Perpetuating Testimony

Defined in 7 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Kinney (1893), Stimson (1881), Abbott (1879)

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

The act by which testimony is reduced to writing as prescribed by law, so that the same shall be read in evidence in some suit or legal proceedings to be thereafter instituted. The origin of this practice may be traced to the canon law (chapter 5, X ut lite non eontestata, etc.) Bockmer, note 4; 8 Toullier. Dr. Civ. note 22. Statutes exist in most of the states for this purpose. Equity also furnishes means, to a limited extent, for the same purpose.

Ballentine's Law Dictionary

James A. Ballentine · 1916

“If witnesses to a disputable fact are old and infirm, it is very usual to file a bill to perpetuate the testimony of those witnesses, although no suit is depending, for it may be, a man’s antagonist only waits for the death of some of them to begin his suit.”—3 Bl. Comm. 450.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia

John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914

The act by which testimony is reduced to writing as prescribed by law, so that the same shall be read in evidence in some suit or legal proceedings to be thereafter instituted. The origin of this practice may be traced to the canon law, cap. 5, X, ut life non conteatata, etc. 8 Toullier, n. 22. Statutes exist in most of the states for this purpose. Equity also furnishes means, to a limited extent, for the same purpose. See Bill no Perpetuate Testimony; In Pebpetxjam Rei Memoriam.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

A proceeding for taking and preserving the testimony of witnesses, which otherwise might be lost before the trial in winch it is intended to be used. It is usually allowed whore the Witnesses are aged and infirm or are about to remove from the state. 3 Bl. Comm. 450.

A Law Dictionary and Glossary

George C. Kinney · 1893

The taking of testimony, usually by bill in equity, but sometimes by proceedings at law, in order to preserve it for future use, where it is in danger of being lost before the matter to which it relates can be made the subject of judicial investigation.

Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and Maxims of the Common Law

Frederic Jesup Stimson · 1881

v. Bill, I. 13.

Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence

Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879

A proceeding, allowed under different regulations in various jurisdictions, for preserving the testimony of an aged or sickly person, or one likely to remove out of the jurisdiction, in cases where the controversy requiring such testimony cannot probably be tried in season to have the attendance of the witness. When a party in a suit in equity is desirous of preserving the evidence of witnesses concerning a matter which cannot be immediately investigated in a court of law, or when he is likely to be deprived of the evidence of material witnesses, by their death or departure from the realm, it is usual to file a bill in equity to perpetuate and preserve the testimony of such witnesses; and the court then usually empowers certain persons to examine such witnesses, and to take their depositions. The evidence so taken is then available on any future trial, if the witness or witnesses should in the mean time have died; but not otherwise. Brown.