Definition of Certificate

A written assurance or official representation, that some act has or has not been done or some event occurred or some legal formality been complied with. Particularly, such written assurance made or issuing from some court, and designed as a notice of things done therein or as a warrant or authority, to some other court, judge or officer. People v. Foster, 27 Misc. Rep. 576, 58 N. Y. Supp. 574; U. S. v. Ambrose, 108 U. S. 336, 2 Sup. Ct. 682, 27 L. Ed. 746; Ti-conic Bank v. Stackpole, 41 Me. 305. A document in use in the English customhouse. No goods can be exported by certificate, except foreign goods formerly imported, on which the whole or a part of the customs paid on importation is to be drawn back, Wharton.
—Certificate for costs. In English practice. A certificate or memorandum drawn up and signed by the judge before whom a case was tried, setting out certain facts the existence of which must be thus proved before the party is entitled, under the statutes, to recover costs.
—Certificate into chancery. In English practice. This is a document containing the opinion of the common-law judges on a question of law submitted to them for their decision by the chancery court.
—Certificate of acknowledgment. The certificate of a notary public, justice of the peace, or other authorized officer, attached to a deed, mortgage, or other instrument, setting forth that the parties thereto personally appeared before him on such a date and acknowledged the instrument to be their free and voluntary act and deed. Read v. Loan Co., 68 Ohio, St. 280, 67 N. E. 729, 62 L. R. A. 790, 96 Am. St. Rep. 663.
—Certificate of deposit. In the practice of bank ere. This is a writing acknowledging that the person named has deposited in the bank a specified sum of money, and that the same la held subject to be drawn out on his own check or order, or that of some other person named in the instrument as payee. Murphy v. Pacific Bank, 130 Cal. 542, 62 Pac. 1059; First Nat Bank v. Greenville Nat. Bank, 84 Tex. 40, 19 S. W. 334; Neall v. U. S., 118 Fed. 706, 56 C. O. A. 31; Hotchkiss v. Mosher, 48 N. Y. 482.
—Certificate of holder of attached property. A certificate required by statute, in some states, to be given by a third person who is found in possession of property subject to an attachment in the sheriff's hands, setting forth the amount and character of such property and the nature of the defendant's interest in it. Co.de Civil Proc. N. Y. § 650.
—Certificate of incorporation. The instrument by which a private corporation is formed, under general statutes, executed by several persons as incorporators, and setting forth the name of the proposed corporation, the objects for which it is formed, and such other particulars as may be required or authorized by law, and filed in some designated public office as evidence of the corporate existence. This is properly distinguished from a "charter," which is a direct legislative grant of corporate existence and powers to named individuals; but practically the certificate of incorporation or "articles of incorporation" will contain the same enumeration of corporate powers and description of obj'ects and purposes as a charter.
—Certificate of indebtedness. A form of obligation sometimes issued by public or private corporations having practically the same force and effect as a band, though not usually secured on any specific property. Christie v. Duluth, 82 Minn. 202, 84 N. W. 754.
—Certificate of purchase. A certificate issued by the proper public officer to the successful bidder at a judicial sale (such as a tax sale) setting forth the fact and details of his purchase, and which will entitle him to receive a deed upon confirmation of the sale by the court, or (as the case may bs) if the land is not redeemed within the time limited for that purpose. Lightcap v. Bradley, 186 111 510, 58 N. E. 221; Taylor v. Weston, 77 Cal. 534, 20 Pac. 62.
—Certificate of registry. In maritime law. A certificate of the registration of a vessel according to the registry acts, for the purpose of giving her a national character. 3 Steph. Comm. 274; 3 Kent, Comm. 139-150.
— Certificate of sale. The same as "certificate of purchase," supra, (g. v.)
—Certificate of stock. A certificate of a corporation or joint-Stock company that the person named is the owner of a designated number of shares of its stock; given when the subscription is fully paid and the "scrip-certificate" taken up. Gibbons v. Mahon, 136 U. S. 549, 10 Sun. Ct. 1057, 34 L. Ed. 525 ; Merritt v. Barge Co., 79 Fed. 235, 24 C. C. A. 530.
—Certificate, trial by. This is a mode of trini now little in use; it is resorted to in cases where the fact in issue lies out of the cognizance of the court, and the judges, in order to determine the question, are obliged to rely upon the solemn averment or information of persons in such a station as affords them the dearest and most competent knowledge of the truth. Brown.