This is a list of words that will be useful for you as a paralegal. We have tried to choose words that you may generally come across in working with the law, and words that are used a lot in this manual.

So you will not find all the difficult words that are used in the manual in this dictionary.

Words that you can find elsewhere in this dictionary are in italics.

Accessible – open, available, easy to get to

Accrual system – this applies to marriages after November 1984 that are out of community of property; all income and assets that are gained during the marriage will be shared equally if there is a divorce

Accused – a person charged with a crime

Act – a law made by parliament

Acting for – representing, a lawyer taking on a case for you

Action, civil – a case made by someone against another person or institution to claim money for damages or losses; also called civil claim

or suing

Action, criminal – a case made by the state to punish someone who has committed a crime; also called a criminal charge/case or prosecution

Acquitted – found not guilty

Ad hoc – committee (or decision) for this purpose only

Admissible – allowed as evidence in a court case

Admission – saying you did something or you know something without admitting guilt

Admission of guilt – admitting guilt for a small crime and paying a fine instead of going to court e.g. traffic fine

Advocate – a lawyer who specialises in court work; also called counsel

Affidavit – a written statement that is sworn to be the truth in front of a commissioner of oaths; can be used as evidence in court

Affirm – swear in court that you will speak the truth, without swearing to God in the usual way

Agent – a person who is authorised to represent someone else

Aggravating factors – things that will cause you to get a heavier sentence, e.g. previous convictions, causing bad injuries

Albeit – if

Alibi – your witness who can say you were doing something else at the time of the crime

Alien – a person who is not a citizen of the Republic of South Africa

Alleged / Allegation – when something has not yet been proved in court

Alternatively – or

Annuity – what you pay to an insurance company every year

Ante-nuptial contract – a contract made before a marriage to say what will happen to the property and possessions of the couple if they divorce

Anticipate – expect

Appeal – asking a higher court or authority to overrule the judgment, sentence or decision of a lower court or authority

Appear – be in court

Appellant – the person or institution making an appeal

Applicant – a person, a CC, a company or an institution who applies for something. For example, a person or institution that applies to the court for an interdict or court order. If a CC fills in a form to be registered for VAT, it is applying to be registered and is called the applicant. If you apply for a disability grant, you are called the applicant.

Apropos – to do with

Arbitration – people who have a disagreement agree to use a third person to hear the case and to make a decision

Argument – summing up at the end of a case, done by prosecutor and defence to state the strength of their case

Articled clerk – see candidate attorney

Assessor (court) – someone who helps a judge in the High Court

Assessor (property) – a person who is registered to decide what something is worth

Assets – property that you own, for example houses, cars, furniture, linen, books, money in the bank and insurance policies, that can be used to pay your debts

Assurance – making payments as insurance on your life

Attach property – to seize someone’s property when they owe money, after getting a court order

Attorney – a lawyer who works in a law firm

Attorney-client privilege – whatever a client tells to an attorney is secret and cannot be told to anyone else without the client’s permission

Attorney-General – see Director of Public Prosecutions

Authorise / Authority – to give/have permission or power to do something

Awaiting trial prisoner – being held in a police station or a prison between the time of arrest and the court case or bail hearing

Bail – money paid by the accused to the court so s/he can go free until the trial which will decide whether they are guilty or not

Balance of probabilities – the amount of proof that you need to win a civil action; when you weigh up the two sides in the civil action, you have to show that your story is stronger than the other side’s story on a balance of probabilities

Bar Council – you can make a complaint to this body that controls advocates

Bargaining Council – a body in an industry where workers and employers make agreements on wages and working conditions

Beneficiary – someone who gets money or property in a will as an heir or legatee

Benefit society – a society that offers insurance against illness, unemployment, etc.

Bequest – a legacy, something left to someone in a will

Beyond reasonable doubt – the amount of proof needed for someone to be guilty in a criminal trial; the case has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt – there must be no doubt at all

Bill of Rights – a list of rights and freedoms for all people living in a country, which is part of the law of that country; South Africa has a Bill of Rights in our Constitution

Bona fide – in good faith, believing that you are doing something you have a right to do

Breach of contract – breaking the terms agreed on in a contract

By-law – law made by a local authority

Candidate attorney – someone with a law degree who works for a law firm for two years before qualifying as an attorney; used to be called an articled clerk

Capacity – see legal capacity

Case-docket – file opened by police when investigating a crime

c.f. – compare with

Chambers – the offices where advocates work

Charge-sheet – the paper in the Magistrate’s Court that lists all the crimes that someone is charged with

Children’s Court – special court at Magistrate’s Court that decides cases affecting the welfare of children

Citizen’s arrest – when you arrest someone that you see committing a serious crime or you have a good reason for thinking was involved in a serious crime, e.g. murder, rape, theft

Civil action/claim – claiming money through the civil court from a person who caused you harm

Civil union – legal recognition of a marriage or civil partnership between two persons regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity but may only be registered by two civil union partners who would not otherwise be allowed by law to marry each other under the Marriage Act or Recognition of Customary Marriages Act

Clerk of the Court – official in Magistrate’s Court who receives and issues legal papers

Client – the person you give advice to or act for as a paralegal or attorney

Commission of Enquiry – government- appointed investigation, often headed by a judge

Commissioner – person who decides cases in the Small Claims Court; also used as abbreviation for Commissioner of Oaths, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Compensation Commissioner, and so on

Commissioner of Oaths – person in front of whom an affidavit can be sworn, e.g. police, ministers, postmasters, bank managers

Common cause – what is agreed by all parties

Common law – laws not made by parliament that have been around for centuries, for things like murder, theft, assault, etc.

Community of property – all the possessions of a married couple are shared between them

Community Service Order – doing a sentence of community service in the community instead of going to prison

Compensation – money that a court orders you must be paid for damages or losses you suffered; money paid from the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Fund

Complainant – a person who makes a criminal charge against someone else at a police station

Comprehensive Insurance – general insurance covering matters like personal injuries, fire, theft and damage to property

Confession – admitting that you committed a crime

Consensus – agreement which eveyone is satisfied with

Consent – giving your permission or agreement to something

Consultation – meeting between lawyer and client

Contempt of Court – breaking a court order or showing disrespect for the court, e.g. swearing at the magistrate

Contract – written or verbal agreement between people

Conveyancer – lawyer specialising in property transfers

Conviction – found guilty of a crime by a court

Correctional supervision – a conditional release from prison, similar to parole and probation, where you are released and monitored by someone called a Correctional Official

Correspondent – local lawyer used by law firm from another town

Costs / Legal costs – expenses of a legal action

Counsel – advocate, lawyer who appears in court

Court order – an official order by a judge telling someone to do something or to stop doing something

Credit – when someone is allowed to buy things and pay them off later

Credit agreement – a written contract about how money owed will be paid off

Creditor – person money is owed to

Criminal charge / case / action – court case against someone who committed a crime

Criminal record – list of all the crimes you have been found guilty of; also called previous convictions

Cross-examination – chance for the other side in a court case to ask you questions about your evidence

Custody (arrest) – being held in police or prison cells

Custody (of children) – day-to-day care and control of a child who lives with you

Customary African law – the indigenous laws of African tradition

Customary union / marriage – marriage according to African customary law

Damages – money claimed for loss, harm or pain suffered

Debt – money which one person or institution owes another; for example, Sarah owes Petrus R100 and she owes Thandi R200, so she has debts of R300

Debt collection – collecting of money owed

Debt counsellor– a person who is trained and registered to assist consumers who may have become over-indebted as a result of entering into credit agreements

Debtor – person who owes money

Deed of sale – written sale agreement for the sale of land or houses

Deed of transfer – certificate of the transfer (handing over) of land or houses; proof of ownership of the land or house

Deeds office – goverment office where ownership of land is recorded

De facto – real or actual

De novo – new

Default judgment – judgment given against someone in a civil claim when they do not come to defend themselves

Defective goods – goods that have something wrong with them

Defence – legal reason to explain or excuse what you did, e.g. you hit someone because you were provoked

Defence / Defence counsel – lawyer or team of lawyers defending someone in a criminal case

Defendant – the person against whom a civil claim is made

Delict – a civil wrong done by one person against another, which might lead to a civil action

Demarcation – setting a limit, drawing a line between

Dependant – someone who is financially dependent on another person, e.g. a child on a parent

Deponent – person who makes an affidavit

Deposit – money paid when you buy something on credit

Deputy-Sheriff – court official who delivers legal documents in a High Court case

Deregulation – removing labour laws and regulations to make it easier to work or set up a business in an area or sector

Derogate – take away from

Detainee – person held in prison or police cells

Determine – decide

Desist – stop

Director of Public Prosecutions – boss of all the state prosecutors in a region, who decides about who should be charged in criminal cases

Disburse – pay or pay out

Discharge – court case being stopped because of a lack of evidence

Discovery – a legal procedure to get someone to show you what documents they have in their possession

District Courts – ordinary Magistrate’s Courts in each big town

District Surgeon – doctor employed by the state to gather medical evidence for court cases, to treat prisoners, to give the public injections, etc

Divorce Courts – courts where people can go to have divorce cases resolved more cheaply and quicker

Documents / Documentary evidence – legal papers which could also be used as evidence in court

Domiciled – living somewhere permanently

Duress – force or pressure

Estate – all the things and money that belonged to a person who has died

Evidence – information, including statements and documents, that is used as proof in a court case

Ex officio – arising out of or by virtue of a job or position, e.g. all police are ex officio peace officers

Ex parte application – a very urgent court application that is done verbally without written papers or without going through all the usual procedures (e.g. giving the other side a chance to get to court)

Ex post facto – afterwards or later

Excess – the first part of the claim that an insured person has to pay; for example, out of a R1 000 claim, the insured pays R200 and the insurance company the other R800

Exculpatory statement – a statement to the police where you state your innocence or you don’t make any admissions

Executor – the person who sorts out the affairs of a dead person

Expert / Expert witness – someone who has specialist knowledge of something and who could be called to court to give evidence on this

Express terms – things written down or spoken in a contract

Expropriate – the state taking over land and paying the owner for the loss

Final order – when the court makes a final order, it replaces any previous (interim) court orders

Finance charges – payments made for using someone else’s money, e.g.interest

Finding – decision of a court or a Commission of Enquiry

Foreclose – selling property to get back a loan made under a mortgage

Foster grant – money to pay for things like food, clothes and education for a child that has been entrusted to you by the state because her/his own parents do not look after the child

Fraud – the crime of lying or deceiving in a way that causes harm to someone else

Fraudulent misrepresentation – lying on purpose

Freehold – the right to buy and own property (land, house or buildings)

Friendly society – a society for insurance against sickness, etc.

Further particulars – asking the other side to give you more details about the charge or the allegations in a criminal or civil case

Garnishee order – when the court orders people who owe the consumer money to pay the credit provider who is owed money, instead of the consumer. A garnishee order also allows the credit provider to take money that the consumer expects to receive from, for example, an inheritance

Guarantee – a promise that things bought are in good condition

Guardian – a person who has legal authority over a child

Hearsay evidence – something you heard from someone else

Heir – a person who inherits from a will

High Court – higher court than Magistrate’s Court, for serious cases or cases involving large amounts of money

Hire purchase agreement – see Instalment Sales Agreement

Identity parade – where you try to point out someone to be charged in a criminal case

Illegal – against the law, breaking the law

Immoveable property – property that you cannot move like land, houses and other buildings

Implied terms – things in a contract which are understood between the two sides even though they are not written down or spoken

In camera – a hearing or court case without members of the public present

In lieu of – instead of or in the place of

Income tax – tax on the money you get from employment or property

Indemnity – when the law says you cannot make a case against someone even though they have done something wrong

Indictment – the paper in the High Court listing all the crimes someone is charged with

Inquest – judicial investigation into whether any person or group of people was responsible for the death of someone who did not die of natural causes

Insolvency – bankruptcy, when you owe more money than you have in money or possessions; when a person does not have enough assets to pay their debts, the court will say that the person is insolvent and appoint someone to manage the insolvent person’s affairs

Instalment – money paid by a buyer each week or month

Instalment Sales Agreement – a contract where the buyer pays off the price of something in instalments, and the seller usually stays the owner until the last instalment has been made

Instruct / Instructions – telling someone, e.g. a lawyer, what to do

Insurance – protecting yourself against loss by making certain payments

Inter alia – among other things

Interdict – a court order to protect someone or to force someone to do something

Interest – money charged to you when you borrow money; money you earn when you lend money e.g. when you keep your money in a bank account you are lending the bank the money

Interim order – a court order that is temporary (for the time being) and not final

Intestate – dying without a will

Invoice – a paper saying what was sold and what it cost

Ipso facto – by / through that fact

Issue / Issuing – when the court official puts the offical stamp on a document

Judgment – decision made by judge or magistrate

Judicial – to do with the courts

Junior counsel – an ordinary or junior advocate, who assists a senior, more experienced advocate in a court case

Jurisdiction – the powers and functions of a court or other institution

Justices of the Peace – senior public officials who are given powers by the government to keep the peace and to perform certain tasks in an area, e.g. magistrates, state advocates, lieutenants or higher ranks in the SAPS or SANDF

Juvenile – under the age of 18

Juvenile Courts – special courts at the Magistrate’s Court which decide cases where the accused is a juvenile

Labour Court – court where workers can make a case against their employers or employers can make a case against workers

Latent defects – problems or faults in things that you buy that the eye cannot see

Law Society – you can make a complaint to this body that controls the work of attorneys

Lawful – done with power given by the law

Lawyer – general name for someone who has a law degree

Lease – contract that allows someone to rent the property of another person

Leasehold – the right to rent property for a certain length of time

Legacy – a bequest, something left to someone in a will

Legal – something that the law allows, not breaking the law

Legal aid – state assistance to someone who can’t afford a lawyer

Legal Aid Board – you can appeal or make a complaint to this body about legal aid

Legal capacity – ability in law to take legal action or to have action taken against you

Legatee – someone who benefits from a legacy (bequest) in a will

Legislation – laws passed by parliament

Lessee – a person who rents something from someone else

Lessor – a person who rents something to someone else

Letter of demand – letter demanding payment in a civil claim

Levy – a tax

Liable / Liability – when by law you are responsible for something or owe money; if a person or a company owes someone money, then they are liable for paying that money and can be taken to court if they don’t pay; if the person owes R1 000, then their liability is R1 000

Lien – the right to keep something you have repaired until the owner pays you for the work

Lieu / in lieu of – instead of, in the place of, e.g. salary in lieu of notice

Life policy – insurance that gets paid out when someone dies

Liquidation – declaring a company bankrupt

Litigant – a person who takes legal action Litigation – legal action

Lockout – employers keeping workers out of the workplace to force them to come to an agreement

Locus standi – legal standing, the right to bring a case to court, e.g. a child does not have locus standi

Magistrate’s Courts – lower courts run by a magistrate

Maintenance – money paid by a parent to the person looking after his/her children e.g. by the father to mother if he does not live with her and his children; also money paid to a divorced wife by her ex-husband

Maintenance Court / Officer – place and person for sorting out maintenance problems at the Magistrate’s Court

Mala fide – something done in bad faith, not in the way or in the spirit it should be done

Malicious – when someone causes harm or damage on purpose

Marriage (civil) – registered marriage that took place in front of a magistrate or a minister of certain religions

Marriage (common law) – living together without being legally married

Matter – case or legal problem

Means test – test used to decide whether someone is poor enough to get legal aid or state grants

Mediation – using a go-between to help sort out a disagreement between people

Messenger of the Court – court official who delivers court papers in the Magistrate’s Court

Minor – person under 18

Misrepresentation – making a false or incorrect statement

Mitigation / Mitigating factors – reasons why someone who has been found guilty of a crime should get a light sentence

Mortgage / Mortgage bond – signing away part of your house as security for a loan; if you do not pay back the loan, the house can be sold to pay back the money

Mutatis mutandis – with the necessary changes

Negligent / Negligence – not being careful enough

Negotiation – when people who have a disagreement talk to each other to try and sort it out

No-claim bonus – a discount given in insurance payment if no claims have been made for a long time

Nolle prosequi – the certificate that the Director of Public Prosecutions writes when he/she decides not to prosecute someone

Notary public – an attorney who specialises in certifying or drawing up legal documents

Notice (civil claim) – special kind of letter of demand, e.g. in cases against the police, where you demand payment by a certain date

Notice (work) – period of advance warning that someone gets before being dismissed from work

Notice of intention to defend – after a summons is served on someone in a civil claim, they can send back a paper to say they will defend themselves against the claim

Notice of motion – a paper sent by the applicant in an interdict or other court application to the person against whom the case is made, to let them know

Oath – swearing that something is the truth

Offence – crime

Oral evidence – telling your story in court

Order of court – see court order

Ordinance – law made by a provincial council

Out-of-court settlement – see settlement

Paralegal – a person without a law degree who has legal skills, knowledge and experience

Parole – being released from prison on condition that you do not misbehave

Particulars of claim – a document in which the legal grounds for a civil claim are set out

Party – one of the sides or people involved in a court case or legal dispute

Peace Officers – public officials who through their job have certain powers to keep the public peace, e.g. the power of all members of the SAPS to arrest or search you

Peace Order – an official letter from a magistrate to someone warning them that if they do not stop certain behaviour, they will be arrested and charged, e.g. to a man who is beating a woman

Pending – being held over or waiting for, e.g. pending a decision

Pension fund – fund which usually when you retire immediately pays you out one third of what you have paid in and two thirds over the rest of your life

Per se – in itself

Perjury – lying under oath in court or in a sworn statement

Place of Safety – a home for children who have no-one to look after them

Plaintiff – the person who makes a civil claim

Plea / Plead – saying ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ to charges in a criminal case;also stating your defence in a civil action

Pleadings – documents in civil actions where the parties set out their cases

Pointing out – showing the police some place, person or thing; a kind of evidence that can be used against you in court

Post-mortem – medical examination of dead body to find cause of death

Power-of-attorney – a legal document you sign giving someone else the right to do certain things for you, e.g. collect your wages

Precedent – example or standard that can be used or followed in future

Premium – amount paid each year for insurance

Prescribe / Prescription period – time limit before a case falls away

Previous convictions – see criminal record

Prima facie – at first sight, as it looks at first

Prisoner’s Friend – Magistrate’s Court official who can help you with matters like getting money to pay for bail or fines

Private prosecution – a special kind of criminal case you can make when the Director of Public Prosecutions decides not to prosecute someone

Privatisation – where the government sells public services to private owners, e.g. telephone and electricity supplies

Pro deo counsel – see Public Defenders

Probation – a trial period where people, often juveniles, have a chance to prove that they can behave

Probation Officer – person, usually a social worker, who has to make sure that someone on probation behaves themselves

Procedural – to do with procedures and process rather than the content of something

Professional Assistant – fully qualified attorney who works in a law firm, but who is not a partner in the firm

Profit – all the money a business gets in minus all the money the business spends on costs; for example, Busy Bees pre-school looks after 30 children. The parents each pay R50 per month to Busy Bee. The pre-school therefore gets 30 times R50, which is R1 500 (the turnover). There are two teachers, who are paid R450 each per month. Other monthly costs are electricity and water – R10; cooldrink and bread for the children – R200; and crayons and paper – R100. All the costs together add up to R1 210. The profit is worked out by taking the R1 500 turnover and subtracting the R1 210 costs. The profit is therefore R290 per month.

Proof – enough evidence to win or at least to make a good case

Prosecute / Prosecution – bringing a case against someone accused of breaking the law

Prosecutor – see state prosecutor

Provident fund – a fund which usually pays you out all your pension money immediately as a lump sum

Provisional taxpayer – someone who owns a business or earns more than R1 000 profit every year must register as a provisional taxpayer with the South African Revenue Services; this means that you pay all your tax 2 or 3 times a year

Provisions – rules made by a law

Public Defender – government-employed lawyers who have the job of defending people who can’t afford lawyers in criminal cases

Public Protector – public official appointed by the government to investigate complaints of corruption and unlawful actions by government officials or civil servants

Quid pro quo – one thing for another, exchange

Rebates – amounts taken off the tax you have to pay

Re-examination – the time after cross- examination in a court case where your lawyer gets a chance to ask you some more questions

Receipt – paper to prove money was paid or to claim back things taken away from you

Recognition agreement – document signed by employers saying that a union is allowed to organise their employees; also contains agreements on retrenchments, disciplinary procedure, etc.

Reformatory – a special kind of prison for juveniles

Regional Courts – higher Magistrate’s Courts in large towns or cities that have more powers than District (Magistrate’s) Courts

Registrar – court official at the High Court, responsible for issuing documents and setting dates for cases

Regulation – a law made by a government minister who is given the authority to do so

Reinstatement – re-employing a dismissed worker

Retrenchment – an employer cutting down on his/her workforce by paying off workers

Remand – postpone

Remission – time taken off a prison sentence for good behaviour

Repossession – taking back goods sold on credit if instalments are not paid on time

Respondent – person against whom an application (including an interdict), or an appeal, is made

Restrain – to stop

Return day – the date when a court application (including an interdict) will come back to court for a decision or for the next step to be taken; also called a rule nisi

Review – higher court looking at decisions made by lower courts or authorities, to see if anything was done wrongly, e.g. correct procedures were not followed

Roadworthy certificate – a document saying a vehicle is fit to be driven

Rule nisi – see return day

Sectional title – ownership of part of a building or block of flats

Security – being a surety or cover for someone, especially to pay money

Self-incrimination /Right against self-incrimination – the right to stay silent and not to say things that can be used against you in court

Senior Counsel – a senior advocate who will work with a junior advocate in a court case

Sequestration – the process for declaring someone bankrupt or insolvent

Serve / Service – when official court documents are delivered to you and you have to sign to say you have received them

Servitude – right to use land that belongs to someone else without paying rent

Set aside – to cancel

Settlement – agreement between parties in a civil claim to accept what is offered and to stop the court case

Sine die – without a date; when an application is postponed without a fixed date being set for when the case will carry on

Sine qua non – essential part or requirement

Small Claims Court – court for civil claims up to R20 000

Solvent – able to pay debts

Specific performance – when a court orders someone to do exactly what they promised under a contract

Spoliation order – special court order to immediately get back something that was taken away from you

Stamp duty – a tax you have to pay on freehold property

State advocate – advocate who works in the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office and who represents the state in court

State prosecutor – person who presents the case against the accused in a criminal case; lawyer for the state

State witness – witness used by the prosecutor to prove the case against the accused

Statement – a written or verbal account of what happened, which could be used as evidence in court

Status quo – the position or situation as it is now, without any change

Statutes – laws passed by parliament; also called Acts

Sub judice – being heard in court (usually used to say the media cannot comment on a case because it is still being heard)

Submit / Submission – stating something which is an opinion or allegation

Subpoena – official paper used to tell witnesses they must come to court to give evidence

Subsidy – a hand-out of money for purchases like housing, usually from the government or an employer

Substantive – to do with the content or substance of something, not the procedures involved

Succession – law dealing with what happens to people’s property after they die

Sue / Suing – to claim money through a civil action from someone who caused you damage

Summary dismissal – being sacked without notice or notice pay

Summons (civil) – a document that contains a demand for money and starts a civil action

Summons (criminal) – a document calling a person to come to court to stand trial for breaking the law

Supreme Court of Appeal – the highest court in the country (except for the Constitutional Court)

Surety – being a security for someone, by paying or being in a position to pay money, e.g. helping with bail; If one person signs a piece of paper saying that they will pay another person’s debt if that person cannot pay the debt, they have stood surety for that person. For example: STANDING SURETY – Vuyiswa owes Paul R500. Nolita signs a piece of paper that says if Vuyiswa cannot pay Paul the money she owes him, then Nolita will pay Paul the money. Nolita has stood surety for Vuyiswa. If Nolita refuses to pay Paul, he can take her to court.

Suspended sentence – part of a prison sentence or fine is put off or postponed and will only be imposed if the same crime is committed within a stated time

Sworn statement – a statement sworn under oath, which is strong evidence in court; also called affidavit

Tariff – the lists of what to charge for different kinds of legal work, which lawyers are meant to follow

Tenant – a person who rents property from a landlord/lady

Tenure – way of possessing or occupying, e.g. land tenure

Testate – having a valid will

Testator – person who makes a valid will

Testify – give evidence in court

Third party – someone other than the two parties who make an agreement

Third party insurance – automatic insurance for all cars to pay people who are injured in car accidents

Title deed – the legal document which shows who owns a property

Transfer duty – the tax you have to pay when land is transferred

Trespass – to go onto or stay on property without the permission of the owner

Trial – court case

Trial-within-a-trial – a trial held as part of another trial to decide whether certain evidence will be allowed

Turnover – all the money that comes into the business from sales and services, without subtracting the money that is spent on the business, such as wages, materials and so on. For example: TURNOVER – Busy Bees preschool looks after 30 children and the parents each pay R50 per month to Busy Bee, so the turnover is 30 times R50, which is R1 500. (Turnover is different to profit. To work out the profit, you subtract the costs from the turnover.)

Vires – beyond the authority given by law

Unfair dismissal – where an employer unlawfully fires a worker

Unfair labour practice – employers doing something that the law or the courts say is unfair

Unlawful – outside the powers given by law

Urgent application – applying to the High Court for an urgent court order or interdict

Usufruct – the right to use and enjoy the fruits of land that belongs to someone else

Valid – well-based or good in law, e.g. a valid claim

Visa – permit to enter a country

Vis-a-vis – to do with Viz. – namely

Voetstoots – just as it is

Wage determination – regulations for wages and working conditions in a specific industry or area

Warning / Released on warning – released without bail and warned to appear on a certain date

Warrant – a document issued by a magistrate (or sometimes a police officer of the rank of lieutenant or higher) that gives permission for things like arrests, searches, and evictions

Warrant of Execution – a document giving court officials the right to take away certain property to cover your debts

Warranty – see guarantee

Will – a signed document saying how a person’s possessions should be disposed of after they die

Wind up – collect all possessions and money that belong to an estate and pay all the debts

Witness – person who saw something and may give evidence in a court case

Witness’s friend – a person at the Magistrate’s Court who explains witnesses’ rights and pays their transport costs