Law

A legal procedure for seeking review of a court or tribunal’s decision, governed by jurisdiction-specific rules on access, scope, and remedies.

A German criminal investigation into allegations that former intelligence chief August Hanning obtained classified documents and used secret information in contacts with foreign intelligence personnel.

A failure to fulfil a contractual obligation, with legal consequences determined by the applicable law and the agreement.

A South Korean scandal exposed in 2019 involving nightclub-related crimes, celebrity sexual offences, and allegations of police collusion.

Civil law is the world's most widely used legal tradition, built on comprehensive, codified statutes that descend from Roman law and are applied and interpreted by judges.

A legal tradition originating in England in which judicial decisions and precedent play a central role alongside legislation.

Competition law regulates restrictive agreements, abuses of market power, and mergers to preserve competition in markets.

A constitution establishes the fundamental rules, institutions, powers, and rights governing a political community.

Constitutional law governs the organization, powers, and limits of public institutions and the protection of fundamental rights.

Laws, regulations and institutions that protect buyers of goods and services from unsafe products, unfair commercial practices and misleading information.

Contract law governs the formation, interpretation, performance, and enforcement of legally binding agreements.

Copyright is a legal right that gives creators exclusive control over copying, distribution and adaptation of original works, for a limited time and subject to exceptions.

A legally constituted institution that adjudicates disputes, determines legal responsibility, and administers justice.

A nonprofit organization and public licensing framework for sharing and reusing creative works and knowledge.

The body of law that defines crimes and sets punishments, enforced by the state against conduct judged to harm public order.

Data privacy concerns the appropriate collection, use, disclosure, and protection of information relating to individuals.

The death penalty is a legally imposed punishment of death, examined through its history, legal frameworks, administration, global distribution, and research.

European Union regulation establishing obligations for designated digital gatekeepers to promote fair and contestable digital markets.

Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage, settling property, spousal support and children's arrangements.

Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment in which several shooters fire at a condemned person, usually together.

Fair use is a copyright limitation that allows certain unlicensed uses, judged case by case.

The First Amendment bars federal laws that establish religion, restrict its free exercise, or abridge speech, press, assembly, or petition.

Freedom of expression is the right to seek, receive, and communicate information and ideas through different media, subject to narrowly defined legal restrictions.

The European Union’s legal framework for protecting personal data and regulating its processing and movement.

International treaties establishing protections for wounded and shipwrecked military personnel, prisoners of war, and civilians during armed conflict.

The GENIUS Act is a 2025 United States law establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers, reserves, supervision, and consumer protection.

A U.S. identity document evidencing lawful permanent resident status, commonly also used to refer to that status.

Human rights are fundamental freedoms and entitlements belonging to every person, protected through national laws and international standards.

Intellectual property comprises legal rights protecting inventions, creative expression, commercial identifiers, designs, and confidential information.

Intellectual property infringement is the violation of legally protected rights in creative works, inventions, commercial identifiers, and other protected subject matter.

The International Court of Justice is the United Nations’ principal judicial organ, settling legal disputes between states and issuing advisory opinions.

A United Nations treaty establishing binding obligations for states parties to protect civil and political rights, with international monitoring and optional individual complaint procedures.

A permanent international court that prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

International law governs relations among states and establishes rights and obligations for international organizations and individuals.

A public official authorized to adjudicate legal proceedings and issue decisions within a court’s jurisdiction.

Judicial review is the examination by courts of legislation or public action for conformity with constitutional and other legal requirements.

The judiciary comprises courts and judges that resolve legal disputes, interpret and apply law, and exercise powers defined by a legal system.

Law is a system of authoritative rules and institutions governing conduct, establishing rights and duties, and resolving disputes.

A prior judicial decision used as binding or persuasive authority in deciding later cases involving similar legal questions or materially similar facts.

Legislation is the process of formally making written law and the body of legal rules produced through that process.

Lizzie Borden was an American woman acquitted in 1893 of murdering her father and stepmother, whose unsolved deaths became an enduring subject of popular culture.

A patent is a territorial, time-limited legal right to exclude others from exploiting a protected invention.

The public domain comprises intellectual material not subject to exclusive intellectual property rights, especially copyright.

An execution conducted before public spectators, historically used to display punishment and authority.

Rainey Bethea was an African American man hanged in Kentucky in 1936 in what is widely described as the last fully public execution in the United States.

The rule of law is the principle that public power and private conduct are governed by accessible laws, impartial procedures, and legal accountability.

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two people of the same sex, with recognition and legal consequences varying by jurisdiction.

Industrial-scale telephone and online fraud run from compounds in Myanmar's border regions, often using trafficked labor, and the crackdowns and prosecutions that followed.

A trademark is a sign that identifies the source of goods or services; this entry covers its law, history, international systems, and economic role.

The written framework of the United States federal government, drafted in 1787, in force since 1789, and still the oldest written national charter in continuous use.

A United Nations declaration adopted in 1948 that establishes universal standards of human dignity, equality, and fundamental rights.