Legal recourse

A legal recourse is an action that can be taken by an individual or a corporation to attempt to remedy a legal difficulty.


 * A lawsuit if the issue is a matter of civil law
 * Contracts that require mediation or arbitration before a dispute can go to court
 * Referral to police or prosecutor for investigation and possible criminal charges if the matter is a criminal violation
 * Petition to a legislature or other law-making body for a change in the law if a law is thought to be unjust.
 * Petition to a president or governor or monarch other chief executive or other official with power to pardon.

Legal principles

 * Habeas corpus
 * Damnum absque injuria, loss without injury
 * Arm's length principle
 * Sovereign immunity. The immunity of state officials or state entities to torts with respect to its subjects.

Examples

 * Arranged marriages may leave the woman without legal recourse.
 * Bookies and confidence tricksters to block legal recourse.
 * Victims of bullying may have legal recourse in the United States.
 * The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 purportedly leaves consumer groups without legal recourse.
 * Diploma mills and essay mills employ various legal techniques to leave their customers without legal recourse.
 * In termination of employment, an employee may have legal recourse to challenge such a termination in at-will presumption of employment in the United States.
 * Victims of joke theft have little legal recourse, but have occasionally exacted their own vengeance.
 * Lynchings
 * Military tribunal
 * Rumsfeld v. Padilla