a·mi·cus cu·ri·ae

(ə-mē′kəs kyo͝or′ē-ī′)

n. pl. a·mi·ci curiae (ə-mē′kē)

A party that is not involved in a particular litigation but that is allowed by the court to advise it on a matter of law or policy directly affecting the litigation.

[Latin amīcus cūriae : amīcus, friend + cūriae, genitive of cūria, court.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

amicus curiae

(æˈmiːkʊs ˈkjʊərɪˌiː)

n, pl amici curiae (æˈmiːkaɪ)

(Law) law a person not directly engaged in a case who advises the court

[Latin, literally: friend of the court]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•mi•cus cu•ri•ae

(əˈmaɪ kəs ˈkyʊər iˌi, əˈmi kəsˈkyʊər iˌaɪ)

n., pl. a•mi•ci cu•ri•ae (əˈmaɪ kaɪ ˈkyʊər iˌi, əˈmi ki ˈkyʊər iˌaɪ)

a person, not a party to the litigation, who advises the court on some matter before it.

[1605–15; < New Latin: friend of the court]

amicus curiae

A Latin phrase meaning friend of the court, used to mean a person who advises a court but is not involved in the particular litigation.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

amicus curiae - an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case; usually someone who wants to influence the outcome of a lawsuit involving matters of wide public interest

friend of the court

law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"

adviser, advisor, consultant - an expert who gives advice; "an adviser helped students select their courses"; "the United States sent military advisors to Guatemala"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Bar, with his little insinuating jury droop, and fingering his persuasive double eye-glass, hoped he might be excused if he mentioned to one of the greatest converters of the root of all evil into the root of all good, who had for a long time reflected a shining lustre on the annals even of our commercial country--if he mentioned, disinterestedly, and as, what we lawyers called in our pedantic way, amicus curiae, a fact that had come by accident within his knowledge.

View in context

Pickwick, my dear Sir, excuse me-- I shall be happy to receive any private suggestions of yours, as AMICUS CURIAE, but you must see the impropriety of your interfering with my conduct in this case, with such an AD CAPTANDUM argument as the offer of half a guinea.

View in context

However, the apex court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Amicus Curiae Ranjeet Kumar to visit Jagannath Temple and inquire into the situation of the unauthorised eviction drive conducted jointly by the temple administration and the state government around the temple.

SC dismisses petitions seeking stay on demolition drive against unauthorised constructions around Puri's Jagannath temple

IANS Kochi In a setback to the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan government, a report submitted by an amicus curiae to the Kerala High Court on Wednesday recommended a judicial probe into the cause of the worst ever floods to hit the state in August last year after it found that faulty dam management led to the flooding.

Amicus curiae proposes judicial probe into Kerala floods

An Amicus Curiae is a person who may not have been hired by a party in the case but is considered impartial to offer advice or information in a case.

Court Adjourns Dasuki's Trial Till April 11

3, 2019, Tammy Belinsky and Daniel Breslau, on behalf of themselves and all known and unknown persons who are consulting with, providing counsel to and/or supporting Tree-Sitters 1 and 2, filed a motion for leave to participate in this action and file an amicus curiae brief in opposition to Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC's motion for a preliminary injunction against the Tree-Sitters.

Amicus briefs OK in support of 'tree sitters'

The IADC amicus curiae program has been active in recent months.

IADC Amicus Briefs

The SHC bench had earlier reserved its judgment after hearing the concluding arguments from the petitioner, Sindh government as well as amicus curiae to assist the court.

SHC orders formation of JIT to probe May 12 carnage

A two-judge bench, comprising Justices Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, also directed the amicus curiae to appear on the next date and adjourned the hearing till Aug 13.

Law officers told to argue on proposal to set up judicial commission on May 12 mayhem

ISLAMABAD -- Supreme Court of Pakistan has sought report from the Federal government and the National Accountability Bureau on 'memo gate' in the light of report submitted by 'amicus curiae' Aamir Bilal Soofi, a senior advocate on Thursday.

Apex Court seeks report from govt, NAB on Memo gate

Supreme Court around once each decade, and in each instance American Jewish communal organizations have weighed in by submitting amicus curiae, or friend of the court, briefs in favor of either the petitioner or the defendant.

The American Jewish Affirmative Action About-Face