Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

743

MANDAMIENTO

MANDATE

another, and makes himself liable to pay or fulfill it. Schm. Civil Law. 120. MANDAMIENTO. In Spanish law. Commission; authority or power of attorney. A contract of good faith, by which one per son commits to the gratuitous charge of an other his affairs, and the latter accepts the charge. White, New Recop. b. 2, tit. 12, e. 1. MANDAMUS. Lat. We command. This is the name of a writ (formerly a high prerogative writ) which issues from a court of superior jurisdiction, and is directed to a private or municipal corporation, or any of its officers, or to an executive, administra tive, or judicial officer, or to an inferior court, commanding the performance of a particular act therein specified, and belonging to his or their public, official, or ministerial duty, or directing the restoration of the complainant to rights or privileges of which he has been illegally deprived. The action of mandamus is one, brought in a court of competent jurisdiction, to obtain an order of such court commanding an inferior tribunal, board, corporation, or person to do or not to do an act the performance or omis sion of which the law enjoins as a duty re sulting from an office, trust, or station. Where discretion is left to the inferior tri bunal or peison, the mandamus can only compel it to act, but cannot control such discietion. Rev. Code Iowa, 1880, § 3373. The writ of mandamus is either peremp tory or alternative, according as it requires the defendant absolutely to obey its behest, or gives him an opportunity to show cause to the contrary. It is the usual practice to is sue the alternative writ first. This com mands the defendant to do the particular act, or else to appear and show cause against it at a day named. If he neglects to obey the writ, and either makes default in his appear ance or fails to show good cause against the application, the peremptory mandamus is sues, which commands him absolutely and without qualification to do the act. MANDANS. In the civil law. The em ploying party in a contract of mandate. One who gives a thing in charge to another; one who requires, requests, or employs another *o do some act for him. Inst. 3,27,1, et seq. MANDANT. In French and Scotch law. The employing party in the contract of man datum, or mandate. Story, Bailm. § 138. Mandata lioita recipiunt strictam in terpretatlonem, sed illicita latam et ex

tensam. Lawful commands receive a strict interpretation, but unlawful commands a broad and extended one. fiac. Max. reg. 16. MANDATAIRE. Fr. In French law. A person employed by another to do some act for him; a mandatary. Mandatarius terminos sibi positos transgredi non potest. A mandatary can not exceed the limits assigned him. Jenk. Cent. 53. MANDATARY. He to whom a man date, charge, or commandment is given; also, he that obtains a benefice by mandamus. MANDATE. In practice. A judicial command or precept proceeding from a court or judicial officer, directing the proper officer to enforce a judgment, sentence, or decree. Jones, Bailm. 52. In the practice of the supreme court of the United States, the mandate is a precept or or der, issued upon the decision of an appeal or writ of error, directing the action to be taken, or disposition to be made of the case, by the inferior court. In some of the state jurisdictions, the name "mandate" has been substituted for "mandamus" as the formal title of that writ. In contracts. A bailment of property in regard to which the bailee engages to do some act without reward. Story, Bailm. §137. A mandate is a contract by which a lawful business is committed to the management of another, and by him undertaken to be per formed gratuitously. The mandatary i» bound to the exercise of slight diligence, and is responsible for gross neglect. The fact that the mandator derives no benefit from the acts of the mandatary is not of itself evidence of gross negligence. 42 Miss. 525. A mandate, procuration, or letter of at torney is an act by which one person gives power to another to transact for him and in his name one or several affairs. The man date may take place in five different manners,. —for the interest of the person granting it only; for the joint interest of both parties; for the interest of a third person; for the interest of a third person and that of the party granting it; and, finally, for the inter est of the mandatary and a third person. Civil Code La. arts. 2985, 2986. Mandates and deposits closely resemble each other; the distinction being that in mandates the care and service are the principal, and the cus tody the accessory, while in deposits the custody is the principal thing, and the care and service ar* merely accessory. Story, Bailm. $ 140.

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