Caption

Dictionary: 
Black's Law Dictionary: 2nd Edition

In practice. That part of a legal instrument, as a commission, indictment, etc., which shows where, when, and by what authority it is taken, found or executed. State v. Sutton, 5 N. C. 281; U. S. v. Beebe, 2 Dak. 292, 11 N. W. 505; State v. Jones, 9 N. J. Law, 365, 17 Am. Dec. 483. When used with reference to an indictment, caption signifies the style or preamble or commencement of the indictment; when used with reference to a commission, it signifies the certificate to .which the commissioners' names are subscribed, declaring when and where it was executed. Brown. The caption of a pleading, deposition, or other paper connected with a case in court, is the heading or introductory clause which shows the names of the parties, name of the court, number of the case on the docket or calendar, etc. Also signifies a taking, seizure, or arrest of a person. 2 Salk. 498. The word in this sense Is now obsolete in English law. In Scotch law. Caption is an order to incarcerate a debtor who has disobeyed an order, given to him by what are called "letters of horning," to pay a debt or to perform some act enjoined thereby. Bell.

Author: 
Henry Campbell Black, M.A.
Publisher: 
West Publishing Company
Year Published: 
1910
Genre: 
Law Dictionary