Legal Definitions - jocus partitus

Jocus partitus refers to a historical legal concept describing a private agreement, essentially a wager or bet, made between the parties involved in a lawsuit concerning the eventual outcome of their own court case. It was a form of gambling directly tied to the judgment or specific findings within a legal dispute.

Here are some examples illustrating jocus partitus:

• Imagine two medieval lords, Lord Blackwood and Lord Ironoak, are engaged in a lengthy court battle over the ownership of a disputed forest. Frustrated by the slow legal process, they privately agree that whoever loses the lawsuit will not only forfeit the forest but also pay the winner an additional 500 silver pieces out of their personal treasury. This side agreement, contingent on the court's judgment, would be considered a jocus partitus.

  This illustrates the term because it's a private gambling arrangement made by the direct parties (Lord Blackwood and Lord Ironoak) involved in a lawsuit, with the outcome of their legal dispute determining who wins the wager.

• Consider a dispute in a colonial-era port city where a ship captain, Captain Sterling, is suing a merchant, Mr. Thorne, for breach of contract regarding a cargo delivery. While the court is deliberating, Captain Sterling and Mr. Thorne decide to make a separate, informal agreement: if the court rules in favor of Captain Sterling, Mr. Thorne will also give him a rare navigational instrument from his personal collection, regardless of the monetary damages awarded by the court. Conversely, if Mr. Thorne wins, Captain Sterling will surrender his prized telescope. This private bet on the lawsuit's outcome is a jocus partitus.

  This example demonstrates jocus partitus as it involves a distinct agreement between the litigants (Captain Sterling and Mr. Thorne) where the stakes (the navigational instrument or telescope) are determined by the judicial decision of their ongoing lawsuit.

• In a historical context, two rival guilds, the Guild of Bakers and the Guild of Millers, are in court over the exclusive rights to supply flour to the city's market. Before the verdict is announced, the masters of both guilds shake hands on a private deal: if the court grants exclusive rights to the Bakers, the Millers will also publicly endorse the Bakers' annual festival for the next three years. If the Millers win, the Bakers will provide free bread to all Miller guild members for a year. This informal pact, dependent on the court's ruling, is an instance of jocus partitus.

  Here, the term applies because the two parties in the lawsuit (the Guild of Bakers and the Guild of Millers) have created a separate arrangement where the "winnings" (public endorsement or free bread) are directly tied to which party prevails in their legal dispute.