legal memory

American  

noun

Law.

1. a period of time, now usually established by statute, during which custom, conduct, or a state of affairs must have existed or continued in order for it to have taken on the force of law or to establish a legal right or title not otherwise provable.

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Etymology

Origin of legal memory

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

The project has been years in the making but the EU first needs to agree on the legal framework underpinning the virtual currency before it is available for use.

From Barron's • Jul. 9, 2026

It is between two competing textualist accounts of how statutory language operates within a comprehensive legal framework.

From Slate • Jun. 26, 2026

But generally, he explained the legal framework that would apply to an arrangement like the one described in the filings.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026

At Sunday's news conference the Justice Minister Yariv Levin told journalists that "work of an enormous and unprecedented scale" had been carried out under his direction to set up the special legal framework.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

The valiant efforts to abolish slavery and Jim Crow and to achieve greater racial equality have brought about significant changes in the legal framework of American society—new “rules of the game,” so to speak.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander