AMI. A friend; or, as it is written in old works, amy. Vide Prochein amy.
AMICABLE ACTION, Pennsylvania practice. An action entered by agreement of parties on the dockets of the courts; when entered, such action is considered as if it, had been adversely commenced, and the defendant had been regularly summoned. An amicable action may be entered by attorney, independently of the provisions of the act of 1866. 8 Er & R. 567.
AMICUS CURIAE, practice. A friend of the court. One, who as a stander by, when a judge is doubtful or mistaken in a matter of law, may inform the court. 2 Inst. 178; 2 Vin. Abr. 475; and any one, as amicus curia, may make an application to the court in favor of an infant, though he be no relation. 1 Ves. Sen. 313. AMITA. A paternal aunt; the sister of one's father. Inst. 3, 6, 3.
AMNESTY, government. An act of oblivion of past offences, granted by the government to those who have been guilty of any neglect or crime, usually upon condition that they return to their duty within a certain period.
2. An amnesty is either express or implied; it is express, when so declared in direct terms; and it is implied, when a treaty of peace is made between contending parties. Vide Vattel, liv. 4, c. 2, 20, 21, 22; Encycl. Amer. h.t.
3. Amnesty and pardon, are very different. The former is an act of the sove reign power, the object of which is to efface and to cause to be forgotten, a crime or misdemeanor; the latter, is an act of the same authority, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime he has committed. 7 Pet. 160. Amnesty is the abolition and forgetfulness of the offence; pardon is forgiveness. A pardon is given to one who is certainly guilty, or has been convicted; amnesty, to those who may have been so.
4. Their effects are also different. That of pardon, is the remission of the whole or a part of the punishment awarded by the law; the conviction remaining unaffected when only a partial pardon is granted: an amnesty on the concrary, has the effect of destroying the criminal act, so that it is as if it had not been committed, as far as the public interests are concerned.
5. Their application also differs. Pardon is always given to individuals, and properly only after judgment or conviction: amnesty may be granted either before judgment or afterwards, and it is in general given to whole classes of criminals or supposed criminals, for the purpose of restoring tranquillity in the state. But sometimes amnesties are limited, and certain classes are excluded from their operation.
AMORTIZATION, contracts, English law. An alienation of lands or tenements in mortraain. 2 Stat. Ed. I.
2. The reduction of the property of lands or tenements to mortmain.
AMORTISE, contracts. To alien lands in mortmain.
AMOTION. In corporations and companies, is the act of removing an officer from his office; it differs from disfranchisement, which is applicable to members, as such. Wille. on Corp. n. 708. The power of amotion is incident to a corporation. 2 Str. 819; 1 Burr. 639.
2. In Rex v. Richardson, Lord Mansfield specified three sorts of offences for which an officer might be discharged; first, such as have no immediate relation to the office, but are in themselves of so infamous a nature, as to render the offender unfit to execute any public franchise; secondly, such as are only against his oath, and the duty of his office as a corporator, and amount to breaches of the tacit condition annexed to his office; thirdly, the third offence is of a mixed nature; as being an offence not only against the duty of his officer but also a matter indictable at common law. 2 Binn. R. 448. And Lord Mansfield considered the law as settled, that though a corporation has express power of amotion, yet for the first sort of offences there must be a previous indictment and conviction; and that there was no authority since Bagg's Case, 11 Rep. 99, which says; that the power of trial as well as of amotion, for the second offense, is not incident to every corporation. He also observed: "We think that from the reason of the thing, from the nature of the corporation, and for the sake of order and good government, this power is incident as much as the power of making by-laws." Doug. 149. See generally, Wilcock on Mun. Corp. 268; 6 Conn. Rep. 632; 6 Mass. R. 462; Ang. & Am. on Corpor. 236.
AMOTION, tort. An amotion of possession from an estate, is an ouster which happens by a species of disseisin or turning out of the legal propritor before his estate is determined. 3 Bl. Com. 198, 199. Amotion is also applied to personal chattels when they are taken unlawfully out of the possession of the owner, or of one who has a special property in them.
AMPLIATION, civil law. A deferring of judgment until the cause is further examined. In this case, the judges pronounced the word amplius, or by writing the letters N.L. for non liquet, signifying that the cause was not clear. In practice, it is usual in the courts when time is taken to form a judgment, to enter a curia advisare vult; cur. adv. vult. (q. v.)
AMPLIATION, French law. Signifies the giving a duplicate of an acquittance or other instrument, in order that it may be produced in different places. The copies which notaries make out of acts passed before them, and which are delivered to the parties, are also called ampliations. Dict. de Jur. h. t.
AMY or ami, a French word, signifying, friend. Prochein amy, (q. v.) the next friend. Alien amy, a foreigner, the citizen or subject of some friendly power or prince.
AN, JOUR, ET WASTE. See Year, day, and waste.
ANALOGY, comtruction. The similitude of relations which exist between things compared.
2. To reason analogically, is to draw conclusions based on this similitude of relations, on the resemblance, or the connexion which is perceived between the objects compared. "It is this guide," says Toollier, which leads the law lawgiver, like other men, without his observing it. It is analogy which induces us, with reason, to suppose that, following the example of the Creator of the universe, the lawgiver has established general and uniform laws, which it is unnecessary to repeat in all analogous cases." Dr. Civ. Fr. liv. 3, t. 1, c. 1. Vide Ang. on Adv. Enjoym. 30, 31; Hale's Com. Law, 141.
3. Analogy has been declared to be an argument or guide in forming legal judgments, and is very commonly a ground of such judgments. 7 Barn. & Cres. 168; 3 Bing. R. 265; 8 Bing R. 557, 563; 3 Atk. 313; 1 Eden's R. 212; 1 W. Bl. 151; 6 Ves. jr. 675, 676; 3 Swanst. R. 561; 1 Turn. & R. 103, 338; 1 R. & M. 352, 475, 477; 4 Burr. R. 1962; 2022, 2068; 4 T. R. 591; 4 Barn. & Cr. 855; 7 Dowl. & Ry. 251; Cas. t. Talb. 140; 3 P. Wms. 391; 3 Bro. C. C. 639, n.
ANARCHY. The absence of all political government; by extension, it signifies confusion in government.
ANATHEMA, eccl. law. A punishment by which a person is separate from, the body of the church, and forbidden all intercourse with the faithful: it differs from excommunication, which simply forbids the person excommunicated, from going into the church and communicating with the faithful. Gal. 1. 8, 9.
ANATOCISM, civil law. Usury, which consists in taking interest on interest, or receiving compound interest. This is forbidden. Code, lib. 4, t. 32, 1, 30; 1 Postlethwaite's Dict.
2. Courts of equity have considered contracts for compounding interest illegal, and within the statute of usury. Cas. t. Talbot, 40; et vide Com. Rep. 349; Mass. 247; 1 Ch. Cas. 129; 2 Ch. Cas. 35. And contra, 1 Vern. 190. But when the interest has once accrued, and a balance has been settled between the parties, they may lawfully agree to turn such interest into principal, so as to carry interest in futuro. Com. on Usury, ch. 2, s. 14, p. 146 et eq.
ANCESTOR, descents. One who has preceded another in a direct line of descent; an ascendant. In the common law, the word is understood as well of the immediate parents, as, of these that are higher; as may appear by the statute 25 Ed. III. De natis ultra mare, and so in the statute of 6 R. III. cap. 6, and by many others. But the civilians relations in the ascending line, up to the great grandfather's parents, and those above them, they term, majores, which common lawyers aptly expound antecessors or ancestors, for in the descendants of like degree they are called posteriores. Cary's Litt.45. The term ancestor is applied to natural persons. The words predecessors and successors, are used in respect to the persons composing a body corporate. See 2 Bl. Com. 209; Bac. Abr. h. t.; Ayl. Pand. 58.
ANCESTRAL. What relates to or has, been done by one's ancestors; as homage ancestral, and the like.
ANCHOR. A measure containing ten gallons. Lex, Mereatoria.
ANCHORAGE, merc. law. A toll paid for every anchor cast from a ship into a river, and sometimes a toll bearing this name is paid, although there be no anchor cast. This toll is said to be incident to almost every port. 1 Wm. Bl. 413; 2 Chit. Com. Law, 16.
ANCIENT. Something old, which by age alone has acquired some force; as ancient lights, ancient writings.
ANCIENT DEMESNE, Eng. law. Those lands which either were reserved to the crown at the original distribution of landed property, or such as came to it afterwards, by forfeiture or other means. 1. Sal. 57; hob. 88; 4 Inst. 264; 1 Bl. Com. 286; Bac. Ab. h. t.; F. N. B. 14.
ANCIENT LIGHTS, estates. Windows which have been opened for twenty years or more, and enjoyed without molestation by the owner of the house. 5 Har. & John. 477; 12 Mass. R. 157,.220.
2. It is proposed to consider, 1. How the right of ancient light is gained. 2, What amounts to interruption of an ancient light. 3, The remedy for obstructing an ancient light.
3. - 1. How the right of opening or keeping a window open is gained. 1. By grant. 2. By lapse of time. Formerly it was holden that a party could not maintain an action for a nuisance to an ancient light, unless he had gained a right to the window by prescription. 1 Leon. 188; Cro. Eliz. 118. But the modern doctrine is, that upon proof of an adverse enjoyment of light; for twenty yers or upwards, unexplained, a jury may be directed to presume a right by grant, or otherwise. 2 Saund. 176, a; 12 Mass. 159; 1 Esp. R. 148. See also 1 Bos. & Pull. 400.; 3 East, 299; Phil. Ev. 126; 11 East, 372; Esp. Dig. 636. But if the window was opened during the seisin of a mere tenant for life, or a tenaucy for years, and the owner in fee did not acquiesce in, or know of, the use of the light, he would not be bound. 11 East, 372; 3 Camp. 444; 4 Camp. 616. If the owner of a close builds a house upon one half of it, with a window lighted from the other half, he cannot obstruct lights on the premises granted by him; and in such case no lapse of time necessary to confirm the grantee's right to enjoy them. 1 Vent. 237, 289; 1 Lev. 122; 1 Keb. 553; Sid. 167, 227; L. Raym. 87; 6 Mod. 116; 1 Price, 27; 12 Mass. 159, Rep. 24; 2 Saund. 114, n. 4; Hamm. N. P. 202; Selw. N. P. 1090; Com. Dig. Action on the Case for a Nuisance, A. Where a building has been used twenty years to one purpose, (as a malt house,) and it is converted to another, (as a dwelling-house,) it is entitled in its new state only to the same degree of light which was necessary in its former state. 1 Campb. 322; and see 3 Campb. 80. It has been justly remarked, that the English doctrine as to ancient lights can hardly be regarded as applicable to narrow lots in the new and growing cities of this country; for the effect of the rule would be greatly to impair the value of vacant lots, or those having low buildings upon them, in the neighborhood of other buildings more than twenty years old. 3 Kent, Com. 446, n.
4. - 2. What amounts to an interruption of an ancient light. Where a window has been completely blocked up for twenty years, it loses its privilege. 3 Camp. 514. An abandonment of the right by express agreement, or by acts from which an abandonment may be inferred, will deprive the party having such ancient light of his right to it. The building of a blank wall where the lights formerly existed, would have that effect. 3 B. & Cr. 332. See Ad. & Ell. 325.
5. - 3. Of the remedy for interrupting an ancient light. 1. An action on the case will lie against a person who obstructs an ancient light. 9 Co. 58; 2 Rolle's Abr. 140, 1. Nusans, G 10. And see Bac. Ab. Actions on the Case, D; Carth. 454; Comb.481; 6 Mod. 116.
6.- Total deprivation of light is not necesary to sustain this action, and if the party cannot enjoy the light in so free and ample a manner as he did before, he may sustain the action; but there should be some sensible diminution of the light and air. 4. Esp. R. 69. The building a wall which merely obstructs the right, is not actionable. 9 Ca. 58, b; 1 Mod. 55.
7. - 3. Nor is the opening windows and destroying, the privacy of the adjoining property; but such new window may be immediately obstructed to prevent a right to it being acquired by twenty years use. 3 Campb. 82.
8. - 5. When the right is clearly established, courts of equity will grant an injunction to restrain a party from building so near the plaintiff's house as to darken his windows. 2 Vern. 646; 2 Bro. C. C. 65; 16 Ves. 338; Eden on Inj. 268, 9; 1 Story on Eq 926; 1 Smith's Chan. Pr. 593.; 4 Simm. 559; 2 Russ. R. 121. See Injunction; Plan.
See generally on this subject, 1 Nels. Abr. 56, 7; 16 Vin. Abr. 26; 1 Leigh's N. P. C. 6, s. 8, p. 558; 12 E. C. L. R. 218; 24 Id. 401; 21 Id. 373; 1 id. 161; 10 Id. 99; 28 Id. 143; 23 Am. Jur. 46 to 64; 3 Kent, Com. 446, 2d ed. 7 Wheat. R. 106; 19 Wend. R. 309; Math on Pres. 318 to 323; 2 Watts, 331; 9 Bing. 305; 1 Chit. Pr. 206, 208; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1619-23.
ANCIENT WRITINGS, evidence. Deeds, wills, and other writings more than thirty years old, are considered ancient writings. They may in general be read in evidence, without any other proof of their execution than that they have been in the possession of those claiming rights under them. Tr. per Pais, 370; 7 East, R. 279; 4 Esp. R. 1; 9 Ves. Jr. 5; 3 John. R. 292; 1 Esp. R. 275; 5 T. R. 259; 2 T. R. 466; 2 Day's R. 280. But in the case of deeds, possession must have accompanied them. Plowd. 6, 7. See Blath. Pres. 271, n. (2.)
ANCIENTLY, English law. A term for eldership or seniority used in the statute of Ireland, 14 Hen. Vni.
ANCIENTS, English law. A term for gentlemen in the Inns of Courts who are of a certain standing. In the Middle Temple, all who have passed their readings are termed ancients. In Gray's Inn, the ancients are the oldest barristers; besides which the society consists of benchers, barristers and students. In the Inas of Chancery, it conts of ancients, and students or clerks.
ANCILLARY. That which is subordinate on, or is. subordinate to, some other decision. Encyc. Lond. 1
ANDROLEPSY. The taking by one nation of the citizens or subjects of another, in order to compel the latter to do justice to the former. Wolff. 1164; Molloy, de Jure lar. 26.