Legal Definitions - interpellate

Interpellate (verb)

To interpellate means to formally interrupt someone, typically with a question, within a legal or legislative context. This term has two primary applications:

• When a judge interrupts a lawyer's argument or presentation in court to ask a clarifying question.
• When a legislator formally challenges or questions a government minister's policy or actions, often requiring an immediate response and potentially disrupting the legislative agenda. This usage is particularly common in parliamentary systems found in countries like France, Italy, or Germany.

The act of interpellation is intended to seek immediate clarification, accountability, or to challenge a presented point.

Interpellation (noun)

The act or instance of interpellating.

Examples:

Example 1: Judicial Clarification

During a complex patent infringement trial, the plaintiff's attorney was explaining intricate technical details of a device. The judge, needing to fully grasp a specific design feature being discussed, interpellated the attorney, asking, "Counsel, could you please clarify how this particular component interacts with the primary circuit board?"

This example illustrates the first meaning of interpellate because the judge directly interrupted the lawyer's ongoing argument with a question to gain immediate clarity on a crucial technical point, ensuring the court fully understood the evidence.

Example 2: Legislative Accountability

In the French National Assembly, a deputy formally initiated an interpellation regarding the Minister of Education's recent policy changes concerning university admissions. The deputy demanded an immediate explanation and justification for the new criteria, effectively pausing other legislative business to hold the minister accountable for their department's decisions.

Here, the term interpellation refers to the legislator's formal act of challenging a government minister's policy. By doing so, the deputy interrupted the usual legislative proceedings to demand a public explanation and defense from the minister, highlighting the accountability aspect of this parliamentary procedure.