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. Rick Wayne (Author)12 April 2018 at 21:41

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deryk Robosson12 April 2018 at 21:48

    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?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rob Masters12 April 2018 at 21:56

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stephen Gunnell13 April 2018 at 09:38

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rob Masters13 April 2018 at 09:45

    Stephen Gunnell also a very good possible explanation. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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