Age of consent is a term for an age that depends upon the legal circumstances to which it refers. For commercial purposes, it is set at 18 years by the Family Law Reform Act (1969). A contract signed by a minor (i.e. someone below the
age of consent) cannot always be enforced. Research Age of Consent
The Anglo-Japanese Treaty was a treaty signed by Great Britain and Japan on January 30th 1902, by which the two powers agreed to safeguard their common interests in China and Korea. In the event of one of them being at war with a foreign power, the other would maintain a strict neutrality, but would assist her ally if a second foreign power joined the first. The treaty also stated that neither party would enter into agreements without the consent of the other and would confide fully in the other if common interests were endangered. The treaty was agreed for five years. Research Anglo-Japanese Treaty
In law, battery is the intentional or reckless application of physical force to someone without his consent.
Battery is a form of trespass to the person and is a summary offence (punishable with a fine of up to 2000 pounds and/or six months' imprisonment) as well as a tort, even if no actual harm results. If actual harm does result, however, the consent of the victim may not prevent the act from being criminal, except when the injury is inflicted in the course of properly conducted sports or games (e.g. rugby or boxing) or as a result of reasonable surgical intervention, for example in the 'Spanner Case' a group of consenting adults were convicted for indulging in sado-masochistic sex acts. Research Battery
The Bill of Rights was a statute embodied in the declaration of Rights presented by both houses of the Convention to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1689. After declaring the late King James II to have done various acts contrary to the laws of the realm, and to have abdicated the government, the Bill of Rights proceeds to enact in detail the celebrated declaration as to the rights and liberties of the English people. It was laid down that the crown had no power to suspend or dispense with the ordinary laws, or form judicial courts, or levy money without parliamentary sanction. The raising or keeping of a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless with the consent of Parliament was declared to be unlawful. Freedom of election for members of Parliament, freedom of speech in debate, and the right of the subject to petition the crown were alike maintained. A clause also stated that if any king or queen should embrace the Roman Catholic religion, or intermarry with a Roman Catholic, their subjects should be absolved of their allegiance.
In America, the first Bill of Rights was the Declaration of Rights which accompanied the VirginiaConstitution of 1776, and was largely the work of ColonelGeorge Mason who based it upon the English Bill of Rights. The American Constitution of 1787 was strongly criticised for not including and statements of individual rights, and accordingly the first ten amendments of the US Constitution were made to include statements of individual rights in the nature of a Bill of Rights. Research Bill of Rights
Common Sense is the philosophy of the so-called Scotch school of philosophy founded by Thomas Reid in the 18th century, who aimed to establish a series of fundamental truths indisputable as primitive facts of consciousness. He taught that the general consent of mankind as to the existence of an external world, as to the difference between substance and qualities, between thought and the mind that thinks, ie sufficient to establish the reality of a permanent world apart from ourselves; and he maintains that sensations are not the objects of our perception, but signs which introduce us to the knowledge of real objects. Research Common Sense
In law, consent is understood to be a free and deliberate act of a rational being. It is invalidated by any undue means - intimidation, improper influence, or imposition - used to obtain it. The mentally incapable, children, etc, cannot give legal consent; neither can persons in a state of absolute drunkenness, though partial intoxication will not afford legal ground for annulling a contract. Research Consent
The Dred Scott vs. Sanford case was a slave incident that occurred in America. In 1834 Dred Scott, a negro slave of Missouri, was taken by his master, who was a surgeon in the regular army, first into Illinois and then into Minnesota, a region from which slavery was expressly excluded by the celebrated Missouri Compromise of 1820. While in MinnesotaDred Scott was married with his master's consent, but on being brought back to Missouri in 1838, he and his wife and children were sold to another master.
Dred Scott brought action for trespass in a St Louiscourt, and a decision was made in his favour on the ground that, under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, the negro was free. The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed this decision, and the case came before the Federal CircuitCourt in 1854. The defendant slave-holder pleaded that Dred Scott was not a citizen entitled to sue and be sued in the US Courts. The court held the contrary, but the jury's verdict decided the plaintiff still a slave. The case came before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1857. Here the judgment of the CircuitCourt was reversed, and the case dismissed on the ground that no negro, bond or free, could plead in the US Courts as a citizen. The court then, though denying its jurisdiction over the dispute, discussed the constitutional points. Dred Scott's status in Illinois was declared determined by his Missouridomicile. As regarded the Minnesota Territory the court declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and void, it being held that States alone could prohibit slavery from their boundaries. Chief Justice Taney read the opinion of a majority of the court, all slave-holders, declaring 'negroes so inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect'. Justices Curtis and McLean dissented. Dred Scott was afterwards freed by his master. The decision and case roused great excitement in the North. Research Dred Scott vs. Sanford
Estates of Scotland was the name given to a body of similar constitution to the English Parliament, but with important differences, the king himself, as well as his officers, being responsible to the estates for wrongs done. They held the power of declaring war, or entering on a peace or treaty, and with them rested the right of declaring, with or without the consent of the king, resolutions of the assembly to be law. To prevent a bill being hurried through parliament it was submitted to and discussed by a committee called the Lords of the Articles. If sanctioned by this committee the bill was passed on to the whole house for approval. Another committee appointed by the estates was called the Auditors of Complaints, whose duty was to hear appeals against the decisions of the king's judges, and, if necessary, to reverse their sentences. Research Estates of Scotland
In the USA, the fisheries question was a dispute over fishing between the inhabitants of America and Canada.
Previous to the American War of Independence, fishermen of the American colonies had free access to the fishing-grounds of Labrador, Newfoundland and the Gulf of St Lawrence. Subsequently to the war this privilege was protested against by the inhabitants of Canada. The question was long debated. Finally a compromise was effected in the Treaty of Paris on September the 3rd, 1783. United States fishermen were allowed access to the fishing grounds of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, the St Lawrence and the Magdalen Islands, on an equal footing with British fishermen, in such parts as were unsettled or where permission could be obtained from the settlers.
The War of 1812 did away with this treaty, the fishery right was denied the United States and Canadian Governors were instructed to exclude American fishermen. A commission of the two countries decided in 1818 that the United States should forever have the right to fish on the western and northern coast of Newfoundland and the Magdalens only. Reciprocal trade being established between the United States and Canada by the Treaty of 1847, fishing was allowed the former in all British colonies except Newfoundland, which refused consent. This treaty was terminated in 1866 by the United States and the conditions of 1818 were revived.
By the Treaty of Washington in 1871, the United States fishermen were allowed to take fish of any description, except shell-fish, in all Canadian waters, the British fishermen to have the same privileges in United States waters north of latitude 39 degrees north. Research Fisheries Question
In law fixtures are accessories annexed to houses or lands, which by the fact of their being so annexed become a part of the real property and pass to the freeholder, not being removable at will by the tenant or occupier of the property. The general rule of law is that whatever has been affixed to the premises or put into the land by a tenant during his occupancy cannot be removed without the landlord's consent. Large exceptions are made to this rule in favour of the tenant, covering generally fixtures for trade, for agricultural purposes, and for ornament or convenience; but the removal must not injure the land or buildings of the landlord. Research Fixtures
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Age of Consent
