Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

ACTOB

28

ACTION

ACTION OF ABSTRACTED MULT URES. In bcotch law. An action for mult ares or tolls against those who are thirled to a mill, i. e., bound to grind their corn at a certain mill, and fail to do so. Bell. ACTION OP ADHERENCE. InScotch aw. An action competent to a husband or jvife, to compel either party to adhere in case of desertion. It is analogous to the English suit for restitution of conjugal rights. Wharton. ACTION OP BOOK DEBT. A form of action for the recovery of claims, such as are usually evidenced by a book-account; this action is principally used in Vermont and Connecticut. ACTION ON THE CASE. A species of personal action of very extensive applica tion, otherwise called "trespass on the case," or simply "case," from the circumstance of the plaintiff's whole case or cause of com plaint being set forth at length in the origi nal writ by which formerly it was always commenced. 3 Bl. Comm. 122. ACTION REDHIBITORY. In the civil law. An action instituted to avoid a sale on account of some vice or defect in the thing sold, which renders it either absolutely use less or its use so inconvenient and imperfect that it must be supposed the buyer would not have purchased it had he known of the vies. Civil Code La. art. 2496. ACTIONABLE. That for which an ac tion will lie; furnishing legal ground for an action; e. g., words are actionable perse, in slander, when an action may be brought up on them without alleging special damage. ACTIONARE. L. Lat. (Prom actio, an action.) In old records. To bring an action; to prosecute, or sue. Thorn's Chron.; Whishaw. ACTIONARY. A foreign commercial term for the proprietor of an action or share of a public company's stock; a stockholder. ACTIONES LEGIS. In the Roman law. Legal or lawful actions; actions of or at law, {legitimce actiones.) Dig. 1,2, 2, 6. ACTIONES NOMINATiE. In theEn glish chancery. Writs for which there were precedents. The statute of Westminster, 2, c. 24, gave chancery authority to form new writs in consimili casu; hence the action on the case.

ACTIONS ORDINARY. In Scotch la*. All actions which are not rescissory. Ersk. Inst. 4, 1, 18. ACTIONS RESCISSORY. In Scotch law. These are either (1) actions of propex improbation for declaring a writing false or forged; (2) actions of reduction-improbation for the production of a writing in order to have it set aside or its effect ascertained un der the certification that the writing if not produced shall be declared false or forged; and (3) actions of simple reduction, for de claring a writing called for null until pro duced. Ersk. Frin. 4, 1, 5. ACTIVE. That is in action; that de mands action; actually subsisting; the oppo site of passive. An active debt is one which draws interest. An active trust is a confi dence connected with a duty. An active use is a present legal estate. ACTON BURNEL, Statute of. In English law. A statute, otherwise called "Statutum de Mercatoribus," made at a par liament held at the castle of Acton Burnel in Shropshire, in the 11th year of the reign of Edward L 2 Beeves, Eng. Law, 158-162. ACTOR. In Roman law. One whoacted for another; one who attended to another's business; a manager or agent. A slave who attended to, transacted, or superintended his master's business or affairs, received and paid out moneys, and kept accounts. Bur rill. A plaintiff or complainant. In a civil or private action the plaintiff was often called by the Romans "petitor;" in a public action {causa publica) he was called "accusatar." The defendant was called "reus," both in private and public causes; this term, how ever, according to Cicero, (De Orat. ii. 43,) might signify either party, as indeed we might conclude from the word itself. In a private action, the defendant was often called "adversarius," but either party might be called so. Also, the term is used of a party who, for the time being, sustains the burden of proof, or has the initiative in the suit. In old European law. A proctor, ad vocate, or pleader; one who acted for another in legal matters; one who represented z party and managed his cause. An attorney, bail* iff, or steward; one who managed or acted for another. The Scotch "doer" is the literal translation.

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