Legal Definitions - attentate

The term attentate is a historical legal term with several distinct meanings, primarily referring to actions that are either unlawful attempts or procedural errors within the legal system.

• 1. A Criminal Attempt: In its most general sense, an attentate refers to an action taken with the intent to commit a crime, even if the crime itself was not successfully completed.

  • Example: A person attempts to break into a locked car by jimmying the door, but they are interrupted by a passerby before they can gain entry or steal anything.
  • Explanation: This illustrates an attentate because the individual took a concrete step towards committing a crime (car theft) with the intent to do so, even though the crime was not fully realized.

• 2. An Assault: Historically, "attentate" could also refer to an assault, meaning an intentional act that causes another person to reasonably fear immediate harmful or offensive physical contact.

  • Example: During a heated argument, one individual raises a clenched fist and lunges menacingly toward another person, causing that person to flinch and believe they are about to be struck, even if no physical contact is ultimately made.
  • Explanation: This action constitutes an attentate in the sense of an assault, as it created a reasonable apprehension of immediate physical harm in the other person.

• 3. An Erroneous Judicial Step: In a more specific legal context, particularly concerning court procedure, an attentate describes an improper or unauthorized action taken by a lower court judge after a case has been put on hold (stayed) or appealed to a higher court. Once a case is stayed or appealed, the lower court typically loses its authority to take further action on the merits of the case.

  • Example: After a higher appellate court has issued an order staying (pausing) all proceedings in a lower court case pending review, the lower court judge proceeds to issue a new ruling that modifies the original judgment in that very case.
  • Explanation: This is an attentate because the lower court judge took an unauthorized step (modifying the judgment) after their authority to act on the case had been suspended by the higher court's stay order.