A Dictionary of Law

TENANTS IN. See Ten- ANTS 1N CoMMON.

Entitled to common. Commonable beasts are either beasts of the plow, as horses and oxen, or such as manure the land, as kine and sheep. Deasts not commonable are swine, goats, and

In old decds. The right of common. See COMMON.

In English law. The great body of citizens; the mass of the — people, excluding the nobility. SS In American law. The body of people composing a municipal corporation, exclud- Ing

The commoners, or tenants and inhabitants, who have the right of common or commoning in open field. Cowell. ee

A right annexed to the possession of arable land, by which the owner is entitled to feed his beasts on the lands of another, usually of the owner of the manor of which the lands en

Aright of feeding one’s beasts on the jand of another, (in common with the owner or with others,) which is founded on a grant, or a prescription which supposes a grant. 1 tenure, a

The seyeral modes or instruments of conveyance ess tablished or authorized by the law of England. Called “common” because thereby every man’s estate is assured to him, 2 Bh. Comm.

In practice. The form of entering merely fictitious bail, in cases where special bail is not required. A species of bail intended only to express the appearance of a defendant.

Inpleading. (Otherwise called “blank bar.”) A plea to compel the plaintiff to assign the particular place where the trespass has been committed. Steph. Pl. 256.

In criminal law. One who frequently excites and stirs up groundless suits and quarrels, either at law or otherwise. COMMON BECAUSE OF VICI- NAGE is where the inhabitants of two tow

Tlie English court of common pleas was formerly so called. Its original tille appears to have been simply “The Bench,” but it was designated “Common Bench” to distinguish it from t

In old English law. A place where all alike were entitied to hunt wild animais.

In American law. The lower or more numerous braneh of the legislative assembly of a city. In English law. The councillors of the city of London. The parliament, also, was anciently

Certain general counts or forins inserted in a declaration in an action to recover a money debt, not founded on the circumstances of the individual case, bub intended to guard agai

In old English practice, An ordinary day in court. Cowell; Termes de la Ley. several creditors. Ir regard to these credit ors, he is their common dcebtor, and by this term is disti

(Lat. communis error, g. 0.) An error for which there are many precedents. “Common error goeth for alaw.” Finch, Law, b. 1, ec. 3, no. 54.

In English law. Persons having a right of common. So called because they have a right to pasture on the waste, in common with the lord. 2H. BL. 389.

in old English law, A certain sum of money which the residents in a leet paid to the lord of the leet, otherwise called “head silver,” “cert money,” (gq. v.,) or “cerlum dete.” Ter

A will is said te F be proved in common form when the executor proves it on his own oath; as distinguished from “proof by witnesses,” which is necessary when the paper propounded a

A court in the city of London, at which all the citizens, or such as are free of the city, have a right te uttend. H

By this term is meant a road to be used by the community at large for any purpose of transit or tratiic. Ham. N. P. 289.

A common L prosecutor, A person who habitually ferrets out crimes and offenses and lays iniorruation thereof before the ministers of justice, in order to set a prosecution on foot,

OR Al

The natural and usual sense; the common meaning or understanding; the plain meaning of any writing as apparent on its face without straining or distorting the construction.

The natural sense given to words.

In practice. The ordinary kind of jury by which issues of fact are generally tried, as distinguished from a special jury, (q. v.) COMMON LAW. 1. As distinguished from the Roman law

Three acts of parliament, passed in the years 1852, 1854, and 1860, respectively, for the amendment of the procedure in the common. law courts. The common-law procedure act of 1852

A lawyer learned In in the common law. cURL COMMON LEARNING. Familiarlaw nnREERE or doctrine. Dyer, 278, 33, ra nnn COMMON NUISANCE. One which nnn affects the public in general, an

Commonof digging, or common in the soil, is the right to take for one’s own use part of the soil or a_i minerals in another’s Jand; the most usual subjects of the right are sand, g

A liberty of taking necessary woud for the use or furniture of a house or farm from off another's estate, in common with the owner or with others. 2Bl.Comm.35. It may be claimed, l

In some parts of the country a right of taking wild animals (such as conies or wildfowl) from the jand of another hus been found to exist; in the case of wildfewl, it is called a “

The right or liberty of pasturing one’s cattle upon another man’s land. It may be either appendant, appurtenant, in gross, or because ee of vicinage. ee COMMON OF PISCARY, or FISH-

A species of eommon by vicinage prevailing in the counties of Norfelk, Lincoln, and Yorkshire, in Enzland; being the right of persons occupying Jands lying together in the same com

Common of turbary, in its modern sense, is the right of taking peat or turf from the waste land of another, for fuel in the commoner’s house. Williams, Common, 187. Common opinion

Common pleas. Phe English court of common pleas is somelimes so called in the old books,

The rame of a gout of record having general original jurisdiction in civil suils. Common causes or suits, A term ancientiy used to denote civil actions, or those depending between

THE COURT OF. In English law. (So called because its original jurisdiction was to determine controversies between subject and subject.) One of the three superior courts of common l

The liturgy, or public form of prayer prescribed by the Church of England to be nsed in all churches and chapels, and which the clergy are enjoined to use under a certain penalty.

1. The class of subjects in Great Britain exclusive of the royal family and the nobility. They are represented in ee parliament by the house of commons, 2. Partof the denesneland o

Common without number, that is, without lmit ag to the number of cattle which may be turned on; otherwise called “common without stint.” Bract. fols. 535, 2226; 2 Steph. Comm. 6, 7

Schools maintained ab the public expense and administered by a bureau of the state, district, or municipal government, for the gratuitous aducation of the children of all citizens

One who, by the practice of frequent scolding, disturbs the neighborhood. Bish. Crim. Law, § 147. A quarrelsome, brawling, vituperative person,

Sound practical judgment; that degree of intelligence and reason, as exercised upon the relations of persons and things and the ordinary affairs of life, which is possessed by the

A jedicial officer attached to the corporation of the city of London, who assists the recorder in disposing of the criminal business at the Old Bailey sessions, or central criminal

In Scotch law. Land possessed in common by different proprietors, or by those having acquired rights of servitude. Bell.

The public or common good or welfare.

The public or common weal or welfare. This cannot be regarded as a teclinical term of public law, though often used in political science. It generally designates, when so employed,

In common recuveries, the person who is vouched to warranty. In this fictitious proceeding the crier of the court usually performs the office

The dwelling in any place as an inhabitant; which consists in usually lying there. 4 Bl. Comm. 273. In American law it is used to denote a mere temporary residence. 19 Pick. 247, 2

Staying or abiding; dwelling temporarily in a place,

Several persons who perish at the same time in consequence of the same calamity.

or COMORTH. A con. tribution which was gathered at marriages, and when young priests said or sung the first masses. Prohibited by 26 Hen. VIII. ec. 6, Cowell.

Half a cantred or hundred in Wales, containing fifty villages. Also 4 great seignory or lordship, and may include one or divers manors. Co. Litt. 5.

A self-governing town 01 village. The name given to the committee of the people in the French revolution of 1793; and again, in the revolutionary uprising of 1871, it signified the

The common council of the realm. One of the names of the English parliament.

‘The common place of justice. The seat of the principal courts, especially those that are fixed.

In old En-

A common or mutual bond. Applied to the common stock of consanguinity, and to the feodal bond of fealty, as the common bond of union between lord and tenant. 2 Bl. Comm. 250; 3 Bl.

Inold Englishlaw, Common things, res communes. Such asrunning water, the air, the sea, and seashores. LBract. fol. 7b.

In old English law. ‘Common pleas or actions; those bebween one subject and another, as distinguished from pleas of the crown. COMMUNIA PLACITA NON TEN-

In ordinary years; on the annual average.

Information given; the sharing of knowledge by one with another; conference; consultation or bargaining preparatory to making a contract. Ajso intercourse; connection. In French la

In English law. An obsolete writ which anciently lay for the lord, whose tenant, holding by knight’a service, died, and left his eldest son under age, against a stranger that enter

Inthecivil law. An action which lies for those who have property in common, to procure a divisjun. Lt lies where parties hold land in commun but not in partnership. Calvin.

In Seotch law. The negotiations preliminary to the entering inte a contract.

In Seotch law. The right enjoyed by married persons in the movable goods belonging to them. Bell. Communis error facit jus. Common error makes law. 4 Inst. 240; Noy, Max. p. 37, ma

In feudal law on the continent of Europe, this name was given to towns enfranchised by the crown, about the twelfth century, and formed into free corporations by grants called “cha

A name given to proposed systems of life or social organization based upon the fundamental principle of the non-existence of private property and of a community of goods in a socie

Common opinion; general professional opinion. According to Lord Coke, (who places it on the footing of observance or usage,) common opinion is good authority in law. Co. Litt. 186a

In the civil law. A common or party wall. Dig. 8, 2, 8, 13.

In old English law. A common scold, (g.v.) 4 BI. Comm. 168.

A common stock of descent; a common ancestur,

The general assembly of the kingdom of England. One of the ancient names of the English parliament. 1 Bl Comm, 148,

Community property is property acquired by husband and wife, or either, during marriage, when not acquired as the separate property of either. Civil Code Cal. § 687. This partnersh

Signifies the conversion of tithes into a fixed payment in money.

In the civil law. One in which each of the contracting parties gives and receives an equivalent. Commutative contracts are those in which what is done, given, or promised by one pa

An agreement or contract. Usually applied to conventions between nations or sovereign states. A compact is a mutual consent of parties concerned respecting some property or right t

AIl kinds of food, except bread and drink. Spelman. COMPANIES CLAUSES CONSOLI-

One of the knights of the Order of the Garter,

In French law. A general term, comprehending all persons who compose the crew of a ship or vessel. Poth, Mar. Cont. no, 163.

A society or association of persons, in considerable number, interested in a common object, and uniting themselves for the prosecution of some commercial or industrial undertaking,

Inthe civillaw. Comparison of writings, or Landwiitings. A mode of poof allowed in certain cases.

That doctrine in the law of negligence by which the negligence of the parties is compared, in the degrees of “slight,” “ordinary,” and “gross” negligence, and a recovery permitted,

Lelonging to com-

THE MARINER’S. An instrument used by mariners to point out the course of ashipatsea. It consists of a magnetized steel bar called the “ needle,” attached to the under side of a car

Imagining or contriving, or plotting.

In the canon law. <A kind of spiritual relationship contracted by baptism.

Spiritual affinity, contracted by sponsorship in baptism.

Such relation and consistency between the duties of two offices that they may be held and filled by one person.

In S8cotch law. To appear.

In Scotch practice. Appearance; an appearance made for a defendant; an appearance by counsel. Bell.

An adversary or accuser. Compendia sunt dispendia. Co. Litt. 305. Abbreviations are detriments.

Ano abridgment, synopsis, or digest.

In Spanish law. Compensation; set-off. The extinction of a debt by another debt of equal dignity.

In the civil law. Compensation, or set-off. A proceeding resembling a set-off in the common law, being a claim on the part of the defendant to have an amount due to him from the pl

(Set-off of crime or guilt.) Inpractice. ‘The plea of recrimination in a suit for a divorce; that is, that the complainant is guilty of the same kind of offense with which the resp

indemnificatien; payment of damages; making amends; that which is necessary to restore an injured party to his former position. Anact which a court orders to be done, or money whic

In the Roman law. The adjournment of a cause, in order to hear the parties or their advocates a second time; a second hearing of the parties to acause. Calvin.

In the civil law. A judicial inquest made by delegates or commissioners to find out and relate the truth of a cause.