Legal glossary for court interpreters

E

Elements of a crime

Specific factors that define a crime which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction: (1) that a crime has actually occurred, (2) that the accused intended the crime to happen, and (3) a timely relationship between the first two factors.

Eminent Domain

The power of the government to take private property for public use through condemnation.

En Banc

All the judges of a court sitting together. Appellate courts can consist of a dozen or more judges, but often they hear cases in panels of three judges. If a case is heard or reheard by the full court, it is heard en banc.

Encyclopedia

A book or series of books arranged alphabetically by topics containing information on areas of law, including citations to support the information.

Enjoining

An order by the court telling a person to stop performing a specific act.

Entity

A person or legally recognized organization.

Entrapment

The act of inducing a person to commit a crime so that a criminal charge will be brought against him.

Entry

A statement of conclusion reached by the court and placed in the court record.

Environment

The conditions, influences, or forces which affect the desirability and value of property, as well as the effect on people's lives.

Environmental Protection (EPA)

A federal agency created to permit coordinated and environment effective governmental action to preserve the quality of the . Agency

Equal Protection of the Law

The guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that all persons be treated equally by the law.

Equity

Justice administered according to fairness; the spirit or habit of fairness in dealing with other persons.

Escheat

The process by which a deceased person's property goes to the state if no heir can be found.

Escrow

Money or a written instrument such as a deed that, by agreement between two parties, is held by a neutral third party (held in escrow) until all conditions of the agreement are met.

Esquire

In the United States the title commonly appended after the name of an attorney. In English law a title of dignity next above gentleman and below knight. Title also given to barristers at law and others. Abbreviated: Esq.

Estate

A person's property.

Estate tax

Generally, a tax on the privilege of transferring property to others after a person's death. In addition to federal estate taxes, many states have their own estate taxes.

Estoppel

An impediment that prevents a person from asserting or doing something contrary to his own previous assertion or act.

Ethics

Of or relating to moral action and conduct; professionally right; conforming to professional standards.

Evidence

Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.