COSMOPOLITE. A citizen of the world; one who has no fixed. residence.
Vide Citizen.
COSTS, practice. The expenses of a suit or action which may be
recovered by law from the losing party.
2. At common law, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant could recover costs
eonomine; but in all actions in which damages were recoverable, the plaintiff,
in effect, recovered his costs when he obtained a verdict, for the jury always
computed them in the damages. When the defendant obtained a verdict, or the
plaintiff became non-suit, the former was wholly without remedy for any expenses
he had incurred. It is true, the plaintiff was amerced pro falso clamore suo,
but the amercement was given to the king. Hull on Costs, 2 2 Arch. Pr. 281.
3. This defect was afterwards corrected by the statute of Gloucester, 6 Ed.
I, c. 1, by which it is enacted that "the demandant in assise of novel
disseisin, in writs of mort d'ancestor, cosinage, aiel and be sail, shall have
damages. And the demandant shall have the costs of the writ purchased, together
with damages, and this act shall hold place in all cases where the parly
recovers damages, and every person shall render damages where land is recovered
against him upon his own intrusion, or his own act." About forty-six years after
the passing of this statute, costs were for the first time allowed in France, by
an ordinance of Charles le Bel, (January, 1324.) See Hardw. Cas. 356; 2 Inst.
283, 288 2 Loisel, Coutumes, 328-9.
4. The statute of Gloucester has been adopted, substantially, in all the
United States. Though it speaks of the costs of the writ only, it bas, by
construction, been extended to the costs of the suit generally. The costs which
are recovered under it are such as shall be allowed by the master or
prothonotary upon taxation, and not those expenses which the. plaintiff may
have. incurred for himself, or the extraordinary fees he may have paid counsel,
or for the loss of his time. 2 Sell. Pr. 429.
5. Costs are single, when the party receives the same amount he has expended,
to be ascertained by taxation; double, vide Double costs. and treble, vide
Treble costs. Vide, generally, Bouv. Inst. Index, h. t.; Hullock on Costs;
Sayer's Law of Costs; Tidd's Pr. c. 40; 2 Sell. Pr. c. 19; Archb. Pr. Index, h.
t.; Bac. Ab. h. t.; Com. Dig. h. t.; 6 Vin. Ab. 321; Grah. Pr. c. 23 Chit. Pr.
h. t. 1 Salk. 207 1 Supp. to Ves. jr. 109; Amer. Dig. h. t.; Dane's Ab. h. t.;
Harr. Dig. h. t. As to the liability of executors and administrators for costs,
see 1, Chit. R. 628, note; 18 E. C. L. R. 185; 2 Bay's R. 166, 399; 1 Wash. R.
138; 2 Hen. & Munf. 361, 369; 4 John. R. 190; 8 John. R. 389; 2 John. Ca.
209. As to costs in actions qui tam, see Esp. on Pen. Act. 154 to 165.
COTTAGE, estates. A small dwelling house. See 1 Tho. Co. Litt. 216;
Sheph. Touchst. 94; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1571, note.
2. The grant of a cottage, it is said, passes a small dwelling-house, which
has no land belonging to it. Shep. To. 94.
COUCHANT. Lying down. Animals are said to have been levant and
couchant, when they have been upon another person's land, damage feasant, one
night at least. 3 Bl. Com. 9.
COUNCIL, legislation. This word signifies an assembly.
2. It was used among the Romans to express the meeting of only a part of the
people, and that the most respectable, in opposition to the assemblies of the
whole people.
3. It is now usually applied to the legislative bodies of cities and
boroughs.
4. In some states, as in Massacbusetts, a body of men called the council, are
elected, whose duties are to advise the governor in the executive part of the
government. Const. of Mass. part 2, c. 2, s. 3, art. 1 and 2. See 14 Mass. 470;
3 Pick. 517; 4 Pick. 25 19 John. R. 58. In England, the king's council are the
king's judges of his courts of justice. 3 Inst. 125; 1 Bl. Com. 229.
COUNSEL. Advice given to another as to what he ought to do or not to
do.
2. To counsel another to do an unlawful act, is to become accessory to it, if
it be a felony, or principal, if it be treason, or a misdemeanor. By the term
counsel is also understood counsellor at law. Vide To open; Opening.
COUNSEL, an officer of court. One who undertakes to conduct suits and
actions in court. The same as counsellor.
COUNSEL, practice, crim. law. In the oath of the grand jurors, there
is a provision requiring them to keep secret " the commonwealth's counsel, their
fellows, and their own." In this sense this word is synonymous with knowledge;
therefore, all the knowledge acquired by grand jurors, in consequence of their
office, either from the officers of the commonwealth, from their fellow-jurors,
or which they have obtained in any manner, in relation to cases which come
officially before them, must be kept secret. See Grand Jury.
COUNSELLOR, government. A counsellor is a member of a council. In some
of the states the executive power is vested in a governor, or a governor and
lieutenant governor, and council. The members of such council are called
counsellors. See the names of the several states.
COUNSELLOR AT LAW, offices. An officer in the supreme court of the
United States, and in some other courts, who is employed by a party in a cause,
to conduct the same on its trial on his behalf. He differs from an attorney at
law. (q. v.)
2. In the supreme court of the United States, the two degrees of attorney and
counsel are kept separate, and no person is permitted to practise both. It is
the duty of the counsel to draft or review and correct the special pleadings, to
manage the cause on trial, and, during the whole course of the suit, to apply
established principles of law to the exigencies of the case. 1 Kent, Com.
307.
3. Generally in the other courts of the United States, as well as in the
courts of Pennsylvania, the same person perform's the duty of counsellor and
attorney at law.
4. In giving their advice to their clients, counsel and others, professional
men have duties to perform to their clients, to the public, and to themselves.
In such cases they have thrown upon them something which they owe to the fair
administration of justice, as well as to the private interests of their
employers. The interests propounded for them ought, in their own apprehension,
to be just, or at least fairly disputable; and when such interests are
propounded, they ought not to be pursued per fas et nefas . Hag. R. 22.
5. A counsellor is not a hired person, but a mandatory; he does not render
his services for a price, but an honorarium, which may in some degree recompense
his care, is his reward. Doubtless, he is not indifferent to this remuneration,
but nobler motives influence his conduct. Follow him in his study when he
examines his cause, and in court on the trial; see him identify himself with the
idea of his client, and observe the excitement he feels on his account; proud
when he is, conqueror, discouraged, sorrowful, if vanquished; see his whole soul
devoted to the cause he has undertaken, and which he believes to be just, then
you perceive the elevated man, ennobled by the spirit of his profession, full of
sympathy for his cause and his client. He may receive a reward for his services,
but such things cannot be paid for with money. No treasures can purcbase the
sympathy and devotedness of a noble mind to benefit humanity; these things are
given, not sold. See Honorarium. 6. Ridley says, that the law has appointed no
stipend to philosophers and lawyers not because they are not reverend services
and worthy of reward or stipend, but because either of them are most honorable
professions, whose worthiness is not to be valued or dishonored by money. Yet,
in these cases many things are honestly taken, whi ch are not bonestly asked,
and the judge may, according to the quality of the cause, and the still of the
advocate, and the custom of the court, and, the worth of the matter that is in
hand, appoint them a fee answerable to their place. View of the Civil and
Eccles. Law, 38, 39.
COUNT, pleading. This word, derived from the French conte, a
narrative, is in our old law books used synonymously with declaration but
practice has introduced the following distinction: when the plaintiff's
complaint embraces only a single cause of action, and he makes only one
statement of it, that statement is called, indifferently, a declaration or
count; though the former is the more usual term.
2. But when the suit embraces two or more causes of action, (each of which of
course requires a different statement;) or when the plaintiff makes two or more
different statements of one and the same cause of action, each several statement
is called a count, and all of them, collectively, constitute the
declaration.
3. In all cases, however, in which there are two or more counts, whether
there is actually but one cause of action or several, each count purports, upon
the face of it, to disclose a distinct right of action, unconnected with that
stated in any of the other counts.
4. One object proposed, in inserting two or more counts in one declaration,
when there is in fact but one cause of action, is, in some cases, to guard
against the danger of an insufficient statement of the cause, where a doubt
exists as to the legal sufficiency of one or another of two different modes of
declaring; but the more usual end proposed in inserting more than one count in
such case, is to accommodate the statement to the cause, as far as may be, to
the possible state of the proof to be exhibited on trial; or to guard, if
possible, against the hazard of the proofs varying materially from the statement
of the cause of action; so that if one or more or several counts be not adapted
to the evidence, some other of them may be so. Gould on Pl. c. 4, s. 2, 3, 4;
Steph. Pl. 279; Doct. Pl. 1 78; 8 Com. Dig. 291; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; Bouv.
Inst. Index, h. t. In real actions, the declaration is most usually called a
count. Steph. Pl. 36, See Common count; Money count.
COUNTER, Eng. law. The name of an ancient prison in the city of
London, which has now been demolished.
COUNTER AFFIDAVIT. An affidavit made in opposition to one already
made; this is allowed in the preliminary examination of some cases.
COUNTER SECURITY. Security given to one who has become security for
another, the condition of which is, that if the one who first became surety
shall be damnified, the one who gives the counter security will indemnity
him.
TO COUNTERFEIT, criminal law. To make something false, in the
semblance of that which is true; it always implies a fraudulent intent. Vide
Vin. Ab. h. t. Forgery.
COUNTERMAND. This word signifies a. change or recall of orders
previously given.
2. It may be express or implied. Express, when contrary orders are given and
a revocation. of the former order is made. Implied, when a new order is given
which is inconsistent with the former order: as, if a man should order a
merchant to ship him in a particular vessel -certain goods which belonged to
him, and then, before the goods were shipped, he directed him to ship them in
another vessel; this would be a countermand of the first order.
3. While the first command is unrecalled, the person who gave it would be
liable to all the consequences in case he should be obeyed; but if, for example,
a man should command another to commit a crime and, before its perpetration, he
should repent and countermand it, he would not be liable for the consequences if
the crime should afterwards be committed.
4. When a command or order has been given, and property delivered, by which a
right vests in a third person, the party giving the order cannot countermand it;
for example, if a debtor should deliver to A a sum of money to be paid to B, his
creditor, B has a vested right in the money, and unless he abandon that right,
and refuse to take the money, the debtor cannot recover it from A. 1 Roll. Ab.
32, pl. 13; Yelv. 164 Sty. 296. See 3 Co. 26 b.; 2 Vent. 298 10 Mod. 432; Vin.
Ab. Countermand, A 1; Vin. Ab. Bailment, D; 9 East, 49; Roll. Ab. 606; Bac. Ab.
Bailment, D; Com. Dig. Attorney, B 9, c. 8; Dane's Ab. h. t.; and Command.
COUNTERPART, contracts. Formerly each party to an indenture executed a
separate deed; that part which was executed by the grantor was called the
original, and the rest the counterparts. It is now usual for all the parties to
execute every part, and this makes them all originals. 2 Bl. Com. 296.
2. In granting lots subject to a ground rent reserved to the grantor, both
parties execute the deeds, of which there are two copies; although both are
original, one of them is sometimes called the counterpart. Vide 12 Vin. Ab. 104;
Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; 7 Com. Dig. 443; Merl. Repert. mots Double Ecrit.
COUNTERPLEA, pleading. When a tenant in any real action, tenant by the
curtesy, or tenant in dower, in his answer and plea, vouches any one to warrant
his title, or prays in aid another who has a larger estate, as of the
remainder-man or reversioner or when a stranger to the action comes and prays to
be received to save his estate; then that which the defendant alleges against
it, why it should not be admitted, is called a counterplea. T. de la Ley; Doct.
Placit. 300 Com. Dig. h. t.; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.
COUNTERS, English law. - Formerly there were in London two prisons
belonging to the sheriffs courts, which bore this name. They are now demolished.
4 Inst. 248.
COUNTERSIGN. To countersign is to sign on the opposite side of an
instrument already signed by some other person or officer, in order to secure
its character of a genuine paper; as a bank note is signed by the president and
countersigned by the cashier.
COUNTRY. By country is meant the state of which one is a member.
2. Every man's country is in general the state in which he happens to have
been born, though there are some exceptions. See Domicil; Inhabitant. But a man
has the natural right to expatriate himself, i. e. to abandon his country, or
his right of citizenship acquired by means of naturalization in any country in
which he may have taken up his residence. See Allegiance; Citizen; Expatriation.
in another sense, country is the same as pais. (q. v.)
COUNTY. A district into which a state is divided.
2. The United States are generally divided into counties; counties are
divided into townships or towns.
3. In Pennsylvania the division of the province into three Counties, viz.
Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester, was one of the earliest acts of William Penn,
the original proprietary. There is no printed record of this division, or of the
original boundaries of these counties. Proud says it was made about the year
1682. Proud's Hist. vol. 1) p. 234 vol. 2, p. 258.
4. In some states, as Illinois; 1 Breese, R. 115; a county is considered as a
corporation, in others it is only a quasi corporation. 16 Mass. R. 87; 2 Mass.
R. 644 7 Mass. R. 461; 1 Greenl. R. 125; 3 Greenl. R. 131; 9 Greenl. R. 88; 8
John. R. 385; 3 Munf. R. 102. Frequent difficulties arise on the division of a
county. On this subject, see 16 Mass. R. 86 6 J. J. Marsh. 147; 4 Halst. R. 357;
5 Watts, R. 87 1 Cowen, R. 550; 6 Cowen, R. 642; Cowen, R. 640; 4 Yeates, R. 399
10 Mass. Rep. 290; 11 Mass. Rep. 339.
5. In the English law this word signifies the same as shire, county being
derived from the French and shire from the Saxon. Both these words signify a
circuit or portion of the realm, into which the whole land is divided, for the
better government thereof, and the more easy administration of justice. There is
no part of England that is not within some county, and the shire-reve, (sheriff)
originally a yearly officer, was the governor of the county. Four of the
counties of England, viz. Lancaster, Chester, Durham and Ely, were called
counties Palatine, which were jurisdictions of a peculiar nature, and held by,
especial charter from the king. See stat. 27 H. VIII. c.25.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. Certain officers generally entrusted with the
superintendence of the collection of the county taxes, and the disbursements
made. for the county. They are administrative officers, invested by the local
laws with various powers.
2. In Pennsylvania the office of county commissioner originated in the act of
1717, which was modified by the act of 1721, and afterwards enlarged by the act
of 1724. Before the office of county commissioner was established, assessors
were elected who performed-similar duties. See Act of 1700, 4 Votes of Assembly,
205, 209.
COUPONS. Those parts of a commercial instrument which are. to be cut,
and which are evidence of something connected with the contract mentioned in-the
instrument. They are generally attached to certificates of loan, where the
interest is payable at particular periods, and, when the interest is paid, they
are cut off and delivered to the payor.
COURIER. One who is sent on some public occasion as an express, to
bear despatches, letters, and other papers.
2. Couriers sent. by an ambassador or other public minister, are protected
from arrest or molestation. Vattel, liv. 4, c. 9, 123.
COURSE. The direction in which a line runs in surveying.
2. When there are no monuments, (q. v.) the land must be bounded by the
courses and distances mentioned in the patent or deed. 4 Wheat. 444; 3 Pet. 96;
3 Murph. 82; 2 Har. & John. 267; 5 Har. & John. 254. When the lines are
actually marked, they must be adhered to, though they vary from the course
mentioned in the deeds. 2 Overt. 304; 7 Wheat. 7. 1 See 3 Call, 239 7 Mont. 333.
Vide Boundary; Line.
COURSE OF TRADE. What is usually done in the management of trade or
business.
2. Men are presumed to act for their own interest, and to pursue the way
usually adopted by men generally; hence it is presumed in law, that men in their
actions will pursue the usual course of trade. For this reason it is presumed
that a bank note was signed before it was issued, though the signature be torn
off. 2 Rob. Lo. R. 112. That one having possession of a bill of exchange upon
him, has paid it; that one who pays an order or draft upon him, pays out of the
funds of the drawer in his hands. But the case is different where the order is
for the delivery of goods, they being presumed to have been sold by the drawee
to the drawer. 9 Wend. 323; 1 Greenl. Ev. 38.
COURSE OF THE VOYAGE. By this term is understood the regular and
customary track, if such there be, which a ship takes in going from one port to
another, and the shortest way. Marsh. on Ins. 185.
COURT, practice. A court is an incorporeal political being, which
requires for its existence, the presence of the judges, or a competent number of
them, and a clerk or prothonotary, at the time during which, and at the place
where it is by law authorized to be held; and the performance of some public
act, indicative of a design to perform the functions of a court.
2. In another sense, the judges, clerk, or prothonotary, counsellors and
ministerial officers, are said to constitute the court.
3. According to Lord, Coke, a court is a place where justice is judicially
administered. Co. Litt. 58, a.
4. The judges, when duly convened, are also called the court. Vide 6 Vin. Ab.
484; Wheat . Dig. 127; Merl. Rep. h. t.; 3 Com. Dig. 300; 8 Id. 386; Dane's Ab.
Index, h. t.; Bouv. Inst. Index, h. t.
5. It sometimes happens that the judges composing a court are equally divided
on questions discussed before them. It has been decided, that when such is the
case on an appeal or writ of error, the judgment or decree is affirmed. 10
Wheat. 66; 11 Id. 59. If it occurs on a motion in arrest of judgment, a judgment
is to be entered on the verdict. 2 Dall. Rep. 388. If on a motion for a new
trial, the motion is rejected. 6 Wheat. 542. If on a motion to enter judgment on
a verdict, the judgment is entered. 6 Binn. 100. In England, if the house of
lords be equally divided on a writ of error, the judgment of the court below is
affirmed. 1 Arch. Pr. 235. So in Cam. Scacc. 1 Arch. Pr. 240. But in error coram
nobis, no judgment can be given if the judges are equally divided, except by
consent. 1 Arch. Pr. 246. When the judges are equally divided on the admission
of testimony, it cannot be received. But see 3 Yeates, 171. Also, 2 Bin. 173; 3
Bin. 113 4 Bin. 157; 1 Johns. Rep. 118 4 Wash. C. C. Rep. 332, 3. See Division
of Opinion.
6. Courts are of various kinds. When considered as to their powers, they are
of record and not of record; Bac. Ab. Courts, D; when compared. to each other,
they are supreme, superior, and inferior, Id.; when examined as to their
original jurisdiction, they are civil or criminal; when viewed as to their
territorial jurisdiction, they are central or local; when divided as to their
object, they are courts of law, courts of equity, courts martial, admiralty
courts, and ecclesiastical courts. They are also courts of original
jurisdiction, courts of error, and courts of appeal. Vide Open Court.
7. Courts of record cannot be deprived of their jurisdiction except by
express negative words. 9 Serg. & R. 298; 3 Yeates, 479 2 Burr. 1042 1 Wm.
Bl. Rep. 285. And such a court is the court of common pleas in Pennsylvania. 6
Serg. & R. 246.
8. Courts of equity are not, in general, courts of record. Their decrees
touch the person, not lands. or goods. 3 Caines, 36. Yet, as to personalty,
their decrees are equal to a judgment; 2. Madd. Chan. 355; 2 Salk., 507; 1 Ver.
214; 3 Caines, 35; and have preference according to priority. 3 P. Wms. 401 n.;
Cas. Temp. Talb. 217; 4 Bro. P. C. 287; 4 Johns. Chan. Cas. 638. They are also
conclusive between the parties. 6 Wheat. 109. Assumpsit will lie on a decree of
a foreign court of chancery for a sum certain; 1 Campb. Rep. 253, per Lord
Kenyon; but not for a sum not ascertained. 3 Caines, 37, (n.) In Pennsylvania,
an action at law will lie on a decree of a court of chancery, but the pleas nil
debet and nultiel record cannot be pleaded in such an action. 9 Serg. & R.
258.
COURT CHRISTIAN. An ecclesiastical judicature, known in England, so
called from its handling matters of an ecclesiastical or religious nature. 2
Inst. 488. Formerly the jurisdiction of these courts was not thus Iimited. The
emperor Theodosius promulgated a law that all suits (lites) and forensic
controversies should be remitted to the judgment of the church, if either of the
litigating parties should require it. Fr. Duaren De Sac. Minist. Eccl. lib. 1,
c. 2. This law was renewed and confirmed by Charlemagne.
COURT OF ARCHES , eccl. law. The most ancient consistory court
belonging to the archbishop of Canterbury for the trial of spiritual causes. It
is so called, because it was anciently held in the church of Saint Mary le bow;
which church had that appellation from its steeple, which was raised at the top
with stone pillars, in the manner of an arch or bow. Termes de la Ley.
COURT OF ADMIRALTY. A court having jurisdiction of all maritime
causes. Vide Admiralty; Courts of the United States; Instance Courts; Prize
Court; 2 Chit. Pr. 508 to 538.
COURT OF AUDIENCE, Eng. eccl. law. The name of a court kept by the
archbishop in his palace, in which are transacted matters of form only; as
confirmation of bishops, elections, consecrations, and the like.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. The name of an English court which was
established on the breaking up of the aula regis, for the determination of pleas
merely civil. It was at first ambulatory, but was afterwards located. This
jurisdiction is founded on original write issuing out of chancery, in the cases
of common persons. But when an attorney or person belonging to the court, is
plaintiff, he sues by writs, of privilege, and is sued by bill, which is in the
nature of a petition; both which originate in the common pleas. See Bench;
Banc.
2. There are courts in most of the states of the United States which bear the
name of common pleas; they have various powers and jurisdictions.
COURT OF CONSCIENCE, Eng. law. The name of a court in London. It has
equity jurisdiction in certain cases. The reader is referred to Bac. Ab. Courts
in London, 2.
COURT OF CONVOCATION, eccles. law. The name of an English
ecclesiastical court. It is composed of every bishop, dean, and archdeacon, a
proctor for the chapter, and two proctors for the clergy of each diocese in the
province of Canterbury, for the province of York, there are two proctors for
each archdeaconry.
2. This assembly meets at the time appointed in the king's writ, and
constitute an ecclesiastical parliament. The archbishop and his suffragans, as
his peers, are sitting together, and composing one house, called the upper house
of convocation the deans, archdeacons, and a proctor for the chapter, and two
proctors for the clergy, the lower house. In this house a prolocutor, performing
the duty of a president, is elected.
8. The jurisdiction of this tribunal extends to matters of heresy, schisms,
and other mere spiritual or ecclesiastical causes. Bac. Ab. Ecclesiastical
Courts, A 1.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Eng. law. A court of record anciently established
for the trial of all matters relating to the revenue of the crown. Bac. Ab. h.
t.
COURT OF FACULTIES, Eng. eccl. law. The name of a court which belongs
to the archbishop, in which his officer, called magister ad facultates, grants
dispensations to marry, to eat flesh on days prohibited, or to ordain a deacon
under age, and the like. 4 Inst. 337.
COURT, INSTANCE. One of the branches of the English admiralty is
called an instance court. Vide Instance Court.
COURT OF INQUIRY. A court constituted by authority of the articles of
war, invested with the power to examine into the nature of any transaction,
accusation, or imputation against any officer or soldier; the said court shall
consist. of one or more officers, not exceeding three, and a judge advocate, or
other suitable person, as a recorder, to reduce the proceedings and evidencee to
writing, all of whom shall be sworn to the performance of their duty. Art. 91.
Gord. Dig. Laws U. S., art. 3558 to 3560.
COURT OF KING'S BENCH. The name of the supreme court of law in
England. Vide King's Bench.
COURT MARTIAL. A court authorized by the articles of war, for the
trial of all offenders in the army or navy, for military offences. Article 64,
directs that general courts martial may consist of any number of commissioned
officers, from five to thirteen, inclusively; but they shall not consist of less
than thirteen, where the number can be convened, without manifest injury to the
service.
2. The decision of the commanding officer who appoints the court, as to the
number that can be convened without injury to the service, is conclusive. 12
Wheat. R. 19. Such a court has not jurisdiction over a citizen of the United
States not employed in military service 12 John. R. 257. It has merely a limited
jurisdiction, and to render its jurisdiction valid, it must appear to have acted
within such jurisdiction. 3 S. & R. 590 11 Pick. R. 442; 19 John. R. 7; 1
Rawle, R. 143.
3. A court martial must have jurisdiction over the subject matter of inquiry,
and over the person for a want of these will render its judgment null, and the
members of the court and the officers who execute its sentence, trespassers. 3
Cranch, 331. See 5 Wheat. 1; 12 Wheat. 19; 1 Brock. 324. Vide Gord. Dig. Laws U.
S., art. 3331 to 3357; 2 Story,. L. U. S. 1000; and also the Treatises of Adye,
Delafon, Hough, J. Kennedy, M. V. Kennedy, McArthur, McNaghten, Simmons and
Tyler on Courts Martial; and 19 John. R, 7; 12 John. R. 257; 20 John. R. 343; 5
Wheat. R. 1; 1 U. S. Dig. tit. Courts, V.
COURT OF PECULIARS, Eng. eccl. law. The name of a court, which is a
branch of, and annexed to, the. court of arches.
2. It has jurisdiction over all those parishes dispersed through the province
of Canterbury, in the midst of other dioceses. In the other peculiars, the
jurisdiction is exercised by commissaries. 1 Phill. R. 202, n.
3. There are three sorts of peculiars 1. Royal peculiars. 3 Phill. R. 245. 2.
The second sort are those in which the bishop has no concurrent jurisdiction,
and are exempt from his visitation. 3. The third are subject to the bishop's
visitation, and liable to his superintendence and jurisdiction. 3 Phill. R. 245;
Skinn. R. 589.
COURT PREROGATIVE. Vide Prerogative Court.
COURT, PRIZE. One of the branches of the English admiralty, is called
a prize court. Vide Prize Court.
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