Superior Courts - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: superior courts Page: 3Action
Action, conduct, something done; also the form prescribed by Law for the recovery of one's due, or the lawful demand of one's right. Bracton (Bk. 3, cap. 1) defines it:-Actio nihil aliud est quam jus prosequendi in judicio quod alicui debetur.-(An action is nothing else than the right of suing in a court of justice for that which is due to some one.) Actions are divided into criminal and civil: criminal actions are more properly called prosecutions, and perhaps actions penal, to recover some penalty under statute, are properly criminal actions. There were formerly three classes of actions in England: personal actions, in which the plaintiff sought to recover a debt or damages from the defendant; real actions, in which he sought to establish his title to land or other hereditaments; mixed actions, in which he sought only to establish his right to possession of land. All forms of action are now abolished, but there still inevitably remains the distinction between actions in personam brou...
Special case
Special case. By (English) R.S.C. 1883, Ord. XXXIV., the parties may, after writ issued, concur in stating the questions of law arising in the action in the form of a special case for the opinion of the Court, and 'if it appear to the Court or a judge that there is in any action a question of law which it would be convenient to have decided before any evidence is given or any question or issue of fact is tried, or before any reference is made to a referee or an arbitrator, the Court or judge may make an ordr accordingly, and may direct such question of law to be raised for the opinion of the Court, either by special case, or in such other manner as the Court or judge may deem expedient.' Similar power is given to referees to state a case by Ord. XXXVI., r. 52, and see the (English) Administration of Justice Act, 1932 (22 & 23 Geo. 5, c. 55). As to special case before the Judicature Acts, see (English) C.L.P. Act, 1852, ss. 42-48, and 13 & 14 Vict. c. 35 [(English) Turner's Act]. Where ...
Westminster
Westminster, a city by express creation of Henry VIII. it was dissolved as a see and restored to the bishopric of London by Edward VI., and turned into a collegiate church, subject to a dean, by Queen Elizabeth. The Superior Courts sat here until 1822 in Westminster Hall itself, and after 1822 in courts opening into it-the Court of Chancery only upon the first day of certain sittings, after which it sat at Lincoln's Inn. The same course was observed under the Judicature Act by the Divisions representing the respective courts until the opening of the Royal Courts of Justice in 1883 (see that title)It has been provided by many Acts of Parliament, e.g., by the repealed County Courts Act, 1850, s. 14, which gave an appeal from a county Court, that certain jurisdiction shall be exercised by the courts 'at Westminster.' All such Acts are, by s. 18 of the (English) Courts of Justice Building Act, 1865, to be construed as if the Royal Courts of Justice had been referred to therein instead of t...
Inferior Courts (UK)
Inferior Courts (UK). They are the Court baron, the hundred Court, the borough civil Court, the County Court, the Mayor's Court, London, and also all courts of a special jurisdiction; but the county Courts are by far the most important of them. They are all controllable by writ of prohibition if they exceed their jurisdiction. See, further, the Borough and Local Courts of Record Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 86); and as to the jurisdic-tion of such courts, and the rules of procedure in force therein, see also the Judicature Act, 1925, ss. 201-209, and COUNTY COURTS.The (English) Inferior Courts Judgments Extension Act, 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 31), following the procedure of the Judgments Extension Act, 1868, which applies to superiors courts only, renders, to a certain extent, judgments obtained in inferior courts in England, Scotland, and Ireland res-pectively, effectual in any other part of the United Kingdom; but the working of the Act is very much cramped by the provision of s. 10, th...
remand
remand [Anglo-French remander, from Middle French, to order back, from Late Latin remandare to send back word, from Latin re- back + mandare to order] vt 1 : to return (a case or matter) from one court to another esp. lower court or from a court to an administrative agency [the judgment of the trial court is reversed and the cause ed to the superior court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion "McCarton v. Estate of Watson, 693 P.2d 192 (1984)"] compare affirm 2 : to send (an accused) back into custody by court order (as pending trial) : turn (a prisoner) over for continued detention vi : to return a case to a lower court or other tribunal [the court ed for resentencing "K. A. Cohen"] n 1 : the act of remanding or state of being remanded 2 : an order remanding a case or person ...
remittitur
remittitur [Latin, it is sent back, remitted, third person singular present indicative passive of remittere to send back, remit] 1 a : a procedure under which a court may order the reduction of an excessive verdict ;esp : a procedure in which the court requires the plaintiff to remit the portion of the verdict deemed excessive in lieu of a grant of a defendant's motion for a new trial or of a reversal if the court is an appellate court b : a remission to a defendant by a plaintiff of the portion of a verdict considered excessive by the court c : the formal agreement or stipulation of a plaintiff waiving or releasing the right to receive the portion of a verdict considered excessive compare additur 2 : a sending back of a case and its record from an appellate or superior court to a trial or inferior court for further proceedings (as additional findings of fact) or for entry of a judgment in accordance with instructions or the decision of the higher court ...
County palatine
County palatine [fr. Palatium, Lat., a court]. There were three of these counties--Chester, Durham, and Lancaster. The two former were such by immemorial custom; the last was created by Edward III. The Bishop of Durham and the Duke of Lancaster had royal power within their respective counties. They could pardon treasons, murders, and felonies; they appointed judges and magistrates; all writs and indictments ran in their names,and offences were said to be done against their peace and not contra pacem domini regis. The (English) Act (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Wm. 4, c. 70), abolished the Court Session of the County Palatine of Chester, and subjected the county in all things to the jurisdiction of the superior Courts at West-minster. By the (English) Judicature Act, 1925, s. 18, replacing (English) Judicature Act, 1873, s. 16, the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas at Lancaster and of the Court of Pleas at Durham is transferred to the High Courtof Justice. But the jurisdiction of the Chancery ...
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, a tribunal of Privy Councilors, established by 2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 92, for the disposal of appeals to the Sovereign in Council. It consists of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord President and ex-Lords President, the six Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and such other members of the Privy Council as shall from time to time hold or have held 'High Judicial Office,' i.e., judges of the Supreme Courts of England or Ireland, Court of Session in Scotland, and not more than seven judges of the superior courts of the self-governing Colonies (or other possession fixed by Order in Council), and not more than two judges of any High Court in India as shall be nominated by the King.The Committee sits in Downing Street, Whitehall. Appeals are conducted before it as before a court, although inform it reports to the King advising that an appeal should be allowed or disallowed: consequently dissenting opinions are not disclosed. The principal matters which come before the Ju...
Jury
Jury [fr. jurata, Lat.; jure, Fr.], a number of persons sworn to deliver a verdict upon evidence delivered to them touching the issue.Trial by jury may be traced to the earliest Anglo-Saxon times. One of the judicial customs of the Saxons was that a man might be cleared of an accusation of certain crimes, if an appointed number of persons (juratores, or more properly compurgatores) came forward and swore to a veredictum, that they believed him innocent. It is remarkable that for accusations of any consequence among the Saxons on the continent, twelve juratores was the number required for an acquittal. Similar customs may be observed in the laws of Athens and Rome, where dikaotai and judices answer to jurors, an of the continental Angli and Frisiones, though the number of jurors varied.See, as to the introduction and growth of trial by jury in England, Forsyth's History of Trial by Jury; and for comments on and proposed amendments of the law, see Erle's Jury Laws and their Amendment, pu...
certiorari
certiorari [Medieval Latin certiorari (volumus) (we wish) to be informed (words used in the Latin texts of such writs)] : an extraordinary writ issued by a superior court (as the Supreme Court) to call up the records of a particular case from an inferior judicial body (as a Court of Appeals) see also the Judicial System in the back matter compare appeal NOTE: Certiorari is one of the two ways to have a case from a U.S. Court of Appeals reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Certification is the other. The Supreme Court may also use certiorari to review a decision by a state's highest court when there is a question as to the validity of a federal treaty or statute, or of a state statute on constitutional grounds. Certiorari is also used within state court systems. ...
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