Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

COMMON OF PISCARY

232

COMMON INTENDMENT

going, the "common law" may designate all that part of the positive law, juristic theory, and ancient custom of any state or nation which is of general and universal application, thus marking off special or local rules or cus toms. COMMON-LAW PROCEDURE ACTS. Three acts of parliament, passed in the years 1852, 1854, and 1860, respectively, for the amendment of the procedure in the common law courts. The common-law procedure act of 1852 is St. 15 & 16 Viet. c. 76; that oi 1854, St. 17 & 18 Viet. c. 125, and that of 1860, St. 23 & 24 Viet. c. 126. Mozley & Whitley. COMMON LAWYER. A lawyer learned in the common law. COMMON LEARNING. Familiar law or doctrine. Dyer, 276, 33. COMMON NUISANCE. One which affects the public in general, and not merely some particular person. 1 Hawk. P. C. 197 See NUISANCE. COMMON OF DIGGING. Commonoi digging, or common in the soil, is the right to take for one's own use pait of the soil or minerals in anothei's land; the most usual subjects of the right are sand, gravel, stones,, and clay. It is of a very similar nature to common of estovers and of turbary. Elton r Com. 109. COMMON OF ESTOVERS. A liberty of taking necessary wood for the use or fur niture of a house or farm from off another'* estate, in common with the owner or with others. 2 Bl. Comm. 35. It may be claimed, like common of pasture, either by grant or prescription. 2 Steph. Comm. 10. COMMON OF FOWLING. In some parts of the country a right of taking wild animals (such as conies or wildfowl) from the land of another has been found to exist; in the case of wildfowl, it is called a "com mon of fowling." Elton, Com, 118. COMMON OF PASTURE. The right or liberty of pasturing one's cattle upon another man's land. It may be either ap pendant, appurtenant, in gross, or because of vicinage. COMMON OF PISCARY, or FISH ERY. The right or liberty of fishing in another man's water, in common with the owner or with other persons. 2 Bl. Comm. 34. A liberty or right of fishing in the water covering the soil of another person, or in »

fine or penalty which the law allots to the in former in certain cases. COMMON INTENDMENT. The nat ural and usual sense; the common meaning or understanding; the plain meaning of any writing as apparent on its face without straining or distorting the construction. COMMON INTENT. The natural sense given to words. COMMON JURY. In practice. The ordinary kind of jury by which issues of fact are generally tried, as distinguished from a special jury, (q. v.) COMMON LAW 1. As distinguished from the Roman law, the modern civil law, the canon law, and other systems, the com mon law is that body of law and juristic theory which was originated, developed, and formu lated and is administered in England, and has obtained among most of the states and peoples of Anglo-Saxon stock. 2. As distinguished from law created by the enactment of legislatures, the common law comprises the body of those principles and rules of action, relating to the govern ment and security of persons and property, which derive their authority solely from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity, or from the judgments and decrees of the courts recognizing, affirming, and enforcing such usages and customs; and, in this sense, particularly the ancient unwritten law of England. 3. As distinguished from equity law, it is a body of rules and principles, written or un written, which are of fixed and immutable authority, and which must be applied to con troversies rigorously and in their entirety, and cannot be modified to suit the peculiari ties of a specific case, or colored by any judi cial discretion, and which rests confessedly upon custom or statute, as distinguished from any claim to ethical superiority. 4. As distinguished from ecclesiastical law, it is the system of juiisprudence admin istered by the purely secular tribunals. 5. As concerns its force and authority in the United States, the phrase designates that portion of the common law of England (in cluding such acts of parliament as were ap plicable) which had been adopted and was in force here at the time of the Revolution. This, so far as it has not since been expressly abrogated, is recognized as an organic part of the jurisprudence of most of the United States. 6. In a wider sense than any of the fore

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