Legal Dictionary

amicus curiae

Legal Definition of amicus curiae

Etymology

Latin Origin

Noun

Friend of the court. Refers more specifically to persons asking for permission to intervene in a case in which they are neither plaintiff or defendant, usually to present their point of view (or that of their organization) in a case which has the potential of setting a legal precedent in their area of activity. This is common, for example, in civil rights cases and, in some instances, can only be done with the permission of the parties or the court.

Definition of amicus curiae

Etymology

Latin, meaning "friend of the courts"

Noun

amicus curia or amicus curiae (amici curia or amici curiae)

(law) a person/entity who has been allowed by the court to plead or make submissions but who, however, is not directly involved in the action.

BANNATYNE v BANNATYNE (COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUALITY, AS AMICUS CURIAE) 2003 (2) SA 363 (CC) "The Court admitted as amicus curiae the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) which lodged empirical data on the state of the maintenance system in South Africa and its effect on the rights of women and children in seeking effective relief pursuant to the Maintenance Act (the Act)."

Synonyms

amicus (informal)

Further reading

Amicus curiae or amicus curi� (plural amici curiae or amici curi� respectively) is a legal Latin phrase, literally translated as "friend of the court", that refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. The information may be a legal opinion in the form of a brief, a testimony that has not been solicited by any of the parties, or a learned treatise on a matter that bears on the case. The decision whether to admit the information lies with the discretion of the court.

History

The amicus curiae figure originates in Roman law. Starting in the 9th century, it was incorporated to British law, and was later extended to most of common law systems. Later, it was also introduced in international law, in particular concerning human rights. From there, it was integrated in some civil law systems (it has recently been integrated in Argentina). Today, it is used by the European Court of Human Right, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Legal interpretations

[A] phrase that literally means 'friend of the court' - someone who is not a party to the litigation, but who believes that the court's decision may affect its interest.
-William H. Rehnquist, The Supreme Court, p. 89

References:

Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.