official

An officer (g. v.) In Old Civil Law. The person who was the minister of, or attendant upon, a magistrate. In Canon Law. The person to whom the bishop generally commits the charge of his spiritual jurisdiction bears this name. Wood, Inst. 30, 505; Merlin, Repert.

In Old Civil Law. The person who was the minister of, or attendant upon, a magistrate. In Canon Law. The person to whom the bishop generally commits the charge of his spiritual jurisdiction bears this name. Wood, Inst. 30, 505; Merlin, R&pert.

adj. Pertaining to an office; invested with the character of an officer; proceeding from, sanctioned by or done by, an officer.

— Demi-official. Partly official or authorized. Having color of official right.

— Official act. One done by an officer in his official capacity under color and by virtue of his office. Turner v. Sisson, 137 Mass. 192 ; Lammon v. Feusire, 111 U. S. 17, 4 Sup. Ct. 286, 28 In Ed. 337.

— Official assignee. In English practice. An assignee in bankruptcy appointed by the lord chancellor to co-operate with the other assignees in administering a bankrupt's estate.

— Official managers. Persons formerly appointed, under English statutes now repealed, to superintend the winding up of insolvent companies under the control of the court of chancery. Wharton.

— Official misconduct. Any unlawful behavior by a public officer in relation to the duties of his office, willful in its character, including any willful or corrupt failure, refusal, or neglect of an officer to perform any duty enjoined on him bV law. Watson v. State, 9 Tex. App. 212; Brackenridge v. State, 27 Tex. App. 513, 11 S. W. 630, 4 L. R. A. 360.

— Official principal. An ecclesiastical officer whose duty it is to hear causes between party and party as the delegate of the bishop or archbishop by whom he is appointed. He generally also holds the office of vicar general and (if appointed by a bishop) that of chancellor. The official principal of the province of Canterbury is called the "dean of arches " Phillim Ecc. Law, 1203, et seq.; Sweet.

— Official solicitor to the conrt of chancery. An officer in England whose functions are to protect the suitors' fund, and to administer, under the direction of the court, so much of it as now comes under the spending power of the court. He acts for persons suing or defending in forma pauperis, when so directed by the judge, and for those who, through ignorance or forgetfulness, have been guilty of contempt of court by not obeying process. He also acts generally as solicitor in all cases in which the chancery division requires such services. The office is transferred to'the high court by the judicature acts, but no alteration in its name appears to have been made. Sweet.

— Official trustee of charity lands. The secretary of the English charity commissioners. He is a corporation sole for the purpose of taking and holding real property and leaseholds upon trust for an endowed charity in cases where it appears to the court desirable to vest them in him. He is a bare trustee, the possession and management of the land remaining in the persons acting in the administration of the charity. Sweet. As to official "Bonds," "Liquidator," "LogBook," "Newspaper," "Oath," and "Use," see those titles.

n. An officer; a person invested with the authority of an office. In the civil law. The minister or apparitor of a magistrate or judge. In canon law. A person to whom a bishop commits the charge of his spiritual jurisdiction. In common and statnte law. The person whom the archdeacon substitutes in the execution of his jurisdiction. Cowell.

An officer; iu English ecclesiastical law, the person to whom the archdeacon substitutes in the execution of his jurisdiction.

In the civil law. The minister or apparitor of a magistrate or judge.

adj. Pertaining to an office; invested with the character of an officer; proceeding from, sanctioned by, or done by, an officer.

adj. Connected with a public appointment; pertaining to the functions of an office. Official, n.: an officer; a person holding some appointment, or clothed with some authority or station. Of Bcial, or of Scial principal. In the ancient civil law, signified him who was the minister of, or attendant upon, a magistrate. In the canon law, it is especially taken for him to whom any bishop doth generally commit the charge of his spiritual jurisdiction; and, in this sense, the chancellor of the diocese is called the official principal. The word official also includes the deputv of an archdeacon. ( Cowel; Toml.) Mozley^ W. This was the name given to a judicial officer of high ecclesiastical authority in the province of Canterbury, and who was appomted by and under the authority of the archbishop. He had extraordinary jurisdiction in almost all ecclesiastical causes; and all appeals from bishops and their surrogates were directed to him. His ordinary jurisdiction extended throughout the whole province of Canterbury; but his citation, except upon appeal or by letters of request, was confined to his own diocese. This office was at one time separate from that of the dean of the arches' court of Canterbury; but as the two courts met at the same place (formerly Bow Church, de Arcubus), and the dean of the arches frequently performed the duties of the official, in the course of time they became, and ever afterwards remained, completely united and identified. The court of the official principal was, therefore, called the arches' cburt of Canterbury. Brown. Official assignee. The officers of the bankruptcy courts appointed by the lord chancellor under the bankruptcy acts for the pui-pose of acting, as occasion might require, with other assignees in official assignees. They are now, as regards the country districts, abolished; in London, they are attached to the new bankruptcy court, to perform such duties as the lord chancellor shall du-ect. Official liquidator. A person appointed by the judge in chancery, in whose court a joint-stock company is being wound up, to bring and defend suits and actions in the name of the company, and generally to do all things necessary for winding up the affairs of the company, and distributing its assets. 3 Steph. Com. 24. Official managers. Persons appointed to superintend the winding up of insolvent companies, under the control of the court of chancery. Wharton. Official referees. Officers to be attached to the supreme court of judicature, to whom the trial of any question in any civil proceeding, before the high court of justice or before the court of appeal, may be referred by the court or by any divisional court or by a judge for inquiry and report. Stat. 36 ^ 37 Vict. ch. 66, §§ 66, 83; Mozley Sf W. Official use. An active use before the statute of uses, which imposed some duty on the legal owner or feoffee to uses; as a conveyance to A, with directions for him to sell the estate, and distribute the proceeds amongst B, C, and D. To enable A to perform this duty, he had the legal possession of the estate to be sold. Wharton. Officina justitiae. The workshop of justice. A name given to the English chancery, as the place from which all writs issued under the great seal, returnable into the courts of law. Officium nemini debet esse damnosum. An office ought to be injurious to no one; no one should suffer fi-om the discharge of a duty. This is a maxim of the Scotch law, applicable, to a great extent, to private as well as public obligations and duties. Bell Diet.

civil- and canon laws. In the ancient civil law, the person who was the minister of, or lattendant upon a magistrate, was ‘called the offictal. In the canon law, the person to whom the bishop generally commits the charge of his spiritual jurisdiction, bears this name. Wood’s Inst. 30, 505; Merl. Ré pert, h. t.