Black's Law Dictionary

The system of measures taken by government with reference to the direct prevention of crime. It generally consiste in obliging those persons whom there ls probable ground to suspec

The name given in England to the coast-guard or armed police, forming a part of the customs service, and employed in the prevention and detection of smuggling. Previous intentions

An adverb of time, used In comparing an act or state named with another act or state, subsequent in order of time, for the purpose of asserting the priority of the first. Lebrecht

In the procedure of parliamentary bodies, moving the "previous question" is a method of avoiding a direct vote on the main subject of discussion. It ls described In May, Pari. Prac

Lat. Aforesaid. Sometimes abbreviated to "prœfat," and "p. fat."

In Roman law. Conquered towns, governed by an officor called a "prefect," who was chosen in some Instances by the people, in others by the prætors. Butl. Hor. Jur. 29.

Lat. In Roman law. The name of an officer who, from the time of Augustus, had the superintendence of the city and its police, with jurisdiction extending one hundred miles from the

Lat In Roman law. The chief officer of the night watch. His jurisdiction extended to certain offenses affecting the public peace, and even to larcenies; but he could inflict only s

The mayor of a town.

The fee paid on suing out the writ of covenant, on levying fines, before the fine was passed. 2 Bl. Comm. 350.

The consideration (usually in money) given for the purchase of a thing. It is true that "price" generally means the sum of money which an article is sold for; but this is simply be

A list or enumeration of various articles of merchandise, with their prices, the duties, if any, payable thereon, when imported or exported, with the drawbacks occasionally allowed

In England, when the yearly list of persons nominated for the office of sheriff ls submitted to the sovereign, he takes a pin, and to insure impartiality, as It is said, lets the p

Where goods intended to be exported are put direct from the station of the warehouse into a ship alongside, the exporter fills up a document to authorise the receiving the goods on

A minister of a church. A person in the 6econd order of the ministry, as distinguished from bishops and deacons.

Lat. At first sight; on the first appearance; on the face of it; se far as can be judged from the first disclosure; presumably. A litigating party is said to have a prima facie cas

Evidence good and sufficient on its face; such evidence as, in the judgment of the law, is sufficient to establish a given fact, or the group or chain of facts constituting the par

In mercantile law. A small allowance or compensation payable to the master and mariners of a ship or vessel; to the former for the use of his cables and ropes to discharge the good

The mother church. 1 Steph. Comm. (7th Ed.) 118.

First; principal; chief; leading. —Primary allegation. The opening pleading in a suit in the ecclesiastical court It is also calied a "primary plea." —Primary disposal of the soil.

The opening pleading in a suit in the ecclesiastical court It is also calied a "primary plea."

Those by means whereof the benefit or estate is created or first arises ; as distinguished from those whereby it may be enlarged, restrained, transferred, or extinguished. The term

In acts of congress admitting territories as states, and providing that no laws shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil, this means the disposal of it by

An election by the voters of a ward, precinct, or other small district, belonging to a particular party, of representatives or delegates to a convention which is to meet and nomina

An obligation which is the principal object of the contract. For example, the primary obligation of the seller is to deliver the thing sold, and to transfer the title to it. It is

The principal authority given by a principal to his agent It differs from "mediate powers." Story, Ag. § 58. As to primary "Conveyance," "Election," "Evidence," and "Obligation," s

A chief ecclesiastic; part of the style and title of an archbishop. Thus, the archbishop of Canterbury is styled "Primate of ali England;" the archbishop of York is "Primate of Eng

The first mowing; a grant of a right to have the first crop of grass. 1 Chit. Pr. 181.

Fr. In French law. The price of the risk assumed by an insurer; premium of insurance. Emerig. Traite des Assur. c. 3, § 1, nn. 1, 2. v. To stand first or paramount to take preceden

A law French word, signifying first; primary. —Primer election. A term used to signify first choice; e. p1., the right of the eldest coparcener to first choose a purpart. —Primer f

A term used to signify first choice; e. p1., the right of the eldest coparcener to first choose a purpart.

On suing out the writ or prœcipe called a "writ of covenant," there was due to the crown, by ancient prerogative, a primer fine, or a noble for every five marks of land sued for. T

In. English law. The right which the king had, when any of his tenants died seised of a night's fee, to receive of the heir, provided he were of full age, one whole year's profits

In English law. The king's first serjeant at law.

In old English law. The first of any degree of men. 1 Mon. Angl. 838.

In English law. First fruits; the first year's whole profits of a spiritual preferment. 1 Bl. Comm. 284.

Lat A writ directing a grant of the first benefico in the sovereign's gift. Cowell.

Co. Litt68. The full meaning of a word should be ascertained at the outset, in order that the sense may not be lost by defect of expression, and that the law be not without reasons

1. The state of being the first-born among several children of the same parents; seniority by birth in the same family. 2. The superior or exclusive right possessed by the eldest s

Lat In old English law. A first-born or eldest son. Bract, fol. 33.

Lat To the one first coming. An executor anciently paid debts as they were presented, whether the assets were sufficient to meet all debts or not. Stim. Law Gloss.

Lat. In the civil law. An Imperial prerogative by which the emperor exercised the right of naming to the first prebend that became vacant after hla accession, in every church of th

Lat. In the canon law. The first decree; a preliminary decree granted on the non-appearance of a defendant, by which the plaintiff was put in possession of hig goods or of the thin

In a general sense, a sovereign; the ruler of a nation or state. More particularly, the son of a king or emperor or the issue of a royal family; as princes of the blood. The chief

The eldest son of the English sovereign. He is the heir-apparent to the crown.

Lat. In the civil law. The prince; the emperor.

12 Coke, 13. The prince and the republic, for a just cause, can take away my property.

The emperor is released from the laws; is not bound by the laws. Dig. 1, 3, 31.

Co. Litt. 69. A prince, in the chances of war, had better employ domestic than stipendiary troops.

In English law. The younger sons and daughters of the sovereign, and other branches of the royal family who are not in the immediate line of succession.

In English law. The eldest daughter of the sovereign. 3 Steph. Comm. 450.

Chief; leading; highest in. rank or degree; most importent or considerable; primary; original; the source of authority or right. In the law relating to real and personal property,

A challenge of a juror for a cause which carries with it, prima fade, evident marks of suspicion either of malice or favor; as that a juror is of kin to either party within the nin

One whose claim or demand very greatly exceeds the claims of all other creditors in amount is sometimes so called. See In re Sullivan's Estate, 25 Wash. 430, 65 Pac. 793.

In the law' of evidence. A fact sought and proposed to be proved by evidence of other facts (termed "evidentiary facts") from which it is to be deduced by inference. A fact which i

Lat Principal; a principal debtor; a principal in a crime.

The principal should always be exhausted before coming upon the sureties. 2 Inst. 19.

That obligation which arises from the principal object of the engagement which has been contracted between the parties. Poth. Obi. no. 182. One to which is appended an accessory or

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 offic

Given principles are followed by their concomitants.

Principles prove; they are not proved. 3 Coke, 50a. Fundamental principles require no proof; or, in Lord Coke's words, "they ought to be approved, because they cannot be proved." I

Withstand beginnings; oppose a thing in its early stages, lf you would do so with success.

There is no reasoning of principles; no argument ls required to prove fundamental rules. 2 Bulst 239.

10 Goke, 49. The principle of anything is its most powerful part.

In patent law, the principle of a machine is the particular means of producing a given resultby a mechanical contrivance, Parker v. Stiles, 5 McLean, 44, 63, Fed. Cas. No. 10,749.

Fundamental truths or doctrines of law; comprehensive rules or doctrines which furnish a basis or origin for others; settled rules of action, procedure or legal determination.

4 Inst. 76. We labored first with vices, now with laws.

The art of impressing letters; the art of making books or papers by impressing legible characters. Arthur v. Moller, 97 U. S. 365, 24 In Ed. 1046; Le Roy . Jamison, 15 Fed. Cos. 37

adj. Earlier; elder; preceding; superior in rank, right or time; as, a prior lien, mortgage or judgment See Fidelity, etc., Safe Deposit Co. v. Roanoke Iron Co. (G C.) 81 Fed. 447.

To the person first applying. In probate practice, where there are several persons equally entitled to a grant of administration, (e. g., next of kin of the same degree,) the rule

A legal preference or precedence. When two persons have similar rights in respect of the same subject-matter, but one is entitled to exercise his right to the exclusion of the othe

He who is first in time is preferred lu right. Co. Litt. 14a; Broom, Max. 354, 358.

An ancient hereditary revenue of the crown, consisting in the right to take a certain quantity from cargoes of wine imported into England. In Edward I.la reign it was converted int

Fr. In French law. Prize; captured property. Ord. Mar. liv. 3, tit. 9. See Dole v. Insurance Ch, 6 Alien (Mass.) 373.

L. Fr. A taking In another place. A pica In abatement in the action of replevin. 2 Ld. Baym. 1016, 1017.

A dividend from the proceeds of a captured vessel, etc., paid to the captors. U. S. v. Steever, 113 In S. 747, 5 Sup. Ch 765, 28 L. Ed. 1133.

A public building for the confinement .or safe custody of persons, whether as a punishment imposed by the law or otherwise In the course of the administration of justice. See Scarb

The limits of the territory surrounding a prison, within which an imprisoned debtor, who is out on bands, may go at will. See Gaol.

The common-law offense of one who, being lawfully in custody, escapes from the place where he is confined, by the employment of force and violence. This offense is to be distinguis

One who Is deprived of his llberty; one who is against his will kept in confinement or custody. A person restrained of his llberty upon any action, civil or criminal, or upon comma

An accused person, while on trial before the court, is so called.

One who has been captured iu war while fighting in the army of the public enemy.

L. Fr. Ready. In the old forms of oral plcading, this term expressed a tender or joinder of issue.

Affecting or belonging to private individuals, as distinct from the public generally. Not official. —Private person. An individual who ls not the incumbent of an office. As to priv

A statute operating only upon particular persons and private concerns, and of which the courts are not bound to take notice. Unity v. Burrage, 103 U. S. 454, 26 L. Ed. 405; Fall Br

An agent acting for an individual in his private affairs; as distinguished from a public agent, who represents the government in some administrative capacity.

An artificial boundary, consisting of some monument or landmark set up by the hand of man to mark the baginning or direction of a boundary line of lands.

Chapela owned by private persons, and used by themselves and their families, are called "private," as opposed to chapels of ease, which are bnilt for the accommodation of particula

A vessel owned, equipped, and armed by one or more private individuals, and duly commissioned by a belligerent power to go on cruises and make war upon the enemy, usually by preyin

An examination or interrogation, by a magistrate, of a married woman who is grantor in a deed or other conveyance, held out of the presence of her husband, for the purpose of ascer

All legislative bills which have for their object some particular or private interest are so termed, as distinguished from such as are for the benefit of the whole community, which

An office of the English parliament where the business of obtaining private acts of parliament is conducted. 6. A solemn and formal legislative declaration of popular rights and li

A grant by a public authority vesting title to public land in a private (natural) person. United Land Ass'n v. Knight, 85 Cai. 448, 24 Pac. 818.

As used in contradistinction to public law, the term means all that part of the law which is administered between citizen and citizen or which ls concerned with the definition, reg

An individual who is not the incumbent of an office.

One who seta in motion the machinery of criminal justice against a person whom he suspects or believes to be gnilty of a crime, by laying an accusation before the proper authoritie

Those rights which appertain to a particular individual or individuals, and relate either to the person, or to personal or reni property. 1 Chit Gen. Pr. 3.

This term has various meanings: (1) A road, the soil of which belongs to the owner of the land which it traverses, but which is burdened with a right of way. Morgan v. Livingston.

One negotiated and concluded privately between buyer and seller, and not made by advertisement and public outcry or auction. See Barcello v. Hapgood, 118 N. O. 712, 24 S. E. 124,

One mnintained by private individuals or corporations, not at public expense, and open only to pupils selected and admitted by the proprietors or governors, or to pupils of a certa