| gen. |
provisional remedy (a generic term for any temporary order of a court to protect a party from irreparable damage while a lawsuit or petition is pending. Found on http:dictionary.law.com/Default.xhtml?selected=1667 Lawsuits frequently take a long time, and the passage of time can itself be an injustice. A judgment in an action concerning whether the defendant has the right to cut down certain trees, for instance, will be of little value if, while the suit is pending, the trees have already been cut down. For this reason, legal systems generally provide so-called provisional remedies that enable the plaintiff to obtain some guarantees that any judgment obtained against the defendant will not be in vain. Provisional remedies involve a conflict between speed-to prevent harm pending suit-and accuracy-an improperly granted provisional remedy will harm the defendant. Although the legal technicalities are often different, there is a remarkable similarity between remedies in common-law and civil-law countries. The provisional remedies often are available even before an action has been initiated, though in such cases an action must ordinarily be prosecuted promptly after the grant of the remedy. Britannica Alexander Demidov) |
