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Glossary of terms

Glossary of terms by letter

C

Coexistence Agreement

Trademark coexistence describes a situation in which two different enterprises use a similar or identical trademark to market a product or service without necessarily interfering with each other's businesses

Collaborative Law

A form of dispute resolution in which family lawyers and their clients agree in writing to reach a settlement without court involvement

Collective Agreement

An agreement reached through negotiations between a trade union and an employer

Comfort Letter

A document which is issued to back up an agreement but which does not have any contractual standing

Commissioner of Oaths

Solicitors authorised by the Lord Chancellor to administer oaths and affirmations to a statement of evidence

Committal

The procedure of directing the case to the Crown Court to be dealt with, following examination by the Magistrates of a case involving an indictable or either way offence

Committal Order

An order of the Court placing someone in prison

Common Hold

A form of freehold land ownership, as an alternative to long leasehold ownership

Common Law

Law established by precedent from judicial decisions

Common Law Partner

A partner who you live with but to whom you are not married

Commons Registration Search

A search at the local authority to check that the property is not registered as common land

Community Punshment Order

A sentence which requires a young person to complete unpaid community work for a period of 40-240 hours

Community Rehabilitation Order

This is equivalent to a Supervision Order, but it's for young people aged 16-17

Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA)

This is a deal between an insolvent company and its creditors

Compensation

Sum of money paid in respect of loss, breakage, hardship, inconvenience or personal injury

Completion

When the buyer of a property becomes the new owner of the property

Compromise Agreement

This is an agreement which is entered into by an employee and employer, preventing an employee's right to a claim against their employer

Conciliation

This is where disputing parties attempt to reach an agreement out of Court

Concurrent Sentance

A direction by a Court that a number of sentences of imprisonment should run at the same time

Concurrent User Licence

A software licence which depends upon the number of people who use the software at any one time

Concurrent Writ

This is a duplicate of an original Writ

Conditional Discharge

A discharge of a convicted defendant without sentence on condition that they do not re-offend within a specified period of time

Conditions

Conditions form the basis of a contract - if one of them fails or is broken, the contract is breached

Conduct Money

Money paid to a witness in advance of the hearing of a case as compensation for time spent attending Court

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