Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

740

MAGISTRATE

MAIDEN

charged with a public offense. Fen. Code Cal. § 807. The word "magistrate" does not necessarily im ply an officer exercising any judicial functions, and might very well be held to embrace notaries and commissioners of deeds. 57 Mo. 886. MAGISTRATE'S COURT. In Amer ican law. Courts in the state of South Caro lina, having exclusive jurisdiction in mat ters of contract of and under twenty dollars. A local court in the city of Philadelphia, possessing the criminal jurisdiction of a police court and civil jurisdiction in actions involv ing not more than one hundred dollars. It is not a court of record. See Const. Fa. art. 4, § 12. MAGISTRATUS. In the civil law. A magistrate. Calvin. A judicial officer who had the power of hearing and determining causes, but whose office properly was to in quire into matters of law, as distinguished from fact. Hallifax, Civil Law, b. 3, c. 8. MA6NA ASSISA. In old English law. The grand assize. Glanv. lib. 2, cc. 11, 12. MAGNA ASSISA ELIGENDA. An ancient writ to summon four lawful knights before the justices of assize, there to choose twelve others, with themselves to constitute the grand assize or great jury, to try the matter of right. The trial by grand assize was instituted by Henry II. in parliament, as an alternative to the duel in a writ of right. Abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27. Wharton. MAGNA AVERIA. In old pleading. Great beasts, as horses, oxen, etc. Cro. Jac. 580. MAGNA CENTUM. The great hun dred, or six score. Wharton. MAGNA CHARTA. The great charter. The name of a charter (or constitutional en actment) granted by King John of England to the barons, at Runnymede, on June 15, 1215, and afterwards, with some alterations, confirmed in parliament by Henry III. and Edward I. This charter is justly regarded as the foundation of English constitutional lib erty. Among its thirty-eight chapters are found provisions for regulating the adminis tration of justice, defining the temporal and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, securing the per sonal liberty of the subject and his rights of property, and the limits of taxation, and for preserving the liberties and privileges of the church. Magna Charta is so called, partly to distinguish it from the Charta de Foresta, which was granted about the same time, and

partly by reason of its own transcendent im portance. Magna Charta et Charta de Foresta sont appeles les "deux grandes char ters." 2Inst. 570. Magna Charta and the Charter of the Forest are called the "two great charters." MAGNA COMPONERE PARVIS. To compare great things with small things. MAGNA CULPA. Great fault; grosi negligence. MAGNA NEGLIGENTLY. In thecivil law. Great or gross negligence. Magna negligentia culpa est; magna culpa dolus est. Gross negligence is fault; gross.fault is fraud. Dig. 50, 16, 226. MAGNA FRECARIA. In old English law. A great or general reap-day. Cowell; Blouut. MAGNA SERJEANTIA. In old En glish law. Grand serjeanty. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 4, § 1. MAGNUM CAFE. In old practice. Great or grand cape. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, 418. See GRAND CAPE. MAGNUM CONCILIUM. In old En glish law. The great council; the general council of the realm; afterwards called "par liament." 1 Bl. Comm. 148; 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, 62; Spelman. The king's great council of barons and prelates. Spelman; Crabb, Com. Law, 228. MAGNUS ROTULUS STATUTO RUM. The great statute roll. The first of the English statute rolls, beginning with Magna Charta, and ending with Edward III. Hale, Com. Law, 16, 17. MAHA-GEN. In Hindu law. A banker or any great shop-keeper. MAHAL. In Hindu law. Any land or public fund producing a revenue to the gov ernment of Hindostan. "Mahalaat" is the plural. MAHLBRIEF. In maritime law. The German name for the contract for the build ing of a vessel. This contract contains a specification of the kind of vessel intended, her dimensions, the time within which she is to be completed, the price and times of payment, etc. Jac. Sea Laws, 2-8. MAIDEN. In Scotch law An instru ment formerly used in beheading criminal!

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