Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📄 Legal request 📄 Formal request 🙏 Prayer day
rogatory

rogatory

9.9
Relating to a formal request from one court to another for legal help
  • adjective
  • /ˈrɒɡəˌtɔːri/
  • Formal
translation icon : rogatorio
  • The judge sent a rogatory request to a foreign court to gather crucial evidence.

Examples

  • International cases often require rogatory letters to obtain testimony from witnesses abroad.

  • A rogatory commission was established to facilitate cooperation between the two legal systems.

  • The judge issued a rogatory request for evidence.

  • A rogatory letter was sent to the foreign court.

  • The court issued a rogatory request for evidence from the foreign government.

  • She prepared a rogatory letter to seek assistance from the neighboring jurisdiction.

  • After reviewing the case, the judge decided to send out a rogatory communication for further investigation.

Surface Forms

rogatory positive

Morphology

rogatory = rogation (opaque) = rogat + ory

The suffix '-ory' is used to form adjectives, but the connection to 'rogation' is not transparent to most learners.

Etymology

The word rogatory comes from the Latin rogare 'to ask', the same root as interrogate ('to question'). So rogatory describes a formal 'asking', especially when one court asks another for legal help.