Question for legally trained types out there - and no, I'm not after advice!

Question for legally trained types out there - and no, I'm not after advice!

Why is it "Contempt of Court", when I would have expected "Contempt for (the) Court" to be more grammatically correct?

Inquiring minds, don't want to look it up, etc, etc...

Comments

  1. I'm not a lawyer, but it's presumably for the same reason "I'm taking him to court!" means you're suing him while "I'm taking him to the court" implies you're giving him a ride.

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  2. From the definition of contempt (noun): the offence of being disobedient to or disrespectful of a court of law and its officers.

    Would what you're positing be a verb or adjective?

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  3. Deryk Robosson OK - I can see that is how it derives in that case. Kind of slightly circular, which is sort of appropriate in some ways. Thanks!

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  4. I'm guessing it is because "court" is a special word. using "the court" might be unacceptable because it might imply "the royal court". Our modern term "court" is a contraction of "a court of law" and if you expand it that way it makes grammatical sense.

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  5. Stephen Gunnell also a very good possible explanation. Thanks!

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