About Legal Literate

Legal Literate is a plain English glossary website with definitions of common legal and judicial terms. It is designed for use by interpreters but may also be useful to court and tribunal users, staff, or to assist judicial officers in explaining legal terms. Legal Literate seeks to overcome language barriers in the justice system for Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities by explaining terms used in courts.

The definitions on this website were drawn from a number of secondary resources, such as The Queensland Glossary of Common Court, Tribunal and Legal Terms for Interpreters, and the Northern Territory Criminal Law Plain English Legal Dictionary. Definitions have been drafted in a gender-neutral manner, and as such, definitions cited from the Plain English Legal Dictionary have been modified to reflect this.

Legal Literate was created by the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion, an initiative supported by The Social Policy Group.

Feedback or questions about Legal Literate can be sent to secretariat@jcdi.org.au

Please note, the definitions on this website should not be taken as legal advice.