KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

CERTIFICATE

183

CERTA DEBET ESSE INTENTIO

quae deducitur in judicium. The design and narration ought to be certain, and the foundation certain, and the matter certain, which is brought into court to be tried. Co. Litt 303a. In old English law. A certain thing. Fleta, lib. 2, c. 60, §§ 24, 25. Ascertained; precise; iden tified; definitive; clearly known; unambig uous; or, in law, capable of being identified or made known, without liability to mis take or ambiguity, from' data already given. Cooper v. Bigly, 13 Mich. 4t9; Losecco v. Gregory, 108 La. 648, 32 South. 986; Smith v. Fyler, 2 Hill (N. Y.) 649; Civ. Code La. 1900, art 3556. —Certain services. In feudal and old Eng lish law. Such services as were stinted (limit ed or defined) in quantity, and could not be ex ceeded on any pretense; as to pay a stated an nual rent, or to plow such a field tor three days. 2 Bl. Comm. 61. Distinct ness ; clearness of statement; particularity. Such precision and explicitness in the state ment of alleged facts that the pleader's aver ments and contention may be readily under stood by the pleader on the other side, as well as by the court and jury. State v. Hayward, 83 Mo. 309; State v. Burke, 151 Mo. 143, 52 S. W. 226; David v. David, 66 Ala. 148. This word is technically used in pleading in two different senses, signifying either dis tinctness, or particularity, as opposed to un due generality. Certainty is said to be of three sorts: (1) Certainty to a common intent is such as is attained by using words in their ordinary meaning, but is not exclusive of another meaning which might be made out by argu ment or inference. (2) Certainty to a cer tain intent in general is that which allows of no misunderstanding if a fair and reason able construction is put upon the language employed, without bringing in facts which are possible, but not apparent. (3) Certainty to a certain intent in particular is the high est degree of technical accuracy and precis ion. Co. Litt. 303; 2 H. Bl. 530; Spencer v. Southwick, 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 317; State v. Parker, 34 Ark. 158, 36 Am. Rep. 5. In contracts. The quality of being spe cific, accurate, and distinct. A thing is certain when its essence, quality, and quantity are described, distinctly set forth, etc. Dig. 12, 1, 6. It is uncertain when the description is not that of an individual object, but designates only the kind. Civ. Code La. art. 3522, no. 8; 5 Coke, 121. CERTIFICANDO DE RECOGNITIONS STAPUIiiE. In English law. A writ com manding the mayor of the staple to certify to the lord chancellor a statute-staple taker* before him where the party himself detains it, and refuses to bring in the same. There CERTA RES. CERTAIN. CERTAINTY. In, pleading.

is a like writ to certify a statute-merchant, and in divers other cases. Reg. Orig. 148, 151, 152. CERTIFICATE. A written assurance, or official representation, that some act has or has not been done, or some event occurred, or some legal formality been complied with. Particularly, such written assurance made or issuing from some court, and designed as a notice of things done therein, or as a warrant or authority, to some other court, judge, or officer. People v. Foster, 27 Misc. Rep. 576, 58 N. Y. Supp. 574; U. S. v. Ambrose, 108 U. S. 336, 2 Sup. Ct. 682, 27 L. Ed. 746; Ti conic Bank v. Stackpole, 41 Me. 305. A document in use in the English custom house. No goods can be exported by certifi cate, except foreign goods formerly imported, on which the whole or a part of the customs paid on importation is to be drawn back. Wharton. —Certificate for costs. In English practice. A certificate or memorandum drawn up and signed by the judge before whom a case was tried, setting out certain facts the existence of which must be thus proved before the party is entitled, under the statutes, to recover costs. —Certificate into chancery. In English practice. This is a document containing the opinion of the common-law judges on a ques tion of law submitted to them for their deci sion by the chancery court.— Certificate of acknowledgment. The certificate of a no tary public, justice of the peace, or other au thorized officer, attached to a deed, mortgage, or other instrument, setting forth that the par ties thereto personally appeared before him on such a date and acknowledged the instrument to be their free and voluntary act and deed. Read v. Loan Co., 68 Ohio, St. 280, 67 N. E. 729, 62 L. R. A, 790, 96 Am. St Rep. 663.— Cer tificate of deposit. In the practice of bank' ers. This is a writing acknowledging that the person named has deposited in the bank a spec ified sum of money, and that the same is held subject to be drawn out on his own check or order, or that of some other person named in the instrument as payee. Murphy v. Pacific Bank, 130 Cal. 542, 62 Pac 1059; First Nat Bank v. Greenville Nat. Bank, 84 Tex. 40, 19 S. W. 334; Neall v. U. S., 118 Fed. 706. 56 C. C. A. 31; Hotchkiss v. Mosher, 48 N. Y. 482.— Certificate of bolder of attacked property. A certificate required by statute, in some states, to be given by a third person who is found in possession of property subject to an attachment in the sheriff's hands, setting forth the amount and character of such property and the nature of the defendant's interest in it. Code Civil Proc. N. Y. § 650.— Certificate of incorporation. The instrument by which a private corporation is formed, under general statutes, executed by several persons as incor porators, and setting forth the name of the proposed corporation, the objects for which it is formed, and such other particulars as may be required or authorized by law, and filed in some designated public office as evidence of the corporate existence. This is properly distin guished from a "charter," which is a direct leg islative grant of corporate existence and powers to named individuals; but practically the cer tificate of incorporation or "articles of incor poration" will contain the same enumeration of corporate powers and description, of objects and purposes as a charter.— Certificate of in debtedness. A form of obligation sometimes issued by public or private corporations having practically the same force and effect as a bond, though not usually secured on any specific prop-