Legal Term Dictionary

In English ecclesiastical law. Personal tithes, payable by custom to the parson or vicar of a parish, either occasionally, as at sacraments, marriages, churching of women, burials, etc., or at constant times, as at Easter, Christmas, etc.

In English ecclesiastical law. Personal tithes, payable by custom to the parson or vicar of a parish, either occasionally, as at sacraments, marriages, churching of women, burials, etc., or at constant times, as at Easter, Christmas, etc. Less...

In English ecclesiastical law. The offerings of the faithful, or the place where they are made or kept; the service at the time of the Communion.

In English ecclesiastical law. The offerings of the faithful, or the place where they are made or kept; the service at the time of the Communion. Less...

"Office" is defined to be a right to exercise a public or private employment, and to take the fees and emoluments thereunto belonging, whether public, as those of magistrates, or private, as of bailiffs, receivers, or the like. 2 Bl. Comm. 36. Rowland v. New York, 83 N. Y. 372; More...

"Office" is defined to be a right to exercise a public or private employment, and to take the fees and emoluments thereunto belonging, whether public, as those of magistrates, or private, as of bailiffs, receivers, or the like. 2 Bl. Comm. 36. Rowland v. New York, 83 N. Y. 372; Dailey T. State, 8 Blackf. (Ind.) 330; Blair v. Ma rye, 80 Va. 495; Worthy v. Barrett, 63 N. C 202; People v. Duane, 121 N. Y. 367, 24 N. E. 845; U. S. v. Hartwell, 6 Wall. 393, 18 L. Ed. 830. That function by virtue whereof a person has some employment in the affairs of an* other, whether judicial, ministerial, legisla^ tive, municipal, ecclesiastical, etc. Cowell. An employment on behalf of the government in any station or public trust, not merely transient, occasional, or incidental. In re Attorneys' Oaths, 20 Johns. (N. Y.) 493. The most frequent occasions to use the word arise with reference to a duty and power conferred on an individual by the government: and, when this is tbe connection, "public office is a usual and more discriminating expression. But a power and duty may exist without immediate grant from government, and may be properly called an "office;" as the office of executor, the office of steward. Here the individual acts towards legatees or towards tenants in performance of a duty, and in exercise of a power not derived from their consent, but devolved oa him by an authority which quoad hoo is superior. Abbott. Offices may be classed as civil and military; and civil offices may be classed as political, judicial, and ministerial. Political offices are such as are not connected immediately with the administration of justice, or the execution of the mandates of a superior officer. Judicial are those which relate to the administration of justice. Ministerial are those which give the officer no power to judge of the matter to be done* and require him to obey the mandates of a superior. It is a general rule that a judicial office cannot be exercised by deputy, while a ministerial one may. Waldo v. Wallace, 12 Ind. 569. "Office" is frequently used in the old books as an abbreviation for "inquest of office," (q. v.) -Lucrative office. See LUCRATIVE.-Office-book. Any book for the record of official or other transactions, kept under authority of the state, in public offices not connected with the courts.-Offlee-eopy. A copy or transcript of a deed or record or any filed document made by tbe officer having it in custody or under his sanction, and by him sealed or certified.-Of-Soo found. In English law. Inquest of office found; the finding of certain facts by a jury on an inquest or inquisition of office. 3 Bl. Comm. 258, 259. This phrase has been adopted in American law. 2 Kent, Comm. 61. See Phillips v. Moore, 100 U. S. 212, 25 IA Ed. 603; Baker v. Shy, 9 Heisk. (Tenn.) 89.-Offioo grant. A designation of a conveyance made by some officer of the law to effect certain purposes, where the owner is either unwilling or unable to execute the requisite deeds to pass the title; such, for example, as a tax-deed. 3 Washb. Real Prop. *537.-Offioo Honrs. That portion of the day during which public offices are usually open for the transaction of business. -Offioo of honor. See HONOB.-Office of jndge. A criminal suit in an ecclesiastical court, not being directed to the reparation of a private injury, it regarded as a proceeding emanating from tbe office of the judge, and may be instituted by the mere motion of the judge. But, in practice, these suits are instituted by private individuals, with the permission of the judge or his surrogate; and the private prosecutor in any such case is, accordingly, said to "promote the office of the judge." Mozley & Whitley.-Political office. Civil offices are usually divided into three classes,-political, judicia], and ministerial. Political offices are such as are not immediately connected with the administration of justice, or with the execution of the mandates of a superior, such as the president or the head of a department. Waldo v. Wallace, 12 Ind. 569; Fitzpatrick v. U. S., 7 Ct. Ci. 293.-Principal office. The principal office of a corporation is its headquarters, or the place where the chief or principal affairs and business of the corporation are transacted. Usually it is the office where the company's books are kept, where its meetings of stockholders are held, and where the directors, trustees, or managers assemble to discuss and transact the important genera] business of the company; but no one of these circumstances is a controlling test See Jossey v. Georgia A A. By., 102 Ga. 706. 28 S. E. 273: Milwaukee Steamship Co. v. Milwaukee, 83 Wis. 590, 53 N. W. 839, 18 L. R. A. 353 ; Standard Oil Co. v. Com., 110 Ky. 821. 62 S. W. 897; Middletown Ferry Co. v. Middletown, 40 Conn. 69. As to various particular offices, see LAND OFFICE, PETTY BAG OFFICE, POST OFFICE, etc. OFFICER. The Incumbent of an office; one who is lawfully invested with an office. One who is charged by a superior power (and particularly by government) with the power and duty of exercising certain functions. -Civil officer. Any officer of the United States who holds his appointment under the national government, whether his duties are executive or judicial, in the highest or the lowest departments of the government, with the exception of officers of the army and navy. 1 Story. Const if 792; State v. Clarke. 21 Nev. 333, 31 Pac. 545, 18 L. R. A. 313. 37 Am. St Ren. 517; State v. O'Driscoll, 3 Brev. (S. C.) 527; Com'rs v. Goldsborough, 90 Md. 193, 44 Atl. 1055.- Officer do facto. As distinguished from an officer de jure, this is the designation of one who is in the actual possession and administration of the office, under some colorable or apparent authority, although his title to the same, whether by election or appointment, is In reality invalid or at least formally questioned. See Norton v. Shelby County. 118 U. S. 425, 6 Sup. Ct. 1121, 30 k. Ed. 78; State v. Carroll. 38 Conn. 449. 9 Am. Rep. 409; Trenton v. McDaniel. 52 N. C. 107; Barlow v. Stanford, 82 III. 298: Brown v. Lunt. 37 Me. 423; Gregg Tp. v. Jamison. 55 Pa. 468; Pierce v. Edinffton, 38 Ark. 150; Plymouth v. Painter, 17 Conn. 585, 44 Am. Dec. 574: Prescott v. Hayes, 42 N. H. 56; Jewell v. Gilbert, 64 N. H. 12, 5 Atl. 80, 10 Am. St. Rep. 357: Griffin v. Cunningham, 20 Orat. (Va.) 31; Ex parte Strang. 21 Ohio St. 610.-Officers of jnstioo. A general name applicable to all persons connected with the administration of the judicial department of government, but commonly used only of the class of officers whose duty is to serve the process of the courts, such as sheriffs, constables, bailiffs, marshals, sequestrators, etc. -Pnblic officer. An officer of a public corporation; that Is, one holding office under the government of a municipality, state, or nation, n English law, an officer appointed by a joint-stock banking company, under the statutes regulating such companies, to prosecute and defend suits in its behalf. For definitions of the various classes and kinds of officers, see the titles "Commissioned Officers," "Executive," "Fiscal," "Judicial," "Legislative," "Ministerial," "Municipal," "Non-Commissioned," "Peace," and "State." Offioia jndicialia nom oonoodantnr am* toqnam vacant. 11 Coke, 4. Judicial offices should not be granted before they are vacant Offioia magistratns non debent esse venalia. Co. Litt 234. The offices of magistrates ought not to be sold. Less...

(noun) An officer; a person invested with the authority of an office. In the civil law. The minister or apparitor of a magistrate or judge. In canon law. A person to whom a bishop commits the charge of his spiritual Jurisdiction. In common and statte law. The person whom the More...

(noun) An officer; a person invested with the authority of an office. In the civil law. The minister or apparitor of a magistrate or judge. In canon law. A person to whom a bishop commits the charge of his spiritual Jurisdiction. In common and statte law. The person whom the archdeacon substitutes in the execution of his Jurisdiction. Cowell. Less...

(adj.) Pertaining to an office; invested with the character of an officer; proceeding from, sanctioned by, or done by, an officer. -Demi-offioial. Partly official or authorized. Having color of official right-Official act. One done by an officer in his official capacity under color and by virtue of his office. Turner More...

(adj.) Pertaining to an office; invested with the character of an officer; proceeding from, sanctioned by, or done by, an officer. -Demi-offioial. Partly official or authorized. Having color of official right-Official act. One done by an officer in his official capacity under color and by virtue of his office. Turner v. Sisson, 137 Mass. 192; Lam mon v. Feusire, 111 U. S. 17, 4 Sup. Ct. 286, 28 L. Ed. 337.- Official assignee. In English practice. An assignee in bankruptcy appointed by the lord chancellor to co-operate with the other assignees in administering a bankrupt's estate.-Official managers. Persons formerly appointed, under English statutes now repealed, to superintend the winding up of insolvent companies under the control of the court of chancery. Wharton.' -Offioial misoondnet. Any unlawful be; havior bv a public officer in relation to the duties of his office, willful in its character, including any willful or corrupt failure, refusal, or neglect of an officer to perform any duty enjoined on him by law. Watson v. State. 9 Tex. App. 212; Brackenridge v. State, 27 Tex, Antf. 513, 11 S. W. 630, 4 L. R. A. 360.-Offioial principal. An ecclesiastical officer whose duty Ft is to hear causes between party and party as the delegate of the bishop or archbishop by whom he is appointed. He generally also holds the office of vicar general and (if appointed by a bishop) that of chancellor. The official principal of the province of Canterbury is called the "dean of arches." Phillim. Ecc. Law. 1203. ei seq.; Sweet.-Offioial solicitor to the conrt of chancery. An officer in England whose functions are to protect the suitors* fund, and to administer, under the direction of the court, so much of it as now comes under the spending power of the court. He acts for persons suing or defending in forma pauperis, when so directed by the judge, and for those who. through ignorance or forgetfulness, have been guilty of contempt of court by not obeying process. He also acts generally as solicitor in all cases in which the chancery division requires such services. The office is transferred to the high court by the judicature acts, but no alteration in its name appears to have been made. Sweet-Official trustee of charity lands. The secretary of the English charity commissioners. He is a corporation sole for the purpose of taking and holding real property and leasefiblds upon trust for an endowed charity in cases where it appears to the court desirable to vest them in him. He is a bare trustee, the possession and management of the land remaining in the persons acting- in the administration of the charity. Sweet. As to official "Bonds," "Liquidator," "Log-Book," "Newspaper," "Oath," and "Use," see those titles. Less...

* The court or Jurisdiction of which an official is head.

* The court or Jurisdiction of which an official is head. Less...

A writ addressed to the magistrates of a corporation, requiring them not to make such a man an officer, or to put one out of the office he has, until inquiry is made of his manners, etc. Reg. Orig. 126.

A writ addressed to the magistrates of a corporation, requiring them not to make such a man an officer, or to put one out of the office he has, until inquiry is made of his manners, etc. Reg. Orig. 126. Less...

The workshop or office of Justice. The chancery was formerly so called. See 3 Bl. Comm. 273; Yates v. People, 6 Johns. (N. Y.) 363.

The workshop or office of Justice. The chancery was formerly so called. See 3 Bl. Comm. 273; Yates v. People, 6 Johns. (N. Y.) 363. Less...

An oath whereby a person may be obliged to make any presentment of any crime or offense, or to confess or accuse himself of any criminal matter or thing whereby he may be liable to any censure, penalty, on punishment 3 Bl. Comm. 447.

An oath whereby a person may be obliged to make any presentment of any crime or offense, or to confess or accuse himself of any criminal matter or thing whereby he may be liable to any censure, penalty, on punishment 3 Bl. Comm. 447. Less...

A testament by which a testator leaves his property to his family. Sandars, Just. Inst. 207. See INOFFICIOUS TESTAMENT. Offioit oonatns si cffeotns sequatur. The attempt becomes of consequence, if the effect follows. Jenk. Cent. 55. Officium nemini debet esse damnosnm. Office ought not to be an occasion of loss More...

A testament by which a testator leaves his property to his family. Sandars, Just. Inst. 207. See INOFFICIOUS TESTAMENT. Offioit oonatns si cffeotns sequatur. The attempt becomes of consequence, if the effect follows. Jenk. Cent. 55. Officium nemini debet esse damnosnm. Office ought not to be an occasion of loss to any one. A maxim in Scotch law. Bell. Less...