Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Glasgow, University of, at Glasgow, Scotland; founded 1451. Its charter provided for studies in theology, canon and civil law, arts, and “any other lawful faculty.” Today it has faculties of arts,...

(Encyclopedia) conflict of laws, that part of the law in each state, country, or other jurisdiction that determines whether, in dealing with a particular legal situation, its law or the law of some other jurisdictio...

(Encyclopedia) O'Toole, Erin Michael, 1973–, Canadian politician. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (1991–2000), then earned a law degree and practised corporate law. A member of the Conservative party, ...

(Encyclopedia) reprisal, in international law, the forcible taking, in time of peace, by one country of the property or territory belonging to another country or to the citizens of the other country, to be held as a...

(Encyclopedia) Boltzmann, Ludwig lo͝otˈvĭkh bôltsˈmän [key], 1844–1906, Austrian physicist, b. Vienna, educated at Univ. of Vienna. He began teaching (1869) at Graz Univ. In 1873 he became mathematics profes...

(Encyclopedia) Wirtz, William Willard, 1912–2010, U.S. secretary of labor (1962–69), b. DeKalb, Ill. A professor of law at Northwestern Univ. (1939–42), he served (1943–45) with the War Labor Board and was (...

(Encyclopedia) Vattel, Emerich de āˈmərĭkh də vätĕlˈ [key], 1714–67, Swiss philosopher and jurist. He served (1746–58) as Saxon minister at Bern and later in the cabinet of Augustus III at Dresden. He is...

(Encyclopedia) Frankfurter, Felix, 1882–1965, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–62), b. Vienna, Austria. He emigrated to the United States as a boy and later received (1906) his ...

(Encyclopedia) benefit of clergy, term originally applied to the exemption of Christian clerics from criminal prosecution in the secular courts. The privilege was established by the 12th cent., and it extended only ...

(Encyclopedia) Decatur, Stephen dēkāˈtər [key], 1779–1820, American naval officer, b. Sinepuxent, near Berlin, Md.; son of a naval officer, Stephen Decatur. After joining the U.S. navy in 1798, he rose to fame...