ARCHBISHOP. The chief of all the clergy in his province. He has the inspection of the bishops of that province, as well as of the inferior clergy; or, as the law expresses it, the power to visit them. There are two archbishops for England: Canterbury, styled Primate of all England; and York, Primate of England. 2 Steph. Com.

ARCHDEACON. An ecclesiastical officer subordinate to the bishop throughout the whole of a diocese or in some particular part of it. He is usually appointed by the bishop, and has a kind of episcopal authority. He visits the clergy, and has his separate court for punishment of offenders by spiritual censures, and for hearing all other causes of ecclesiastical cognizance. As a general rule, the jurisdictions of the archdeacon and the bishop are concurrent, but with appeal from former to latter. He also examines for ordination, induction, etc. 2 Steph. Com.

ARCHES, COURT OF, is a court of appeal belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, whereof the judge, who sits as deputy to the archbishop, is called the Dean of the Arches, because he anciently held his court in the church of St. Maryle-Bow (Sancta Maria de Arcubus). This court was afterwards held in the hall at Doctors' Commons, and subsequently at Westminster. Its proper jurisdiction is only over the thirteen peculiar parishes belonging to the archbishop in London; but, the office of Dean of the Arches having been for a long time united with that of the archbishop's principal official, he now, in right of the last-mentioned office (as does also the official principal of the Archbishop of York, who since the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874, is the same judge as for Canterbury), receives and determines appeals from the sentences of all inferior ecclesiastical courts within the province. Many original suits are also brought before him, in respect of which the inferior judge has waived his jurisdiction. [LETTERS OF REQUEST.]

From the Court of Arches and from the parallel court of appeal in the province of York, an appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 3 Steph. Com.

ARGUMENT. The process of drawing inferences. The discussion of legal or other points by counsel.

ARGUMENTATIVE PLEA. A plea not direct and positive, and liable to be struck out as being embarrassing.

ARMS AND ARMOUR, in legal language, is extended to anything that a man, in his anger or fury, takes into his hand to cast at, or strike, another. In all actions of trespass as opposed to trespass on the case, it was formerly necessary, and in certain indictments it is still necessary, to allege that the acts complained of were done vi et armis, "with force and arms," the force being the gist of the complaint. 3 Steph. Com.; 4 Steph. Com.

ARRAIGN, ARRAIGNMENT (Lat. Ad rationem ponere, to call to account). To arraign is to call a prisoner to the bar of the court, to answer the matter charged upon him in the indictment. The prisoner is to be called to the bar by his name; the indictment is to be read to him distinctly in the English tongue, after which, it is to be demanded of him, whether he be guilty of the crime whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty. He may then either confess, plead not guilty, or stand mute. 4 Steph. Com. [MUTE; PEINE FORTE ET DURE.]

ARRAIGNS, CLERK OF THE. A person who assists the clerk of assize, more particularly in taking the arraignments. [ARRAIGN.]

ARRANGEMENTS between debtors and creditors outside the law of bankruptcy must be in accordance with the Act of 1887. [COMPOSITION, 2.] As to arrangements within the bankruptcy law, see s. 3 of the Act of 1890.

ARREST. A restraint of a man's person, obliging him to be obedient to the law. An arrest is the beginning of imprisonment, whereby a man is first taken, and restrained of his liberty, by power or colour of a lawful warrant; also it signifies the decree of a court, by which a person is arrested.

One person may, without warrant, arrest another on reasonable suspicion of felony, and will be protected in doing

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1. If the person arresting be a peace officer; or

2. If he can prove that the felony was committed by some one; or

3. If the arrest be made in joining in a "hue and cry." Steph. Com.

Arrest without warrant also allowed in certain other criminal cases.

A warrant of arrest may also be obtained in Admiralty proceedings to detain the ship or other res the subject of the action.

ARREST OF JUDGMENT. A staying or withholding of judgment, although there has been a verdict in the case, on the ground that there is some error on the face of the record, from which it appears that the plaintiff has at law no right to recover in the action, or that prisoner should not be sentenced. 3 Steph. Com.; 4 Steph. Com.

ARRESTMENT. The Scotch term for the arrest of a person or the seizure of his effects, analogous to the English attach

ment.

ARRESTO FACTO SUPER BONIS MERCATORUM ALIENIGENARUM. A writ that lay for a denizen against the goods of an alien found within the kingdom, as a recompense for goods taken from him in a foreign country, after restitution had been denied. Reg. Orig. 129.

ARRETTED is he that is convened before any judge, and charged with a crime. Cowel.

ARRHE. Earnest, evidence of a completed bargain.

ARSON. The malicious and wilful burning of a house or other building. Extended by 24 & 25 Vict. c. 97, to crops, mines, and other subjects. 4 Steph. Com.

ART AND PART means where a person is guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal in the perpetration of a crime.

ART UNIONS. Voluntary associations for the purchase of paintings and other works of art to be distributed by chance or otherwise amongst the members. Excepted from the law against lotteries if complying with 9 & 10 Vict. c. 48, thereon.

ARTICLED CLERK. A person bound by articles to serve with some practising solicitor, previously to being admitted himself as a solicitor. The period of service under articles is in general five years; but in certain cases it is only four or three years. 3 Steph. Com. ; 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73; 23 & 24 Vict. c. 127; 37 & 38 Vict. c. 68; 40 & 41 Vict. c. 25; 51 & 52 Vict. c. 65.

1. Agreements between different persons expressed in writing, sealed or unsealed, are often spoken of as "articles." A contract made in contemplation of marriage is in general spoken of as "marriage articles," if it contemplate a further instrument, i.e., settlement, to carry out the intention of the parties. So also " articles of partnership," "articles of association," etc. The use of the term is somewhat capricious. [See also ARTICLED CLERK.]

2. Rules are sometimes spoken of as "articles"; as when we speak of "articles of war," "articles of the navy," "articles of a constitution,” "articles of religion," the thirty-nine articles drawn up by Convention in 1562, which must be subscribed to on taking holy orders.

3. The complaint of the promoter in an ecclesiastical cause is called "articles." So, an impeachment by the House of Commons is expressed in what are called "articles of impeachment." See 2 Steph. Com.; 3 Steph. Com.; 4 Steph. Com.

ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. Regulations governing the mode of conducting the business of a joint stock company and its internal organisation. These must usually accompany the Memorandum of Association, which sets out the objects and capital, etc., of the company. In the case of a company limited by shares, Table A of the Companies Act, 1862, may be taken as the articles of the company.

ARTICLES OF THE PEACE. A form of complaint by a person who fears that another may do him some bodily hurt.

ARTICLES OF THE PEACE-continued. Articles of peace may be exhibited in the King's Bench, Assize Court, or Sessions Court; and upon the articles being sworn to by the complainant, sureties of the peace are taken on the part of the party complained against. And the court may require bail for such time as they shall think necessary for the preservation of the peace. 4 Steph. Com. [KEEPING THE PEACE.]

ARTICULI CLERI (Articles of the Clergy).

Statutes made touching persons and causes ecclesiastical, such as 9 Edw. 2, stat. 2; 14 Edw. 3, stat. 3.

ASSACH, or ASSATH. A kind of excuse or purgation, formerly a custom in Wales, by which an accused person cleared himself by the oaths of 300 men. Abolished by 1 Hen. 5, c. 6. T. L.

ASSART (Lat. Assartum; Fr. Assartir, to make plain). An offence committed in the forest, by pulling up by the roots the woods that are thickets and covert for the deer, and by making them plain as arable land.

ASSAULT (fr. Fr. Assailler) is defined by Blackstone "to be an attempt or offer to beat another, without touching him": and though no actual suffering is proved, yet the party injured may have redress by action for damages as a compensation for the injury, or nominally by criminal prosecution. A battery is the unlawful

beating of another, and includes the least touching of another's person wilfully or in anger. Practically, however, the word assault is used to include the battery. 3 Steph. Com. ; 4 Steph. Com. ASSAY (Fr. Essay). A proof, a trial. Thus the assay of weights and measures is the examination of them by officials. ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL. [UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY.]

ASSENT. Consent. The executor's assent to a bequest is essential to perfect a legatee's title. Since Land Transfer Act, 1897, the legal estate in realty may be transferred to the devisee, by assent by personal representative.

ASSESSED TAXES. Assessed or charged in respect of particular subjects, e.g., male servants, horses, carriages, dogs. ASSESSORS. Persons who assess the public rates or taxes, also persons who assist a judge with their special knowledge of the subject which he has to decide: thus we speak of "legal 99 66 ""nautical assessors, assessors," cantile assessors."

mer

By s. 56 of the Judicature Act, 1873, the High Court or Court of Appeal may call in the aid of one or more assessors specially qualified, and may try and hear the matter in question with their assistance. Largely employed in the Admiralty Division. See also County Court Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, 1868, s. 14. In the House of Lords, 54 & 55 Vict. c. 53, s. 3; and before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in ecclesiastical matters, 39 & 40 Vict. c. 59, s. 14. 3 Steph. Com.

ASSETS (Fr. Assez, enough). By assets is meant such property as is available for the payment of the debts of an insolvent individual or company, or of a person deceased.

Assets of a deceased person are divided into real assets, consisting of what is called real estate, and personal assets, consisting of what is called personal estate, which are administered according to different rules.

Assets of a deceased person are also divided into legal, such as a creditor of the deceased might make available in an action at law for the payment of his debt; and equitable assets such as could be made available to a creditor in a court of equity only. They include such real assets as the testator has left expressly for the payment of his debts.

ASSETS-continued.

The importance of the distinction has now ceased to exist, as, since 1870, specialty and simple contract creditors rank pari passu against legal as well as equitable assets, and by the Land Transfer Act, 1897, s. 2, the executor or administrator may sell lands for any lawful purpose of administration, though there be no charge for payment of debts. [MARSHALLING ASSETS.]

ASSIGN, TO (Lat. Assignare), has two

significations: (1) to make over a right or interest to another; (2) to point out, or set forth. In the former sense we speak of the assignment of a lease, or of a debt or chose in action (q.v.); in the latter sense we have-to assign error, to assign perjury, to assign waste, etc. 1 Steph. Com.

Assign, as a substantive, is used in the sense of assignee. 1 Steph. Com. [ASSIGNEE.]

ASSIGNEE, or ASSIGN. One who is ap

pointed by another to do any act in his own right, or who takes the rights or title of another by assignment, as distinguished from a deputy who acts in the right of another. Such an assignee may be either by deed, i.e., by act of party, as when a lessee assigns his lease to another; or in law, he whom the law so makes, without any appointment of the person, as an administrator who is the assignee in law to the intestate. An assignee of land is not at common law bound by or entitled to the benefit of covenants which do not run with the land.

Assignees in bankruptcy were those in whom the property of a bankrupt became vested for the benefit of the creditors. They are now, by the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, called official receivers and trustees. Robson, Bkcy.

ASSIGNMENT OF DOWER. The act by which the share of a widow in her deceased husband's real estate was ascertained and set apart to her. 1 Steph. Com.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERRORS. The statement of the case of the plaintiff in error, setting forth the errors complained of. [ERROR.]

ASSIGNOR. One who transfers or assigns

property to another. [ASSIGNEE.] ASSISA CADERE. To be non-suited.

ASSISA CONTINUANDA. A writ directed to the justices of assize, for the continuance (ie., the adjournment) of a cause, where certain records alleged cannot be procured in time by the party desiring to use them. ASSITHMENT was a weregeld or compensation for murder, by a pecuniary mulct, due to the heirs of the person murdered.

ASSIZE (Lat. Assideo, to sit together) signifies, originally, the jury who are summoned by virtue of a writ of assize, who try the cause and "sit together' for that purpose. By a figure it was made to signify the court of jurisdicdiction, which summoned this jury together by a commission of assize, or ad assisas capiendas; and hence the judicial assemblies held by the Queen's commission in every county to deliver the gaols, and to try causes at nisi prius, are termed in common speech the assizes. See now the Judicature Act, 1873, ss. 11, 16, 29, 37, 77, 93, and 99. The holding of Winter and Spring Assizes is regulated by orders in council issued under the Winter Assizes Acts, 1876 and 1877, and the Spring Assizes Act, 1879 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 57; 40 & 41 Vict. c. 46; and 42 Vict. c. 1).

It is also an ordinance or statute, as the "Assize of Bread and Ale," the "Assize of Clarendon," and "Assize of Arms"; and is sometimes used to denote generally anything reduced to a certainty in respect to number, quantity, quality, weight or measure.

ASSIZE, COURTS OF, are composed of two or more commissioners, called judges of assize, who are sent by special commission from the Crown, on circuits all round the kingdom, to try such matters as are then under dispute. These judges of assize are the successors of the ancient "justices in eyre," justiciarii in itinere. They sit by virtue of four several authorities (1) Commission of Oyer and Terminer, which gives them power to deal with treasons, murders, felonies, etc., and this is their largest commission; (2) of gaol delivery, which requires them to try every prisoner in gaol, for whatsoever offence he be there; (3) of Nisi Prius, which empowers them to try, by a jury of twelve men of the county in which the venue is laid, all civil causes in which issue has been joined in one of the divisions of the High Court of Justice; and (4) Commission of peace in every county of their

ASSIZE, COURTS OF-continued.

circuit, by which all justices of the peace, having no lawful impediment, are bound to be present at the assizes, to attend the judges. If any make default, the judges may set a fine upon him at their pleasure and discretion. The sheriff of every shire is also to attend in person, or by sufficient deputy. There was formerly a fifth commission, that of assize, but the abolition of assize and other real actions has thrown this commission out of force. 3 Steph. Com. [ASSIZE, WRIT OF; CIRCUIT; NISI PRIUS.]

ASSIZE OF DARREIN PRESENTMENT (or last presentation). A writ directed to the sheriff to summon an assize or jury, to inquire who was the last patron that presented to a church then vacant, of which the plaintiff complained that he was deforced (i.e., unlawfully deprived) by the defendant; and according as the assize determined that question, a writ issued to the bishop, to institute the clerk of that patron in whose favour the determination

was made. 3 Steph. Com. It was abolished by stat. 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 27, s. 36, and the action of quare impedit was substituted. But since the C. L. P. Act, 1860, s. 26, no quare impedit can be brought, but an action may be commenced in the King's Bench (formerly Common Pleas) Division of the High Court.

ASSIZE OF MORT

[MORT D'ANCESTOR.]

D'ANCESTOR.

A writ

ASSIZE OF NOVEL DISSEISIN. which lay to recover possession of lands, of which the claimant had been lately disseised (that is, dispossessed). Abolished by stat. 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 27, s. 36. 3 Steph. Com.

ASSIZE, RENTS OF, are either chief rents or quit rents. 1 Steph. Com. [CHIEF RENTS; QUIT RENTS.]

ASSIZE, WRIT OF. A real action, now abolished, used for the purpose of regaining possession of lands whereof the demandant or his ancestors had been unjustly deprived by the tenant or possessor of the freehold, or those under whom he claimed. It proved the title of the demandant by showing his or his ancestor's possession, and it was not necessary (as it was in a writ of entry) to show the unlawful commencement of the tenant's possession. 3 Steph. Com. [ENTRY, WRIT OF.]

ASSIZES RELIEF ACT, 1890 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 12). To relieve the court of assize from the trial of persons charged with offences triable at quarter sessions.

ASSOCIATE. 1. An officer in each of the

superior courts of common law, whose duty is to keep the records and documents of the court to which he is attached, to attend its Nisi Prius sittings, and in each case to enter the verdict and to make up the postea or formal entry of the verdict, and deliver the record to the party entitled thereto. Stat. 15 & 16 Vict. c. 73, ss. 1-6. By the Judicature Act, 1873, S. 77, associates are now officers of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and, by the Judicature (Officers) Act, 1879, are styled "Masters of the Supreme Court."

2. A person associated with the judges and clerk of assize in the commission of general gaol delivery.

ASSOCIATION. A commission granted either by writ or patent to the justices of assize, to have other persons associated to them to take the assizes, that a sufficient supply of commissioners may never be wanting. It usually takes place when, from the illness of a judge, the press of business, or some other cause, additional help is required.

ASSOCIATION, ARTICLES OF. [ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION.]

ASSOCIATION, MEMORANDUM OF. [MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION.] ASSOIL (Lat. Absolvere) signifies to deliver or discharge a man of an excommunication.

Α

ASSUMPSIT (he has undertaken). voluntary promise, by which a man, for a consideration, assumes and takes upon him to perform or pay anything to another.

This word now is chiefly applied to the action which lay where a party claimed damages for breach of simple contract, i.e., a promise not under seal. 3 Steph. Com. [COVENANT; DEBT.] ASSURANCE. 1. The legal evidences of the transfer of property are called the common assurances of the kingdom. They are also called conveyances, and are in general effected by an instrument called a deed. 1 Steph. Com. 2. Insurance. [INSURANCE.]