In contract law and administrative law, delegation (Latin intercessio) is the act of giving another person the responsibility of carrying out the performance agreed to in a contract. Three parties are concerned with this act - the party who had incurred the obligation to perform under the contract is called the delegator; the party who assumes the responsibility of performing this duty is called the delegate; and the party to whom this performance is owed is called the oblige. Contract law. Dele...
Feb 22, 2022•9 min•Season 19Ep. 24
Internationally. Article 17 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states 1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation. 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. United States. The origins of U.S. defamation law pre-date the American Revolution; one famous 1734 case involving John Peter Z...
Feb 21, 2022•23 min•Season 14Ep. 20
Some aliens on temporary work assignment. When a person temporarily works outside their country of origin, the person may be covered under two different countries' social security programs for the same work. In order to relieve a person of double-taxation, certain countries and the United States have entered into tax treaties, known as totalization agreements. Aliens whose employer sends them to the United States on a temporary work assignment may be exempt from paying FICA tax on their earnings...
Feb 18, 2022•9 min•Season 16Ep. 25
In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the tenant-in-possession, and instead causes it to pass automatically by operation of law to an heir determined by the settlement deed. The term fee tail is from Medieval Latin feodum talliatum, which means "cut short fee" and is in contrast to "fee...
Feb 17, 2022•19 min•Season 15Ep. 18
In criminal law, the term offense against the person or crime against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person. They are usually analyzed by division into the following categories: Fatal offenses. Sexual offences. Non-fatal non-sexual offences. They can be further analyzed by division into: Assaults. Injuries. And it is then possible to consider degrees and aggravations, and distinguish between intentional actions (f...
Feb 16, 2022•8 min•Season 17Ep. 19
An assignment is a legal term used in the context of the law of contract and of property. In both instances, assignment is the process whereby a person, the assignor, transfers rights or benefits to another, the assignee. An assignment may not transfer a duty, burden or detriment without the express agreement of the assignee. The right or benefit being assigned may be a gift (such as a waiver) or it may be paid for with a contractual consideration such as money. The rights may be vested or conti...
Feb 15, 2022•12 min•Season 19Ep. 23
Defenses. Even if a statement is defamatory, there are circumstances in which such statements are permissible in law. Truth. Proving adverse public character statements to be true is often the best defense against a prosecution for libel or defamation. Statements of opinion that cannot be proven true or false will likely need to apply some other kind of defense. Another important aspect of defamation is the difference between fact and opinion. Statements made as "facts" are frequently actionable...
Feb 14, 2022•11 min•Season 14Ep. 19
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, people with disabilities, and children of deceased workers. Calculation. Overview. Share of federal revenue from different tax sources. Individual income taxes (blue), payroll taxes/FICA (green), corporate income taxes (red). The Federal Insurance Contr...
Feb 11, 2022•12 min•Season 16Ep. 24
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" refers to a subcategory of such interests that features an absence of any temporal condition limiting its durational period under common law, whereas the highest possible form of ownership interest that can be held in real property is a "fee simple absolute," which is a subset characterized by an absence of l...
Feb 10, 2022•9 min•Season 15Ep. 17
In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but may or may not have actually occurred. International law. The Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility ...
Feb 09, 2022•6 min•Season 17Ep. 18
The doctrine of privity of contract is a common law principle which provides that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations upon any person who is not a party to the contract. The premise is that only parties to contracts should be able to sue to enforce their rights or claim damages as such. However, the doctrine has proven problematic because of its implications for contracts made for the benefit of third parties who are unable to enforce the obligations of the contracting parties....
Feb 08, 2022•10 min•Season 19Ep. 22
Defamation (also known as calumny, vilification, libel, slander, or traducement) is the oral or written communication of a false statement about another that unjustly harms their reputation and usually constitutes a tort or crime. In several countries, including South Korea, a true statement can also be considered defamation. Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and must have been made to someone other than the person defamed. Some common law jurisdictions ...
Feb 07, 2022•12 min•Season 14Ep. 18
Modern interpretation of the power to tax incomes. The modern interpretation of the Sixteenth Amendment taxation power can be found in Commissioner v Glenshaw Glass Company (1955). In that case, a taxpayer had received an award of punitive damages from a competitor for antitrust violations and sought to avoid paying taxes on that award. The Court observed that Congress, in imposing the income tax, had defined gross income, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, to include: gains, profits, and ...
Feb 04, 2022•18 min•Season 16Ep. 23
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense of the land. Most property ownership in common law jurisdictions is fee simple. In the United States, the land is subject to eminent domain by federal, state and local government, and subject to the imposition of taxes by state and/or local governments, an...
Feb 03, 2022•15 min•Season 15Ep. 16
In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance of that agreement, to constitute an offense. There is no limit on the number participating in the conspiracy and, in most countries, no requirement that any steps have been taken to put the plan into effect (compare attempts which require proximity to the...
Feb 02, 2022•19 min•Season 17Ep. 17
Unconscionability is a doctrine in contract law that describes terms that are so extremely unjust, or overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of the party who has the superior bargaining power, that they are contrary to good conscience. Typically, an unconscionable contract is held to be unenforceable because no reasonable or informed person would otherwise agree to it. The perpetrator of the conduct is not allowed to benefit, because the consideration offered is lacking, or is so obviously inadequate...
Feb 01, 2022•17 min•Season 19Ep. 21
A dignitary tort is a type of intentional tort where the cause of action is being subjected to certain kinds of indignities. Historically, this category of torts was often covered by the writ of trespass vi et armis. Historically, the primary dignitary torts were battery, assault, and false imprisonment, as each claimed harm to a person's human dignity. A cause of action could be brought for battery, for example, even if no injury was done to the plaintiff, so long as the contact would be offens...
Jan 31, 2022•18 min•Season 14Ep. 17
History. Constitutional. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution (the "Taxing and Spending Clause"), specifies Congress's power to impose "Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises", but Article 1, Section 8 requires that, "Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." The Constitution specifically stated Congress' method of imposing direct taxes, by requiring Congress to distribute direct taxes in proportion to each state's population "determined ...
Jan 28, 2022•8 min•Season 16Ep. 22
In property law, alienation is the voluntary act of an owner of some property to dispose of the property, while alienability, or being alienable, is the capacity for a piece of property or a property right to be sold or otherwise transferred from one party to another. Most property is alienable, but some may be subject to restraints on alienation. In England under the feudal system, land was generally transferred by subinfeudation, and alienation required license from the overlord. When William ...
Jan 27, 2022•7 min•Season 20Ep. 15
An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur. Attempt to commit a particular crime is a crime, usually considered to be of the same or lesser gravity as the particular crime attempted. Attempt is a type of inchoate crime, a crime that is not fully developed. The crime of attempt has two elements, intent and some cond...
Jan 26, 2022•14 min•Season 17Ep. 16
The doctrine of impracticability in the common law of contracts excuses performance of a duty, where the said duty has become unfeasibly difficult or expensive for the party who was to perform. Impracticability is similar in some respects to the doctrine of impossibility because it is triggered by the occurrence of a condition which prevents one party from fulfilling the contract. The major difference between the two doctrines is that while impossibility excuses performance where the contractual...
Jan 25, 2022•8 min•Season 19Ep. 20
Trover cases in the United States. Trover is the name of the action which lay, at common law, for the recovery of damages for the conversion of personal property in his possession, usually involving chattels held in bailment. Although the old forms of action have been abolished or disappeared under modern civil procedure in the United States, the common law action for conversion still exists in fact, if not in form. (Extensive case law is reviewed.) A person who purchases personal property from ...
Jan 24, 2022•20 min•Season 14Ep. 16
Tax collection and examinations Tax returns Individuals (with income above a minimum level), corporations, partnerships, estates, and trusts must file annual reports, called tax returns, with federal and appropriate state tax authorities. These returns vary greatly in complexity level depending on the type of filer and complexity of their affairs. On the return, the taxpayer reports income and deductions, calculates the amount of tax owed, reports payments and credits, and calculates the balance...
Jan 21, 2022•10 min•Season 16Ep. 21
A license is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreement between those parties. In the case of a license issued by a government, the license is obtained by applying for it. In the case of a private party, it is by a specific agreement, usually in writing (such as a lease or other contract). The simplest definition is "A lic...
Jan 20, 2022•14 min•Season 20Ep. 14
An inchoate offense, preliminary crime, inchoate crime or incomplete crime is a crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is "attempt". "Inchoate offense" has been defined as the following: "Conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done, provided that the harm that would have occurred is one the law tries to prevent." Intent. Every inchoate crime or offense must have the mens rea of intent or of recklessness, typically inte...
Jan 19, 2022•6 min•Season 17Ep. 14
In contract law, impossibility is an excuse for the nonperformance of duties under a contract, based on a change in circumstances (or the discovery of preexisting circumstances), the nonoccurrence of which was an underlying assumption of the contract, that makes performance of the contract literally impossible. For example, if Ebenezer contracts to pay Erasmus £100 to paint his house on October 1, but the house burns to the ground before the end of September, Ebenezer is excused from his duty to...
Jan 18, 2022•7 min•Season 16Ep. 19
Trover (/ˈtroʊvər/) is a form of lawsuit in common-law countries for recovery of damages for wrongful taking of personal property. Trover belongs to a series of remedies for such wrongful taking, its distinctive feature being recovery only for the value of whatever was taken, not for the recovery of the property itself (see replevin). Overview. Although actions in trover can be traced to the time of Bracton, and later Edward I of England, it became more clearly defined later during the reign of ...
Jan 17, 2022•13 min•Season 14Ep. 15
Taxable income. Income tax is imposed as a tax rate times taxable income. Taxable income is defined as gross income less allowable deductions. Taxable income as determined for federal tax purposes may be modified for state tax purposes. Gross income. The Internal Revenue Code states that "gross income means all income from whatever source derived," and gives specific examples. Gross income is not limited to cash received, but "includes income realized in any form, whether money, property, or ser...
Jan 14, 2022•23 min•Season 16Ep. 20
Bailment is a legal relationship in common law, where the owner transfers physical possession of personal property ("chattel") for a time, but retains ownership. The owner who surrenders custody to a property is called the "bailor" and the individual who accepts the property is called a "bailee". The bailee is the person who possesses the personal property in trust for the owner for a set time and for a precise reason and who delivers the property back to the owner when he or she has accomplishe...
Jan 13, 2022•5 min•Season 20Ep. 13
A misdemeanor is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions (also known as minor, petty, or summary offences) and regulatory offences. Typically, misdemeanors are punished with monetary fines or community service. Distinction between felonies and misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is considered a crime of lesser seriousness, and a felony one of greater...
Jan 12, 2022•12 min•Season 17Ep. 13
