Glossary of legal terms

Specific precautionary measure that can be adopted when it comes to ensuring the effectiveness of a judgment issued in the exercise of a real action on assets and rights susceptible to registration.

Obligation for each authority to render assistance in any form to other authorities, when requested to do so.

Legal principle imposing the court to investigate the facts ex officio, without being limited to the evidence produced by the parties.

Documents produced by a private individual. As long as they are signed, they are full proof of the fact that the statements they contain were made by the person who signed them. Their accuracy is subject to the free assessment of evidence if contested.

Hearing before the court in which only interested parties' lawyers may participate and which are generally closed to the public and the press.

Ground of review usually articulated in three main phases: (1) suitability, (2) necessity, and (3) proportionality in the narrow sense. First, the suitability test requires that the adopted measure be suitable to achieve the stated objectives. Second, the necessity test aims at verifying that the measure was the least restrictive available alternative or that no less drastic means were available. Three, the proportionality test in the narrow sense requires adjudicators to ascertain that the benefit gained from realizing the objective exceeds the harm caused by the adopted measure.

Documents produced by a public authority; which are presumed to be authentic, i.e. it is assumed that they are indeed attributable to the issuer indicated. They also establish full proof of the truthfulness of the facts represented therein.

Judicial hearing open to the public and the media.

Open invitation to members of the public to submit (within a deadline) comments about a draft of a legally binding general administrative act with a sufficiently determined content to allow input from the interested public and with the aim of gathering suggestions on specific solutions that may lead to adjust the draft in view of the comments received.

Purchases by governments and state-owned enterprises of goods, services and works through public tenders.

Contract concerning the performance of a public administrative duty, relating to the field of public services.

Administrative act which states factual and legal elements that ground the decision in an appropriate manner by disclosing in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the public authority which adopted the decision in such a way as to enable the parties to ascertain the reasons for the decision and to enable the competent court to exercise its powers of review.

Evidence led by a party to counter a defence adduced by the other party.

Action which enables the Administrative Courts (of first instance or the courts of appeal) not only to control the errors of law and conclude to its annulment, but also to control the facts of the case and reform the act (in some legal systems, full jurisdiction is provided for all types of litigation).

Rectification of a manifest material and arithmetic errors, by the court or at the request of a party.