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Glite Dictionary
criminal maintenance

criminal maintenance

9.9
Illegally helping or interfering in someone else's lawsuit to block a fair decision
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : mantenimiento criminal
  • Legal reforms were introduced to reduce cases of criminal maintenance in civil litigation.

Examples

  • The lawyer accused him of criminal maintenance in the case.

  • The court ruled that criminal maintenance had occurred, making the proceedings void.

  • His involvement in the lawsuit was considered criminal maintenance under local statutes.

  • Is criminal maintenance really a serious offense?

  • The lawyer was disbarred for engaging in criminal maintenance by trying to influence a case he was not involved in.

  • The judge dismissed the lawsuit, stating it was a clear case of criminal maintenance without any legitimate interest.

  • Witnesses testified that the defendant's actions constituted criminal maintenance aimed at obstructing the court's proceedings.

Synonyms

maintenance
vscriminal maintenance
  • UK
1 9.9

Giving help or money to support a lawsuit when you have no personal interest

emphasizes an intent to obstruct justice rather than only promoting useless litigation

Surface Forms

criminal maintenance singular
criminal maintenances plural

Morphology

criminal + maintenance

The noun 'maintenance' here has a specialised legal sense (supporting or encouraging litigation) rather than the everyday sense of 'upkeep', but if a learner knows that legal sense then combining it with 'criminal' yields a predictable meaning of illegal support/interference in a lawsuit. However the full legal nuance (e.g. involvement by a disinterested third party and intent to obstruct or stir up litigation) is technical and not fully derivable from the constituents, so the phrase is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Criminal maintenance may come from the old idea of maintenance meaning unfair 'support'. Imagine someone who pays or speaks for a stranger to keep a court fight going. That's why the phrase means secretly 'supporting' or 'interfering' in a lawsuit when you have no right to do so, often to harm 'justice'.