Juridical

Juridical is an adjective meaning relating to or concerned with the law or the administration of justice; the term arises from Latin iuridicus (from ius, law, and the suffix -icus). In English, juridical is occasionally used interchangeably with legal, but it often appears in academic, civil-law contexts or in expressions such as juridical act, juridical person, and juridical science.

A juridical person refers to entities that have legal rights and duties independent of their members, such as corporations or governments, contrasted with natural persons. A juridical act is a declaration or action recognized by law as creating, modifying, or extinguishing rights and obligations. Juridical science or jurisprudence is the study concerning the nature of law, its sources, and its practical application.

In international and comparative law, juridical concepts may be used to emphasize normative structures of law rather than social or moral aspects. The term is less common in everyday American English, where legal is preferred, but it remains widespread in continental European legal literature.