Legal Term Dictionary

A name sometimes given to text-books containing the elementary principles of jurisprudence, arranged in an orderly and systematic manner. For example, the Institutes of Justinian, of Galus, of Lord Coke. -Institutes of Gains. An elementary work of the Roman jurist Gains; important as having formed the foundation of the Institutes More...

A name sometimes given to text-books containing the elementary principles of jurisprudence, arranged in an orderly and systematic manner. For example, the Institutes of Justinian, of Galus, of Lord Coke. -Institutes of Gains. An elementary work of the Roman jurist Gains; important as having formed the foundation of the Institutes of Justinian, (g. vr) These Institutes were discovered by Niebuhr in 1816, in a codex reacrip-tus of the library of the cathedral chapter at Verona, and were first published at Berlin in 1820. Two editions have since appeared. Mackeld. Rom. Law, ? 54.-Institutes of Justinian. One of the four component parts or principal divisions of the Corpus Juri Civ-'His, being an elementary treatfee on the Roman law, in four books. This work was compiled from earlier sources, (resting principally on the Institutes of Gaius.) by a commission composed of Tribonian and two others, by command and under direction of the emperor Justinian, and was first published November 21, A. D. 533.-Institutes of Lord Coke, The name of four volumes by Lord Coke, published A. D. 1628. The first is an extensive comment upon a treatise on tenures, compiled by Littleton, a ndge of the common pleas, temp. I'M ward V. This comment is a rich mine of valuable common-law learning, collected and heaped together from the ancient reports and Year Books, but greatly defective in method. It is usually cited by the name of "Co. Litt.," or aa "1 Inst." The second volume is a comment upon old acts of parliament, without systematic order: the third a more methodical treatise on the pleas of the crown; and the fourth an account of the several species of courts. These are cited as 2, 3, or 4 "Inst.," without any author's name. Wharton. Less...

Lat. In Roman law. The appointment of the hwres in the will. It corresponds very nearly to the nomination of an executor in English law. Without such an appointment the will was void at law, but the prwtor (i.e., equity) would, under certain circumstances, carry out the intentions of the More...

Lat. In Roman law. The appointment of the hwres in the will. It corresponds very nearly to the nomination of an executor in English law. Without such an appointment the will was void at law, but the prwtor (i.e., equity) would, under certain circumstances, carry out the intentions of the testator. Brown. Less...

The commencement or Inauguration of anything. The first establishment of a law, rule, rite, etc. Any custom, system, organization, etc., firmly established. An elementary rule or principle. In praetiee. The commencement of an action or prosecution; as, A. B. has instituted a suit against C. D. to recover damages for More...

The commencement or Inauguration of anything. The first establishment of a law, rule, rite, etc. Any custom, system, organization, etc., firmly established. An elementary rule or principle. In praetiee. The commencement of an action or prosecution; as, A. B. has instituted a suit against C. D. to recover damages for trespass. In political law. A law, rite, or ceremony enjoined by authority as a permanent rule of conduct or of government Webster. A system or body of usages, laws, or regulations, of extensive and recurring operation, containing within itself an organism by which it effects its own lndei>eudent action, continuance, and generally its own further development. Its object is to generate, effect regulate, or sanction a succession of acts, transactions, or productions of a peculiar kind or class. We are likewise in the habit of calling single laws or usages "institutions ," if their operation is of vital Importance and vast scope, and if their continuance is in a high degree independent of any interfering power. Lieb. Civil Lib. 300. In corporation law. An organization or foundation, for the exercise of some public purpose or function; as an asylum or a university. By the term "institution" in this sense is to be understood an establishment or organization which is permanent in its nature, as distinguished from an enterprise or undertaking which is transient and temporary. Humphries v. Little Sisters of the Poor, 29 Ohio St 206; Indianapolis v. Stur-devant 24 Ind. 391. In ecclesiastical law. A kind of investiture of the spiritual part of the benefice, as' Induction is of the temporal; for by institution the care of the souls of the parish Is committed to the charge of the clerk. Brown. In the civil law. The designation by a testator of a person to be his heir. In jurisprudence. The plural form of this word ("Institutions") is sometimes used as the equivalent of "institutes," to denote an elementary text-book of the law. Less...

Lat. Works containing the elements of any science; institutions or institutes. One of Justinian's principal law collections, and a similar work of the Roman jurist Gaius, are so entitled. See INSTITUTES.

Lat. Works containing the elements of any science; institutions or institutes. One of Justinian's principal law collections, and a similar work of the Roman jurist Gaius, are so entitled. See INSTITUTES. Less...

To convey information as a client to an attorney, or as an attorney to a counsel; to authorize one to appear as advocate ; to give a case In charge to the jury.

To convey information as a client to an attorney, or as an attorney to a counsel; to authorize one to appear as advocate ; to give a case In charge to the jury. Less...

In French criminal law. The first process of a criminal prosecution. It includes the examination of the accused, the preliminary interrogation of witnesses, collateral investigations, the gathering of evidence, the reduction of the whole to order, and the preparation of a document containing a detailed statement: of the case, to More...

In French criminal law. The first process of a criminal prosecution. It includes the examination of the accused, the preliminary interrogation of witnesses, collateral investigations, the gathering of evidence, the reduction of the whole to order, and the preparation of a document containing a detailed statement: of the case, to serve as a brief for the prosecuting officers, and to furnish material for the indictment -Juges d'instruction. In French law. Officers subject to the prooureur imperial or general, who receive in cases of criminal offenses the complaints of the parties injured, and who summon and examine witnesses upon oath, and, after communication with the prooureur imperial, draw up the forms of accusation. They have also the right, subject to the approval of the same superior officer, to admit the accused to bail. They are appointed for three years, but are re-eligible for a further period of office. They are usually chosen from among the regular judges. Brown. In common law. Order given by a principal to his agent in relation to the business of his agency. In practice. A detailed statement of the facts and circumstances constituting a cause of action made by a client to his attorney for the purpose of enabling the latter to draw a proper declaration or procure it to be done by a pleader. In trial praotiee. A direction given by the judge to the jury concerning the law of the case; a statement made by the judge to the jury Informing them of the law applicable to the case In general or some aspect of it; an exposition of the rules or principles of law applicable to the case or some branch or phase of it which the jury are bound to accept and apply. Lehman v. Hawks, 121 Ind. 541, 23 N. E. 670; Boggs v. U. S., 10 Okl. 424, 63 Pac. 969; Lawler v. McPheeters, 73 Ind. 579. -Peremptory instruction. An instruction given by a court to a jury which the latter must obey implicitly; as an instruction to return a verdict for the defendant, or for the" plaintiff, as the case may be. Less...

A written document; a formal or legal document in writing, such as a contract, deed, will, bond, or lease. State v. Phillips, 157 Ind. 4S1, 62 N. E. 12; Cardenas v. Miller, 108 Cal. 250, 39 Pac 788, 49 Am. St Rep. 84; Benson v. McMahon* 127 U. S. 457, More...

A written document; a formal or legal document in writing, such as a contract, deed, will, bond, or lease. State v. Phillips, 157 Ind. 4S1, 62 N. E. 12; Cardenas v. Miller, 108 Cal. 250, 39 Pac 788, 49 Am. St Rep. 84; Benson v. McMahon* 127 U. S. 457, 8 Sup. Ct 1240, 32 L. aid. 234J AbbUt v. Campbell, 69 Neb. 371, 06 N. W. 692. In tbe law of evidence. Anything which may be presented as evidence to the senses of the adjudicating tribunal. The term "instruments of evidence" includes not merely documents, but witnesses and living things which may be presented for inspection. 1 Whart. Ev. f 615. -Instrument of appeal. The document by which an appeal is brought in an English matrimonial cause from the president of the probate, divorce, and admiralty division to the full court. It is analogous to a petition. Browne, Div. 322.-Instrument of evidenoe. Instruments of evidence are the media through which the evidence of facts, either disputed or required to be proved, is conveyed to the mind of a judicial tribunal: and they comprise persons, as well as writings. Best, Ev. ? 123. -instrument of saisine. An instrument in Scotland by which the delivery of "saisine" (i. e., seisin, or the feudal possession of land) is attested. It is subscribed by a notary, in the presence of witnesses, and is executed in pursuance of a "precept of saisine," whereby the "grantor of the deed" desires "any notary public to whom these presents may be presented" to give saisine to the intended grantee or grantees. It must be entered and recorded in the registers of saisines. Mozley & Whitley. Less...

Lat. That kind of evidence which consists of writings not under seal; as court-rolls, accounts, and the like. 3 Co. Litt 487.

Lat. That kind of evidence which consists of writings not under seal; as court-rolls, accounts, and the like. 3 Co. Litt 487. Less...

A quantity of corn paid by those who are thirled to a mill. See THIRLAGE.

A quantity of corn paid by those who are thirled to a mill. See THIRLAGE. Less...

In equity pleading. The legal Inadequacy of an answer in equity which does not fully and specifically reply to some one or more of the material allegations, charges, or interrogatories set forth in the bill. White v. Joy, 13 N. Y. 89; Houghton v. Townsend, 8 How. Prac. (N. Y.) More...

In equity pleading. The legal Inadequacy of an answer in equity which does not fully and specifically reply to some one or more of the material allegations, charges, or interrogatories set forth in the bill. White v. Joy, 13 N. Y. 89; Houghton v. Townsend, 8 How. Prac. (N. Y.) 446; Hill v. Fair Haven & W. R. Co., 75 Conn. 177, 52 AtL 725. Less...