Res

Lat.

In the civil law. A thing; an object. As a term of the law, this word has a very wide and extensive signification, including not only things which are objects of property, but also such as are not capable of individual ownership. See Inst. 2, 1, pr. And in old English law it is said to have a general import, comprehending both corporeal and incorporeal things of whatever kind, nature or species. 3 Inst. 182. See Bract, fol. 7b. By "res," according to the modern civll-ians, is meant everything that may form an object of rights, in opposition to "persona," which is regarded as a subject of rights. "Res," therefore, in its general meaning, comprises actions of all kinds; while in its restricted sense it comprehends every object of right, except actions. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 146. This has reference to the fundamental division of the Institutes, that all law relates either to persons, to things, or to actions. Inst. 1, 2, 12. In modern usage, the term is particularly applied to an object, subject-matter, or status, considered as the defendant in an action, or as the object against which, directly, proceedings are taken. Thus, in a prize case, the captured vessel is "the res." And proceedings of this character are said to be in rem. (See In Personam; In Rem.) "Res" may also denote the action or proceeding, as when a cause, which is not between adversary parties, is entitled "In re----." Classification. Things (res) have been variously divided and classified in law, e. g., in the following ways:
(1) Corporeal and incorporeal things;
(2) movables and immovables;
(3) res mancipi and res neo mancipi;
(4) things real and things personal;
(5) things in possession and choses (i. e., things) in action ;
(6) fungible things and things not fungible, (fungibiles vel non fungibiles;) and
(7) res singutœ (♦. e.. individual objects) and universitates rerum, (i. e., aggregates of things.) Also persons are for some purposes and in certain respects regarded as things. Brown.

— Res accessoria. In the civil law. An accessory thing; that which belongs to a principal thing, or is in connection with it

— Res adjudicata. A common but indefensible misspelling of res judicata. The latter term designates a point or question or subject-matter which was in controversy or dispute and has been authoritatively and finally settled by the decision of a court. Res adjudicata (if there be such a term) could only mean an article or subject of property "awarded to" a given person by the judgment of a court, which might perhaps be the case in repIFrin and similar actions.

— Res caduca. In the civil law. A fallen or escheated thing; an escheat. Hallifax, Civil Law, hi 2, c. 9, nn. 60.

— Res communes. In the civil law. Things common to all; that is, those things which are used and enjoyed by every one, even in single parts, but can never be exclusively acquired as a whole, e. g., light and air. Inst. 2, 1, 1; Mackeld. Rom. Caw, § 169.

— Res controversa. In the civil law. A matter controverted ; a matter in controversy; a point in question ; a question for determination. Calvin.

— Res coronæ. In old English law. Things of the crown; such as ancient manors, homages of the king, liberties, etc. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 6, § 3.

— Res corporales. In the civil law. Corporeal things; things which can be touched, or are perceptible to the senses. Dig. 1, 8, 1, 1; Inst. 2, 2; Bract, fols. 76, 10b, 136.

— Res dereUcta. Abandoned property ; property thrown away or forsaken by the owner, so as to become open to the acquisition of the first taker or occupant. See Rhodes v. Whitehead, 27 Tex. 313, 84 Am. Dec. 631.

— Res fungibiles. In the civil law. Fungible things; things of such a nature that they can be replaced by equal quantities and qualities when returning a loan or delivering goods purchased, for example, so many bushels of wheat or so many dollars; but a particular horse or a particular jewel would not be of this character.

— Res furtivæ. In Scotch law. Goods which have been stolen. Bell.

— Res gestae. Things done; transactions; essential circumstances surrounding the subject. The circumstances, facts, and declarations which grow out of the main fact, are contemporaneous with it, and serve to illustrate its character. See Stirling v. Buckingham, 46 Conn. 464; Ft. Smith Oil Co., v. Slover, 58 Aria 168, 24 S. W. 106; State v. Prater, 52 W. Va. 132, 43 S. E. 230; Davids v. People, 192 111. 176, 61 N. E. 537; Hall v. State, 48 Ga. 607; Railway Co., v. Moore, 24 Tex. Civ. App. 489, 59 S. W. 282.

— Res habiles. In the civil law, things which are prescriptible ; things to which a lawful title may be acquired by ordinary prescription.

— Res immobiles. In the civil law. Immovable things; including land and that' which is connected therewith, either by nature or art, such as trees and buildings. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 160.

— Res incorporales. In the civil law. Incorporeal things; things which cannot be touched; such as those things which consist in right Inst. 2, 2; Bract, fols. 7b, 10b. Such things as the mind alone can perceive.

— Res integra. A whole thing; a new or unopened thing. The term is applied to those points of law which have not been decided, which are untouched by dictum or decision. 3 Mer. 269.

— Res inter alios acta. A thing done between others, or between third parties or strangers. See Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Schmitz, 211 111.446, 71 N. E. 1050.

— Res ipsa loquitur. The thing speaks for itself. A phrase used in actions for injury by negligence where no proof of negligence is required beyond the accident itself, which is such as necessarily to involve negligence: e. g., a collision between two trains upon a railway. Wharton. See Benedick v. Potts, 88 Md. 52, 40 Atl. 1067, 41 In R. A. 478; Grif-fen v. Manice, 166 N. Y. 188, 59 N. E. 925, 52 L. R. A. 922, 82 Am. St. Rep. 630; Excelsior Electric Co. v. Sweet, 57 N. J. Law, 224, 30 Atl. 553; Houston v. Brush, 66 Vt. 331, 29 Atl. 380; Scott v. London, etc., Docks Co., 3 Hurl. & C. 596.

— Res jndicata. A matter adjudged; a thing judicially acted upon or decided; a thing or matter settled by judgment. A phrase of the civil law, constantly quoted in the books. 2 Kent, Comm. 120.

— Res litigiosae. In Roman law, things which are in litigation ; property or rights which constitute the subject-matter of a pending action.

— Res mancipi. In Roman law. Certain classes of things which could not be aliened or transferred except by means of a certain formal ceremony of conveyance called "mancipatio," (q. vt) These included land, houses, slaves, horses, and cattle. All other things were calied "res nec mancipi-" The distinction was abolished by Justinian.
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