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Blackstone

Blackstone, William, 1723-80. Judge of King's Bench and Common Pleas. Author of 'Commentaries on the Laws of England,' etc....


Fishery

Fishery, the right to take fish. Fisheries are either free, common, or several. A free fishery is the exclusive right of fishing in a public river, and is a royal franchise, Common of fishery, or common of piscary, is the right of fishing in another man's water. A several fishery is the exclusive right of fishing in another man's water, and he that has it, according to Blackstone, 'must also be the owner of the soil' (2 Bl. Com. 40). This position of Blackstone, however, has been questioned, and the distinction between the various kinds of fishery is not clear; see Hrg. Co. Litt. 122 a, n. 7; Holford v. Bailey, (1846) 8 QB 1000; 13 ib. 426; Marshall v. Ulleswater Steam navigation Co., (1863) 3 B&S 732; Chesterfield (Earl) v. Harris, (1908) 2 Ch 397; 1911 AC 623; Coulson and Forbes on the Law of Waters; Leake on Uses and Profits of Land. No right can exist in the public to fish in an inland non-tidal lake, O'Neil v. Johnston, (1909) 1 Ir R 237.The fishing rights of the lord of the manor...


Letters patent

Letters patent, is derived from Latin word 'literae patentes.' The letters patent are so called because 'they are open letters; they are not sealed up, but exposed to view, with the great seal pendant at the bottom; and are usually directed or addressed by the king to all his subjects at large. And therein they differ from certain other letter of the king, sealed also with the great seal, but directed to particular persons, and for particular purposes, which therefore, not being proper for public inspection, are closed up and sealed on the outside, and are thereupon called writs close, literae clause, and are recorded in the close-rolls, in the same manner as the others are in the patent-rolls.' (See Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England, volume II, pages 284-285), P.V. Hemlatha v. K.P.M. Saheeda, AIR 2002 SC 2445 (2457): (2002) 5 SCC 548. [Civil Procedure Code, s. 98(3)]Means letters patent are open letters; they are not sealed up, but exposed to view, with the great seal pe...


Prerogative of mercy

Prerogative of mercy. In early times the operation of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy was far wider than at the present day, as it was not only extended to some persons who in later ages would not be considered to have incurred any criminal respon-sibility, e.g., persons who had committed homicide by misadventure or in self-defence (Pollock and Maitland's Hist. Engl. Law, vol. ii., pp. 476 et seq.), but was even extended to jurors who had been attained for an oath that, though not false, was fatuous: ibid. p. 661. The power of pardoning offences is stated by Blackstone to be one of the great advantages of monarchy in general above every other form of government, and which cannot subsist in democracies. Its utility and necessity are defended by him on all those principles which do honour to human nature: see 4 Bl. Com. c. 31, p. 397. In early times, again, there were fewer offences that did not admit of being pardoned. In appeals (i.e., private accusations of felony) which were not the s...


Black stone lawyer

Black stone lawyer, means a lawyer with a broad knowledge of blackletter principles; A self-educated lawyer (especially in antebellum America) whose legal training consists primarily of reading Blackstone's Commentaries, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 163....


Court

Court, compensation officer appointed under (English) Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950 is not a 'Court' within the meaning of s. 195(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code 1973, Keshab Moroyan Banerjee v. State of Bihar, AIR 2000 SC 485 (490). [Bihar Land Reforms Act (30 of 1950), s. 19]Court, means the principle civil court of original jurisdiction in a district and including the High Court in exercise of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction, having jursidiction to decide the questions forming the subject matter of suit, but does not incude any civil court of a grade inferior to such civil court or any court of small causes.S. 2(*) Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Raipur Development Authority v. Sarin Construction Company, Raipur, AIR 2006 Chattisgarh 12.The tribunal which is to exercise the jurisdiction for executing the decree in question is 'a court' within the scope of s. 45C of the Banking Companies Act, Ram Narain v. Simla Banking and Industrial Co. Ltd., AIR 1956 S...


Criminal Appeal Act, 1907 (English)

Criminal Appeal Act, 1907 (English) (7 Edw. 7, c. 23), came into force on the 19th April, 1908. For a great number of years the merits and demerits of criminal appeal have been discussed in this country.In 1844 Sir Fitzroy Kelly, in a remarkable speech in the House of Commons, advocated criminal appeal, the claim to which has also been recognized by Starkie, Sir John Holker, and Chief Baron Pollock; and even Blackstone,with whom, as Mr. Lecky has observed, admiration of our national jurisprudence was almost a foible, passed some severe criticisms on the stateof the criminal law of his day. In more recent times Lord James of Hereford (then Sir Henry James) introduced a criminal appeal bill into the House of Commons,which was supported by Lord Russell of Killowen (then Sir Charles Russell). And in 1889 Lord Fitzgerald, when introducing a measure into the House of Lords, said that the absene of any provision for rectifying errors andmistakes in criminal cases constituted a blot upon the c...


Culprit

Culprit. The prisoner at the Bar awaiting his trial after a plea of not guilty. 'Its first recorded use is in the trial of the Earl of Pembroke for murder in 1678. Its original force was formerly to join issue with the defendant's plea of Not guilty and to demand trial and judgment.'-Oxf. Dict., art. 'Culprit,' where see discussion of the disputed derivations of the word. It is thus derived by Donaldson. The clerk asks the prisoner, 'Are you guilty or not guilty ?' Prisoner, 'Not guilty.' Clerk, 'Qu'il paroit [may it prove so]; how will you be tried ?' Prisoner, 'By God and my country.' These words, being hurried over, came to sound, 'Culprit, how will you be tried ?' Blackstone's derivation is entirely different; see 4 Bl. Com. 339....


Earnest

Earnest [fr. eornest, Sax.], the sum paid by the buyer of goods in order to bind the seller to the terms of the agreement. It is enacted by the 4th s. of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, re-enacting, but not quite in the same words, the 17th section of the Statute of Frauds, 29 Car. 2, c. 3, that 'a contract for the sale of any goods, for the price of 10l. or upwards, shall not be enforceable by action, unless the buyer accept part of the goods or give something in earnest to bind the contract, or in part payment,' or some note in writing of the bargain be made and signed by the parties to be charged or their agents.As to what amount is sufficient earnest, Blackstone lays it down (Bk. II. p. 447) that 'if any part of the price is paid down, if it be but a penny, or any portion of the goods is delivered by way of earnest,' it is binding. To constitute earnest the thing must be given as a token of ratification of the contract, and it should be expressly stated so by the giver.The following p...


Estate

Estate [fr. status, Lat.; etat, Fr.], the condition and circumstance in which an owner stands with regard to his property. The word is used in several senses and may denote either an estate in land; or an estate in property other than land; a legal estate or an equitable estate, land being an immovable is capable of being the subject of many estates existing concurrently with each other, thus the absolute ownership or fee simple may be leased and sub-leased, mortgaged and charged, each of the holders of these estates having a good legal or equitable estate at the same time; again, estates may be in possession, or in futuro; personal property may also be subject concurrently to a variety of ownerships, according to its nature; technically, in regard to land, the word is used to denote the quantity of interest, e.g., estate in fee simple, for life, for years, etc., in either legal or equitable estates. In practice its most important division is into real estate and personal estate, altho...


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