Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wade, Abdoulaye

(Encyclopedia)Wade, Abdoulaye äbdo͞olīˈə wäd [key], 1926–, Senegalese political leader. He studied at several French universities, receiving (1970) a doctorate in law and economics from the Sorbonne, and wa...

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia)Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the Suez conflict (...

bimetallism

(Encyclopedia)bimetallism bīmĕtˈəlĭzˌəm [key], in economic history, monetary system in which two commodities, usually gold and silver, were used as a standard and coined without limit at a ratio fixed by leg...

Scipio Africanus Minor

(Encyclopedia)Scipio Africanus Minor (Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus), c.185–129 b.c., Roman general, destroyer of Carthage. He was the son of Aemilius Paullus, under whom he fought at P...

Romans

(Encyclopedia)Romans, letter of the New Testament, written by St. Paul, probably from Corinth before his last trip to Jerusalem, c.a.d. 58. It is a treatise addressed to the Christian church at Rome, apparently to ...

Scalia, Antonin

(Encyclopedia)Scalia, Antonin, 1936–2016, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1986–2016), b. Trenton, N.J. He graduated from Harvard Law School (1960) and subsequently taught law at the Univ. of Virgin...

riot, rout, and unlawful assembly

(Encyclopedia)riot, rout, and unlawful assembly, in law, varying degrees of concerted disturbance of the peace. At common law, an unlawful assembly is a gathering of at least three persons whose conduct causes obse...

Douglas, William Orville

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, William Orville, 1898–1980, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–75), b. Maine, Minn. He received his law degree from Columbia in 1925 and later was professo...

gift

(Encyclopedia)gift, in law, voluntary transfer of property from one person to another without any compensation for it and without any obligation of an agreement or contract. The one who gives is the donor; the one ...

Moses

(Encyclopedia)Moses mōˈzĭs [key], Hebrew lawgiver, probably b. Egypt. The prototype of the prophets, he led his people in the 13th cent. b.c. out of bondage in Egypt to the edge of Canaan. The narrative in the B...

Browse by Subject