Lawyers are well known for using at least 10 words when 1 is sufficient and even then the meaning may still be unclear. From time to time, I will attempt to explain the legal jargons so beloved by lawyers and still used in legislation and in the courts.
Let us start with the word "and". Sounds simple right? Even a primary 1 kid knows what it means. However, if you see it in relation to the punishment for a criminal offence, it can mean either "and" or "or". For example, the punishment for cheating is imprisonment for 3 years and a fine. This means that the convicted person can either be imprisoned or fined or punished with both imprisonment and fine.
Confused? There's more. The punishment is to be read as the maximum punishment. In the example above, 3 years' imprisonment is not a fixed sentence but the maximum a court may impose. In other words, a court may imprison a cheat for a period ranging from 1 day to 3 years. Got it? Even after all these years, the absurdity still astounds me.
1 comment:
You have really great taste on catch article titles, even when you are not interested in this topic you push to read it
Post a Comment