0.4Essential legal vocabulary
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Persons and acts: natural person (human) vs legal person (company); legal act (intended) vs legal fact (suffered).
- Key pairs: creditor / debtor, right / obligation, civil liability (to compensate) vs criminal (to punish), nullity vs termination.
- Evidence is everything: “not proven = non-existent” — put things in writing and keep records; in law, words have a precise meaning (false friends).
Threaded mini-case — Yacine finally decodes his contract
Yacine, digital SME owner in Algiers, receives a lawyer's letter: “jointly and severally liable”, “nullity”, “termination”. Panic, then method: he identifies the parties, lists who owes what to whom, and checks each false friend. He confirms the agreement by e-mail and files everything. Before the lawyer, he arrives with a written, dated, understandable file — evidence instead of words.
Standalone episode: Yacine applies vocabulary here to read and prove.
1. Persons and acts
Persons: a natural person is a human being; a legal person is an entity (company, association) with its own separate legal existence. The parties are those bound by a contract or involved in a dispute.
Acts: a legal act is an expression of intent producing legal effects (contract, will); a legal fact produces effects without having been intended for that purpose (an accident).
2. Pairs of opposites and evidence
To distinguish: right (what you can demand) vs obligation; creditor vs debtor; civil liability (to compensate) vs criminal liability (to punish); nullity (cancelled retroactively) vs termination (ending a valid contract).
Evidence is everything (“what is not proven does not legally exist”). Beware of false friends: “liable” ≠ “guilty”, “jointly and severally liable” = each can be pursued for the whole amount.
🔎 Concrete example — 🔎 Concrete example — Legal false friends
Words have a precise meaning.
“Liable” ≠ “guilty” (you can have to compensate without being guilty).
“Jointly and severally liable” = each person can be pursued for THE WHOLE amount.
“Nullity” (cancelled retroactively) ≠ “termination” (ending a valid contract).Result: you decode a contract or a letter without getting lost.
Reflex: put things in writing and keep records (evidence is decisive).
Section vocabulary
- Natural / legal person
- A natural person is a human being; a legal person is an entity (company, association) with its own separate legal existence.
Simple example: Yacine (natural person) signs for his SME (legal person).
What it is not: treating Yacine and his company as one and the same party.
Reflex: in every document: who is bound, human or entity?
- Creditor / debtor
- The creditor is the one to whom something is owed; the debtor is the one who owes (a sum, a service).
Simple example: After delivery, Yacine's SME is the creditor of the price, the client is the debtor.
What it is not: mixing up the roles: believing the one who claims owes something.
Reflex: list concretely what each side owes the other.
- Civil / criminal liability
- Civil liability compensates harm caused to another (damages); criminal liability punishes an offence against society (penalties). One situation can fall under both.
Simple example: A fault by Yacine can require him to compensate (civil) and, if an offence, to be punished (criminal).
What it is not: saying “liable” and automatically thinking “guilty”.
Reflex: compensate (civil) or punish (criminal): which logic applies?
- Nullity / termination
- Nullity cancels a deed retroactively (as if it never existed); termination ends a validly formed contract.
Simple example: Yacine distinguishes the clause cancelled from the start (nullity) from the contract stopped for the future (termination).
What it is not: using the two words interchangeably.
Reflex: cancelled from the start or stopped for the future?
- Evidence
- Anything that establishes a fact or a right; “what is not proven does not legally exist”, hence the importance of written records.
Simple example: Yacine confirms each oral agreement by e-mail and keeps quotes and exchanges.
What it is not: relying on a verbal agreement with no written trace.
Reflex: put in writing, date, keep — for both parties.
In practice — In practice — Mastering basic vocabulary
- When reading a legal document, identify the parties (who is bound) and their role (creditor/debtor, claimant/defendant).
- Distinguish rights (what you can demand) from obligations (what you owe): list concretely what each side owes the other.
- Beware of false friends: “liable” ≠ “guilty”, “jointly liable” = liable for the whole — check the technical meaning.
- Keep records and put things in writing: evidence is decisive; a purely verbal agreement is fragile without a trace.
Ready-to-use script — confirming an oral agreement in writing (30 s)
“So we both agree, let me confirm by e-mail what we just decided: who does what, by when, and for what amount. Tell me if I understood correctly, and we move forward on this written basis.”
Say after every oral agreement: the confirmation e-mail protects both parties.
Copy-paste template — decoding a document
DOCUMENT: _______________ | PARTIES (who is bound?): _______________
CREDITOR / DEBTOR (who owes what to whom?): _______________
RIGHTS (what can be demanded): _______________
OBLIGATIONS (what is owed): _______________
WORD TO CHECK (false friend?): _______________
WRITTEN RECORD KEPT: _______________SME / small budget
Without software: one file per matter (contract, e-mails, quotes, invoices) sorted by date is enough to prove your case in a disagreement.
SME Algiers
Yacine confirms each client agreement by e-mail in French and keeps everything: the exact rules of evidence are checked with his local lawyer.
Lawyer's letter received
Do not panic over words: identify the parties, distinguish civil from criminal, check “jointly liable”, then reply with a professional.
Contract to review fast
Highlight parties, amounts, deadlines, termination and joint liability in 10 minutes before the professional's review.
✓ Best practices
- Identify the parties and their role in every document.
- Check the technical meaning of words (false friends).
- Put things in writing and keep records: evidence is decisive.
✗ Common pitfalls
- Confusing “liable” with “guilty”.
- Underestimating “jointly liable” (liable for the whole).
- Relying on a verbal agreement with no written trace.
Key takeaways
- Natural persons (humans) and legal persons (companies, associations) both have rights, obligations and the capacity to take legal action.
- Key pairs: creditor/debtor, right/obligation, civil liability (to compensate)/criminal liability (to punish), nullity/termination.
- In law, words have a PRECISE meaning: “liable” ≠ “guilty”, “jointly liable” = liable for the whole — beware of false friends.
- Evidence is everything (“not proven = non-existent”) → put things in writing and keep records. Exact regimes vary by country.
48h Challenge — apply tomorrow
Take 1 contract or 1 agreement e-mail: highlight parties, rights and obligations, then send a written confirmation e-mail to the other party.
- I can tell natural and legal persons apart in a document.
- I no longer confuse liable/guilty or nullity/termination.
- I have confirmed 1 agreement in writing and filed the evidence.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between civil and criminal liability? Can you face both at once?
Yes, the same situation can trigger both at the same time and independently. Civil liability aims to compensate harm caused to another person: it looks at the victim, opposes two private parties, and results in damages (money). You can be “liable” under civil law without having done anything morally serious — hence “liable” ≠ “guilty”. Criminal liability aims to punish an offence that disturbs public order: it is not the victim but society (via the prosecutor) that acts, to punish prohibited behaviour, with penalties (fines, sometimes imprisonment). The two are independent and can cumulate: serious negligence can require compensation (civil) AND lead to a penalty (criminal). But not every harm is an offence: many situations fall under civil law only. Knowing the difference helps assess seriousness and avoids confusing “I may have to compensate” with “I risk a criminal conviction”.
Why is there so much emphasis on evidence and writing? Is a verbal agreement worthless?
A verbal agreement often has legal value, but it suffers from a formidable problem: evidence. Distinguish two things. Validity: a verbal contract can be valid (although certain acts require a mandatory written form — real-estate sales, etc.). Evidence: in case of disagreement, how do you prove what was agreed? If the other party disputes it and you only have a conversation with no trace, it is your word against theirs, and the judge only decides on what is proven to them. A written record (signed contract, confirmation e-mail, accepted quote) materialises the agreement and makes all the difference. Hence the reflex “put things in writing and keep records” — not out of distrust, but out of prudence: memories diverge, and a written record protects both parties. In practice: confirm an oral agreement by e-mail, keep quotes and exchanges, and have important commitments signed. Exact rules of evidence vary by country, but the principle is universal: an imperfect written record is better than a verbal agreement that cannot be proven.
What does the saying “what is not proven does not legally exist” mean?