Sederunt; just as the courts in England have been empowered to make 'General Rules.'

Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The acts of the general assembly, issued under their legislative powers, are binding on all the members and judicatories of the church. The form of their procedure is regulated by an act of the church (1697), termed the Barrier Act. -Bell's Scotch Law Dict.

Acts of Union. With Wales, 27 Hen. VIII. c. 26, confirmed by 34 & 35 Hen. VIII. c. 26. With Scotland, 5 Anne c. 8, and see 6 Anne cc. 6 and 23. With Ireland, 39 & 40 Geo. III. c. 67.

Actuarius, a notary

Actuary, a registrar of a public body. Also a clerk that registers the acts and constitutions of the Lower House of Convocation; or a registrar in a Court Christian.-Jacob. Also an officer appointed to keep SavingsBanks accounts. The manager of an Insurance Company; also a person killed in calculating the value of life interests, annuities, and in

surances.

(An act done by me against my will is not my act.)

Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea. 3 Inst. 307.-(An act does not make a man guilty, unless he be so in intention.)

A. D. [Lat.], contraction for Anno domini (In the year of our Lord).

Adar (the same meaning as Aries, a ram mighty). The twelfth sacred month of the Jewish calendar, and sixth of their civil year, answering to the end of February and beginning of March. As the lunar year which the Jews followed in their calculations is shorter than the solar by about eleven days, which at the end of three years make a month, they then intercalate a thirteenth month every third year, which they call Veadar, or the second Adar.-Brown's Dict. of Bible; Jahn's Bib. Antiq. c. vi. s. 103.

Adawlut, corrupted from Adalat, justice, equity; a court of justice. The terms Dewanny Adawlut, and Foujdarry Adawlut, denote the civil and criminal courts of Justice in India. See DEWANNY and FOUJDARRY and Wilson's Glossary.

Ad comparendum et ad standum juri.—(To

Actus contra actum, a mutual consent.

Actus curiæ neminem gravabit. Jenk. Cent. 118. (An act of the Court will hurt no person.) See this maxim exemplified, Cumber v. Wane, 1 Str. 126; and 1 Smith L. C.

Actus Dei necnon legis nemini est damnosus, aut facit injuriam. 5 Co. 87.-An act of God and also of Law is hurtful, or operates an injury, to no one.)

Actus Dei nemini nocet.-(The act of God does injury to nobody.)-Lofft. 102.

Actus inceptus cujus perfectio pendet ex voluntate partium, revocari potest; si autem pendet ex voluntate tertiæ personæ, vel ex contingenti, revocari non potest. Bacon.-(An act already begun the completion of which depends on the will of the parties, may be revoked; but if it depend on the consent of a third person, or on a contingency, it cannot be revoked.)

Actus judiciarius coram non judice irritus habetur, de ministeriali autem a quocunque provenit ratum esto.-(A judicial act by a judge without jurisdiction is void; but a ministerial act, from whomsoever proceeding, may be ratified.-Lofft. 458.

Actus legis nemini facit injuriam.—(An act of the Law does injury to no one.)Lofft. 103; 5 Co. 116.

Actus legitimi non recipiunt modum. Hob. 153. (Legal actions do not admit a limitation.)

Actus me invito factus, non est meus actus.

the judgment of the Court.-Cro. Jac. 67.) Adcordabilis denarii, money paid by a vassal to his lord upon the selling or exchanging of a feud.-Encyc. Lond.

Adcredulitare, to purge one's self of an offence by oath.

Ad damnum (to the damage). That part of the writ which states the amount of the plaintiff's injury.-See 1 Chitt. Pl. 419.

Addecimate, to take tithes.

Addictio, the giving up to a creditor of his debtor's person by a magistrate. The ordinary means of execution under a law which did not allow execution of a debtor's property.-Sand. Just., 5th ed., 15.

Ad diem (at the day).

Addition, the title, or mystery, and place of abode of a person besides his names.-1 Hen. V. c. 5; Termes de la Ley, 20. By 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 24, no indictment shall be held insufficient for want of, or inperfection in, the addition of any defendant.

Additionales, propositions or terms added to a former agreement or contract.

Address, a petition, also a place of business or residence.

Address for Service. See INDORSEMENT OF ADDRESS.

Adeling, Ethling, or Edling [ædelan, Sax.], noble, excellency. A title of honour among the Anglo-Saxons, properly belonging to the king's children.-Spelm. Glos.

Ad ea quæ frequentius accidunt jura adaptantur. Wing. 216.-(The laws are

adapted to those cases which more frequently arise.)

Ademption [fr. adimo, Lat.], revocation; a taking away of a legacy, i.e., if a testator, after having given a legacy by his will, alienate the subject of it during his life, it is an ademption. -Ambl. 402; 2 Wms. Executors, 7th ed., 1320-1339. See SATISFACTION.

Ad feodi firmam. To fee farm.-Fleta, lib. ii. c. 50, s. 30.

Ad filum aquæ. To the thread or centre line of the stream.

Ad filum viæ. To the centre of the way or road.

Ad finem, abbrev. ad. fin. [Lat.] (at, or near to the end).

Adiation, a term used in the laws of Holland for the application of property by an executor. See Knapp's Privy Council Rep., vol. i., p. 107.

Ad idem, tallying in the essential point.

A digniori fieri debet denominatio et resolutio. Wing. 265.-(The title and exposition ought to be made from that which is the more worthy.)

Ad infinitum (without limit).

Ad inquirendum, a judicial writ commanding inquiry to be made of anything relating to a cause in the Superior Courts.Reg. Judic.

Ad interim (in the meantime).

Adiratus, a price or value set upon things stolen or lost, as a recompense to the owner. Cowel.

Adjournment [fr. jour, Fr., a day], a putting off to another time or place, a continuation of a meeting from one day to another. The adjournment of a trial in the High Court is in the discretion of the Judge by Order XXXVI., Rule 21.

As to proceeding in either House of Parliament the Lords frequently adjourn 'during pleasure,' which means that the Lord Chancellor or other speaker of the House may, in the exercise of his discretion, take his seat on the woolsack, two other peers being present, and cause business to proceed at any hour within the day on which such adjournment 'during pleasure' takes place, otherwise their Lordships' House will stand adjourned to the usual hour on the following day; but usage has fixed five o'clock P.M. as the time for resuming after an adjournment during pleasure.' The Commons, on the contrary, always adjourn to a time specified. The adjournment of one House is no adjournment of the other. In Committee, to move that the Chairman report progress is equivalent to moving that the debate be then adjourned. All unfinished proceedings during an adjournment remain in statu quo. A member

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who moves the adjournment of a debate, or is addressing the House at the time of adjournment, is said to be in possession of the House, and can speak again when the sittings are resumed. When Committees of the whole House adjourn, however, this rule does not prevail.-Dod's Parl. Comp.

Adjournamentum est ad diem dicere, seu diem dare. 4 Inst. 27.-(An adjournment is to appoint a day, or to give a day.) Hence the form Eat sine die.'

Adjournment-day, a further day appointed by the judges at the Nisi Prius sittings to try issues in fact which were not then ready for trial. See NOTICE OF TRIAL.

Adjudication, giving or pronouncing a judgment, sentence, or decree. In Bankruptcy Law, adjudication is the act of the Court declaring a person to be bankrupt. In Scotch Law it is used to express the 'diligence' by which land is attached in security and payment of a debt, or by which a feudal title is made up in a person holding an obligation to convey without procuratory or precept. There is thus (1) the adjudication for debt; (2) the adjudication in security; and (3) the adjudication in implement.-Bell's Scotch Law Dict.

Adjudication contra Hæreditatem Jacentem. When a debtor's heir apparent renounces the succession, any creditor may obtain a decree cognitionis causâ, the purpose of which is that the amount of the debt may be ascertained so that the real estate may be adjudged.-Scotch Law.

Adjudication in implement. See ADJUDI

CATION.

Adjudication in debitum fundi. ACTION FOR POINDING OF THE GROUND.

See

Adjunction. When a thing belonging to one is attached or united to that which belongs to another, whether by inclusion, soldering, sewing, construction, writing, or painting, the whole generally becomes the property of the latter.-Civil Law.

Adjuncts, additional judges.

Adjunctum accessorium, an accessory or appurtenance.

Ad jura regis, a writ which was brought by the king's clerk, presented to a living, against those who endeavoured to eject him, to the prejudice of the king's title.-Reg. of Writs, 61.

Adjuration, a swearing or binding upor

oath.

Adjustment [fr. adjuster, Fr., to make even of a loss, the settling and ascertaining the amount of the indemnity which the assured, after all allowances and deductions made, is entitled to receive under the policy, and fixing the proportion which each underwriter is

liable to pay.-Marshall, 4th ed., 499, and see Manley Hopkins on Average, 3rd ed.

Adjuvari quippe nos, non decipi beneficio oportet. D. 13, 6, 17, s. 3.-(For we ought to be favoured, not deceived, by a benefit.) In illustration of this maxim, see Blackmore v. The Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, 8 E. & B. 1035, 1050—1.

Adlamwr [ad-lam-gwr, Cym., one returning], a proprietor who, for some cause, entered the service of another proprietor without agreement, and left him after the expiration of a year and a day, was liable to the payment of thirty pence to his patron.Welch Law.

Ad Lapidem, Stoneham in Hampshire. Ad largum (at large), used in the following and other expressions: title at large, assize at large, verdict at large, to vouch at large, etc.-Cowel.

Adlegiare [fr. aleier, Fr.], to purge of a crime by oath.-Brompt. Chron. c. 4 & 13. Ad longum, at length.

Admanuensis, persons who swore by laying their hands on the book.-Old Law Books.

Admeasurement, Writ of. It lay against persons who usurped more than their share, in the two following cases :-admeasurement of dower, where the widow held from the heir more land, etc., as dower, than rightly belonged to her; and admeasurement of pasture, which lay where any one having common of pasture surcharged the common. -Termes de la Ley.

Ad melius inquirendum. A writ directed to a coroner commanding him to hold a second inquest. See Reg. v. Carter, 45 L.J. Q. B. 711.

Adminicle, aid, help, or support, 1 Edw. IV. c. 1. In the Scotch Law, it is a term used in the action of proving the tenor of a lost deed, and applicable to any deed tending to establish the existence or terms of the deed, which is lost. In the Civil Law it means imperfect proof.

Adminicular evidence, explanatory or completing testimony.

Administration, the giving or supplying of something.

The disposing of an intestate's property. The body of ministers appointed by the Crown to carry on the government of the country.

Administrator, he to whom the goods and effects of a person dying intestate, or without executors appointing, accepting, or surviving, are committed by the Probate Court (now the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty, division of the High Court of Justice, Jud. Act, 1873, s. 34). By the 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77, Administration shall comprehend all letters of

administration of the effects of deceased persons, whether with or without the will annexed, and whether granted for general, special, or limited purposes.' The following are limited administrations:-Administra tion durante miniori ætate, is granted where an infant is entitled to administration, or is made sole executor. The grant is made to the duly appointed guardian of the infant for his use and benefit until he attain the age of twenty-one years, when it ceases. Administration durante absentia is granted when the next person entitled to the grant is beyond sea, lest the goods perish or the debts be lost. Administration pendente lite is granted where a suit is commenced in the Probate Court concerning the validity of a will or the right to administration, until the suit be determined, in order that there may be somebody to take care of the testator's estate. Administration cum testamento annexo is granted when there is not any executor named in the will, or if a person be named who is incapable, or one who refuses to act. Administration de bonis non is granted when the first administrator dies before he has fully administered. An ancillary administration, so called because it is subordinate to the original administration, is granted for collecting the assets of foreigners. It is taken out in the country where the assets are situated. Consult Williams on Executors and Administrators. As to the administration of the effects of naval persons, see 28 & 29 Vict. c. 111; and as to civil servants of the Crown, see 31 & 32 Vict. c. 90. The act which abolishes forfeiture for treason and felony enables the Crown to appoint administrators of the estate of convicts (33 & 34 Vict. c. 23).

The Registrars of County Courts may receive applications for letters of administration for transmission to the Probate Court in certain cases where the estate does not exceed £100. (36 & 37 Vict. c. 52; 38 & 39 Vict. c. 27.) See DEBTS, EXECUTORS.

Admiral [supposed to be derived from Amir al bahir, Arab. commander of the sea or fleet], an officer having high command in the Royal Navy. An admiral has two subordinate commanders under him, a viceadmiral and rear-admiral, distinguished into three classes by the colour of their flags, white, blue, and red. The admiral carries his flag at the main-topmast head, the viceadmiral at the fore-topmast head, and the rear-admiral at the mizen-topmast head.

Admiralty, the Executive Department of State which presides over the naval forces of the kingdom. The normal head is the Lord High Admiral, but in practice the functions of the Great Office are discharged by several

Commissioners, of whom one is the Chief, and is called the First Lord. He is assisted by other Lords and by various Secretaries.

Admiralty. The Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, was, as far as relates to Admiralty, formerly called the High Court of Admiralty and was held before the Judge of the Admiralty who formerly sat as deputy of the Lord High Admiral of England until that office was put into commission, and afterwards as deputy of the Lords Commissioners. The Judge now holds his appointment of the Crown as a Judge of the High Court of Justice. There are two divisions of the jurisdiction of the Admiralty branch of the High Court the Prize Court and the Instance Court. In the Prize Court the Judge has jurisdiction, by virtue of a commission issued under the Great Seal, at the beginning of every war, to proceed upon all and all manner of captures, seizures, prizes, and reprisals of ships and goods which are or shall be taken, and to hear and determine according to the course of the Admiralty and the Law of Nations. In the Instance Court, also, the jurisdiction exercised by the Judge is conferred by a commission under the Great Seal. This is a municipal tribunal, it is a court of record, and its decrees and orders for the payment of money have the same effect as other judgments of the Supreme Court. It has jurisdiction in cases of private injuries to private rights arising at sea, or intimately connected with maritime subjects. Its jurisdiction in cases of torts is confined to wrongs committed at sea, or at least on the water within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty. Such are suits for

(1) Assaults and batteries committed on the high seas.

(2) Collision of ships. (For which there is also remedy in the other divisions of the High Court of Justice (Jud. Act, 1875, Sched. 1, Ord. IV. 2.)

(3) Restitution of possession of a ship where there is no bona fide claim to withhold her; and

(4) Piratical and illegal takings at sea. In cases of contract, its jurisdiction is confined to those of a maritime nature, as— (1) Between part owners of a ship. The Chancery division of the High Court of Justice has a concurrent jurisdiction in this

(5) Salvage (which is the compensation to be made to persons by whose assistance a ship or her freight, or loading, has been saved from impending peril, or recovered after actual loss), and those relating to wreck. Salvage is also recoverable by action in the other divisions, or by summary hearing before magistrates or the Cinque Port Commissioners.

(6) Whenever any ship is under arrest by process issuing from this Court of Admiralty, or when the proceeds of any ship having been so arrested have been brought into the Registry, the Court has jurisdiction to take cognizance of all claims and causes of action of any person in respect of any mortgage of such ship, and to decide any suit instituted by any such person in respect of any such claims or causes of action respectively. (3 & 4 Vict. c. 65.)

By the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, s. 11, this jurisdiction is extended to the Court in cases where the ship is not under arrest, and a registered mortgagee may now himself institute a suit in the ordinary way, and arrest and detain the ship.

(7) By 3 & 4 Vict. c. 65, the Court has jurisdiction to decide all claims and demands whatsoever, in the nature of towage, for services rendered to any ship or sea-going vessel, whether within the body of a country or upon the high seas.

(8) The same act, s. 6, gave the Court jurisdiction to decide all claims and demands for necessaries supplied to any foreign ship, and to enforce payment.

(9) By the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, ss. 103 & 105, the Court has also jurisdiction to punish for carrying illegal colours.

The proceedings in this Court (which sits at Westminster) are greatly conformable to the civil law, in conjunction with marine customs. The Court of Admiralty was entirely reconstructed, its practice improved, and civil jurisdiction extended by the 3 & 4 Vict. cc. 65, 66, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 10, and 27 & 28 Vict. c. 25. Serjeants, barristers-at-law, attorneys, and solicitors, by the 22 & 23 Vict. c. 6 were admitted to practice there. practice in this Division of the High Court of Justice is substantially the same as in the other Divisions, the former rules, where not expressly varied, being for the present still in force (Jud. Act, 1873, s. 70). See the various titles relating to procedure and practice.

The

Proceedings in Admiralty may be in rem or in personam. By the first, the property in relation to which the claim has arisen, or the proceeds thereof, may be made available. to meet the claim. The property is arrested on a warrant from the Court, which is issued on filing a præcipe for a warrant, and an

affidavit in support of the claim. Upon the arrest of a ship, her apparel, and furniture, bail may be accepted for her value, and intermediate earnings, and for the return of the vessel into the hands of the claimant, if the Court should ultimately adjudge the possession to him, or for the amount of the claim.

The Judge of the former Court of Admiralty entertains questions of Admiralty Law in this Division of the High Court (Jud. Act, 1873, s. 5), with power to refer matters to a divisional Court. (Ib., ss. 40, 42, 44). An appeal lies to the Court of Appeal. (See Jud. Acts, 1873 & 1875.)

This Court formerly had cognizance of all crimes and offences, committed either upon the sea or on the coasts, out of the boundary or extent of any English county, until the 4 & 5 Wm. IV. c. 35, establishing "The Central Criminal Court enacted by its 22nd section that with a view to speedy justice, it should be lawful for the judges to be appointed by the commissions to be issued under the authority of the act, or any two or more of them, to inquire of, hear, and determine any offence committed or alleged to have been committed on the high seas and other places within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, etc. There is a Court of Admiralty in Ireland; but the Scotch Court was abolished by 1 Wm. IV. c. 69. Vice-Admiralty Courts exist in many of our colonies. Consult Williams and Bruce's Admiralty Practice. See PRIZE COURT.

From a Vice-Admiralty Court an appeal lies to the Sovereign in Council.

As to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty in the colonies, see 12 & 13 Vict. c. 96; 23 & 24 Vict. c. 88; and 24 & 25 Vict. c. 10. By the 31 & 32 Vict. c. 71, Admiralty jurisdiction was conferred on the County Courts. See also 32 & 33 Vict. c. 51. Similar powers may be given by Order in Council to any inferior Court having civil jurisdiction (Jud. Act, 1873, ss. 88-91).

Admiralty Acts Repeal Act (28 & 29 Vict. c. 112). This act repeals a number of enactments relating to the powers of the Admiralty, the protection of the Royal Dockyards, naval and marine pay and pensions, and wills or property of deceased officers, seamen, and marines.

Admiralty, Droits of. See DROITS OF

ADMIRALTY.

Admissions in evidence, concessions of certain facts by an opponent.

Admission of a clerk by the bishop, when a patron of a church has presented him to it. It is, in fact, the ordinary's declaration that he approves of the presentee to serve the

cure of the church to which he is presented. -Co. Litt. 344 a.

Admittance, giving possession of a copyhold estate. It is of three kinds: (1) Upon a voluntary grant by the lord, where the land has escheated or reverted to him. (2) Upon surrender by the former tenant. (3) Upon descent, where the heir is tenant on his ancestor's death.-Wood, b. 2, c. 1.

Admittendo clerico, a writ of execution upon a right of presentation to a benefice being recovered in quare impedit, addressed to the bishop or his metropolitan, requiring him to admit and institute the clerk or presentee of the plaintiff. Reg. Orig. 33 a.

Admittendo in socium, a writ for associating certain persons, as knights and other gentlemen of the county, to justices of assize on the circuit.Reg. Orig. 206.

Admonition, a judicial or ecclesiastical censure or reprimand.

Admortization, the reduction of property of lands or tenements to mortmain, in the feudal customs.-Encyc. Lond.

2

Ad Murum, Waltown or Walton. Ad officium justiciariorum spectat, unicuique coram eis placitanti justitiam exhibere. Inst. 451.-It is the duty of justices to administer justice to every one pleading before them.

Adnichiled [fr. nihil, Lat.], annulled, cancelled, made void.-28 Hen. VIII.

Adolescence, the period between 12 in females and 14 in males till 21 years of age.

Adoption, an act by which a person appoints as his heir the child of another. There is not any law of adoption in this country. Sand. Just., 5th ed., 39 et seq.

Adoptive Act of Parliament, an act which comes into operation within a limited area upon being adopted, in manner prescribed therein, by the inhabitants of that area. Amongst the many 'adoptive acts,' the more important are, the Act for the Better Regulation of Vestries, 1 & 2 Wm. IV. c. 60, the Baths and Washhouses Act, 9 & 10 Vict. c. 74, and the Public Libraries Act, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 55.