KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

1074

SERGEANT

SEQUESTER

in the custody of the court, until he purges himself of a contempt. In English, ecclesiastical practice. To gather and take care of the fruits and profits of a vacant benefice, for the benefit of the next incumbent. In international law. To confiscate; to appropriate private property to public use; to seize the property of the private citizens of a hostile power, as when a belligerent na tion sequesters debts due from its own sub jects to the enemy. See 1 Kent, Comm. 62. SEQUESTER, n. Lat. In the civil law. A person with whom two or more contend ing parties deposited the subject-matter of the controversy. SEQUESTRARI FACIAS. In English ecclesiastical practice. A process in the na ture of a levari facias, commanding the bish op to enter into the rectory and parish church, and to take and sequester the same, and hold them until, of the rents, tithes, and profits thereof, and of the other ecclesiastical goods of a defendant, he have levied the plaintiff's debt 3 Bl. Comm. 418; 2 Archb. Pr. 1284. SEQUESTRATIO. Lat. In the civil law. The separating or setting aside of a thing in controversy, from the possession of both par ties that contend for it. It is two-fold,— voluntary, done by consent of all parties; and necessary, when a judge orders it Brown. SEQUESTRATION. In equity prac tice. A writ authorizing the taking into the custody of the law of the real and personal estate (or rents, issues, and profits) of a de fendant who is in contempt, and holding the same until he shall comply. It is sometimes directed, to the sheriff, but more commonly to four commissioners nominated by the com plainant 3 Bl. Comm. 444; Ryan v. Kings bery, 88 Ga. 361, 14 S. E. 596. In Louisiana. A mandate of the court, ordering the sheriff, in certain cases, to take in his possession, and to keep, a thing of which another person has the possession, un til after the decision of a suit, in order that it be delivered to him who shall be adjudged entitled to have the property or possession of that thing. This is what is properly call ed a "judicial sequestration." Code Prac. La. art. 269; American Nat. Bank v. Childs, 49 La. Ann. 1359, 22 South. 384. In contracts. A species of deposit which two or more persons, engaged in litigation about anything, make of the thing in contest with an indifferent person who binds himself to restore it, when the issue is decided, to the party to whom it is adjudged to belong. Civ. Code La. art. 2973. In English ecclesiastical law. The act of the ordinary in disposing of the goods and

chattels of one deceased, whose estate no on* will meddle with. Cowell. Or, in other words, the taking possession of the property of a deceased person, where there is no one to claim it Also, where a benefice becomes vacant » sequestration is usually granted by the bish op to the church-wardens, who manage all the profits and expenses of the benefice, plow and sow the glebe, receive tithes, and provide for the necessary cure of souls. Sweet In international law. The seizure Of the property of an individual, and the appropria tion of it to the use of the government Mayor's court. In the mayor's court of London, "a sequestration is an attachment of the property of a person in a warehouse or other place belonging to and abandoned by him. It has the same object as the ordinary attachment, viz., to compel the appearance of the defendant to an action," and, in de fault, to satisfy the plaintiff's debt >by ap praisement and execution. —Judicial sequestration. In Louisiana, a mandate ordering the sheriff in certain cases to take into his possession and to keep a thins of which another person has• the possession un til after the decision of a suit in order that it may be delivered to him who shall be adjudged to have the property or possession of it Bald win v. Black, 119 U. S. 643, 7 Sup. Ct. 326, 30 L. Ed. 530. SEQUESTRATOR. One to whom a seq uestration is made. One appointed or chosen to perform a sequestration, or execute a writ of sequestration. SEQUESTRO HABENDO. In English ecclesiastical law. A judicial writ for the discharging a sequestration of the profits of a church benefice, granted by the bishop at the sovereign's command, thereby to com pel the parson to appear at the suit of an other. Upon his appearance, the parson may have this writ for the release of the seques tration. Reg. Jud. 36. Sequi debet potentia justitiam non prsecedere. 2 Inst. 454. Power should fol low justice, not precede it SERF. In the feudal polity, the serfs were a class of persons whose social con dition was servile, and who were bound to labor and onerous duties at the will of their lords. They differed from slaves only in that they were bound to their native soil, in stead of being the absolute property of a master. SERGEANT. In military law. A non commissioned officer, of whom there are sev eral in each company of infantry, troop of cavalry, etc. The term is also used in the organization of a municipal police force. —Sergeant at arms. See SEBJEANT.—Ser geant at law. See SEBJEANT.—Town ser geant. In several states, an officer having the powers and duties of a chief constable or head of the police department of a town or village.