Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: assignment of error
Term: ACCESSORIAL
Definition: Accessorial means promising to help someone else's credit or being involved in a crime as an accessory.
For example, if someone promises to pay back a loan for their friend, that is an accessorial pledge. On the other hand, if someone helps someone else commit a crime, they can be charged with accessorial guilt.
Definition: Accessorial (ak-suh-sawr-ee-uhl) is an adjective that describes something that is done to support or strengthen someone else's credit or involvement in a crime.
Example 1: John made an accessorial pledge by way of guaranty to help his friend secure a loan from the bank.
Example 2: The prosecutor charged the suspect with accessorial guilt for helping the main perpetrator commit the crime.
The examples illustrate how accessorial can be used in different contexts. In the first example, John made an accessorial pledge to help his friend get a loan. This means that John promised to pay the loan if his friend couldn't. This strengthened his friend's creditworthiness and increased the chances of getting the loan approved.
In the second example, the suspect was charged with accessorial guilt for helping the main perpetrator commit the crime. This means that the suspect was involved in the crime in some way, either by aiding, abetting, or encouraging the main perpetrator. The term accessorial is often used in criminal law to describe the involvement of someone who is not the main perpetrator but still played a role in the crime.