)cin}} "theft"
| theft of personal property.
|-
|{{anchor|M}} mainprise, mainprize
|
|undertaking for the appearance of an accused at trial, given to a magistrate or court even without having the accused in custody; ''mainpernor'' is the promisor.
|-
| ''[[market overt]]''
| open market
|a designated market in which sales of stolen goods to ''bona fide'' purchasers are deemed to pass good title to the goods.
|-
| ''[[mortgage]]''
| dead pledge ({{langx|fro|mort gaige}})
|  now a variety of security interests, either made by conveyance or hypothecation, but originally a pledge by which the landowner remained in possession of the property that the landowner staked as security.
|-
|[[mortmain]]
| dead hand
|perpetual, inalienable ownership of land by the "dead hand" of an organization, usually the church.
|-
| {{anchor|O}} ''[[oyer et terminer]]''
| to hear and determine
|  US: court of general criminal jurisdiction in some states; UK: commission or writ empowering a judge to hear and rule on a criminal case at the assizes.
|-
| {{anchor|P}} [[parol evidence rule]]
| rowspan="2" | word, speech (ultimately from Latin {{lang|la|parabola}}, speech)
|a substantive rule of contract law which precludes extrinsic evidence from altering the terms of an unambiguous fully expressed contract.
|-
|[[parole]]
| the release of prisoners based on giving their word of honour to abide by certain restrictions.
|-
|''[[peine forte et dure]]''
| strong and harsh punishment
| torture, in particular to force a defendant to enter a plea.
|-
|''per my et per tout''
|by half and by whole
|describes a [[Concurrent estate#Joint tenancy|joint tenancy]]: by the half for purposes of survivorship, by the whole for purposes of [[Alienation (property law)|alienation]].
|-
|''[[petit jury]]''
| small [[jury]] (q.v.)
|a trial jury, now usually just referred to as a jury.
|-
|[[plaintiff]]
| complaining (from {{lang|xno|plaintif}})
| the person who begins a lawsuit.
|-
|''prochein ami''
| close friend
|Law French for what is now more usually called [[next friend]] (or, in England and Wales, following the [[Woolf Reforms]], a litigation friend). Refers to one who files a lawsuit on behalf of another not capable of acting on their own behalf, such as a [[Minor (law)|minor]]. 
|-
|[[profit a prendre]]
|profit to take
|also known as the ''right of common'', where one has the right to take the "fruits" of the property of another, such as mining rights, growing rights, etc.
|-
|prout de jure
|
|Scots law term; proof at large; all evidence is allowed in court.
|-
|''[[pur autre vie]]'' vs. ''cestui que vie''
|"during the term of another person's life" vs. "during the term of one's life"
|
#Used in [[life estate|life tenancy]] and [[lease]] arrangements
#In the rights and obligations of the freehold, an heir or tenant has the rights to emblements from the life estate in certain cases (i.e., life estate terminated by a death).<ref name=Willes/>
|-
|[[Common recovery|recovery]]
|
|originally a procedural device for clarifying the ownership of land, involving a stylised lawsuit between fictional litigants.
|-
|[[remainder (law)|remainder]]
|to remain
|originally a substitution-term in a [[Will (law)|will]] or [[Conveyancing|conveyance]], to be brought into play if the primary beneficiary were to die or fail to fulfil certain conditions.
|-
|[[replevin]]
| from {{lang|xno|plevir}} "to pledge", which in turn is from the Latin {{lang|la|replegio}} "redeem a thing taken by another"
|a suit to recover personal property unlawfully taken.
|-
|[[semble]]
|"it seems" or  "it seems or appears to be"
|The legal expression "[[semble]]" indicates that the point to which it refers is uncertain or represents only the judge's opinion. In a [[law report]], the expression precedes a proposition of law which is an [[obiter dictum]] by the judge, or a suggestion by the reporter.
|-
|terre-tenant
|land-holding
|person who has the actual possession of land; used specifically for (1) someone owing a [[rentcharge]], (2) owner in fee of land acquired from a [[judgment debtor]] after judgment creditor's lien has attached.
|-
|[[tort]]s
|from medieval Latin {{lang|la|tortum}} "wrong, injustice", neuter past participle of Latin {{lang|la|torquo}}, "I twist"
|civil wrongs.
|- 
|treasure trove
|from {{Lang|fro|tresor trouvé}} "found treasure"
|treasure found by chance, as opposed to one stolen, inherited, bought, etc. ''Trove'' is properly an adjective, but colloquially now used as a noun, meaning a collection of treasure, whether it is legally treasure trove or not. In the UK (except Scotland), the legal term is now simply ''treasure''.
|-
|[[voir dire]]
|literally "to say the truth";<ref>{{cite web |title=Voir dire |publisher=Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/voir_dire}}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |title=voir dire |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voir%20dire}}</ref> the word {{lang|fro|voir}} (or {{lang|fro|voire}}) in this combination comes from Old French and derives from Latin {{lang|la|verum}}, "that which is true". It is not related to the modern French word {{lang|fr|voir}}, which derives from Latin {{lang|la|video}} ("I see"); but instead to the adverb {{lang|fr|voire}} ("even", from Latin {{lang|la|vera}}, "true things") as well as the adjective {{lang|fr|vrai}} ("true") as in the fossilised expression {{lang|fr|à vrai dire}} ("to say the truth").
|in the [[United States]], the questions a prospective juror or witness must answer to determine their qualification to serve; or, in the law of both England and Wales and the United States a "trial-within-a-trial" held to determine the admissibility of evidence (for example, an accused's alleged confession),<ref>See, generally, ''Archbold's Criminal Pleading'' 2012 (London, Sweet & Maxwell) at 4-357</ref> i.e. whether the jury (or judge where there is no jury) may receive it.
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Law}}
* [[French language]]
* [[Norman language]]
* [[French phrases used by English speakers]]
* [[English words of French origin]]
* [[Influence of French on English]]
* [[Jersey Legal French]]
* [[Franglais]]
* [[List of legal Latin terms]]
* [[Legal English]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=Willes>{{cite book|last1=Willes|last2=Willes|first1=John A|first2=John H|title=Contemporary Canadian Business Law: Principles and Cases|publisher=McGraw-Hill Ryerson|year=2012|edition=9th}}</ref>

<ref name=Yogis>{{cite book|last1=Yogis|first1=John|title=Canadian Law Dictionary|publisher=Barron's Education Series|year=1995|edition=4th}}</ref>

<ref name=Benson>{{cite book|last1=Benson|last2=Bowden|last3=Newman|first1=Marjorie L|first2=Marie-Ann|first3=Dwight|title=Understanding Property: A Guide|publisher=Thomson Carswell|year=2008|edition=2nd}}</ref>

}}

==Literature==
* ''Manual of Law French'' by [[John Baker (legal historian)|J. H. Baker]], 1979.
* ''The Mastery of the French Language in England'' by B. Clover, 1888.
* "The salient features of the language of the earlier year books" in ''Year Books 10 Edward II'', pp. xxx–xlii. M. D. Legge, 1934.
* "Of the Anglo-French Language in the Early Year Books" in ''Year Books 1 & 2 Edward II'', pp. xxxiii–lxxxi. [[F. W. Maitland]], 1903.
* ''The Anglo-Norman Dialect'' by L. E. Menger, 1904.
* ''From Latin to Modern French, with especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman'' by [[Mildred Pope|M. K. Pope]], 1956.
* ''L'Evolution du Verbe en Anglo-Français, XIIe-XIVe Siècles'' by F. J. Tanquerey, 1915.

==External links==
* [https://archive.org/details/lawfrenchdictio00ogoog The Law-French Dictionary Alphabetically Digested. 1718.]

{{Norman language}}
{{French dialects by continent}}
{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}

[[Category:Languages attested from the 13th century]]
[[Category:English law]]
[[Category:Law of Ireland]]
[[Category:Legal history of England]]
[[Category:Norman language]]
[[Category:Legal communication]]
[[Category:Ritual languages]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 18th century]]