KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

233

COMPETENCY

COMPLAINT

given to his story. The former denotes the personal qualification of the witness; the latter his veracity. A witness may 6e com petent, and yet give incredible testimony; he may be incompetent, and yet his evi dence, if received, be perfectly credible. Competency is for the court; credibility for the jury. Yet in some cases the term "cred ible" is used as an equivalent for "compe tent." Thus, in a statute relating to the execution of wills, the term "credible wit ness" is held to mean one who is entitled to be examined and to give evidence in a court of justice; not necessarily one who is personally worthy of belief, but one who is not disqualified by imbecility, interest, crime, or other cause. 1 Jarm. Wills, 124; Smith v. Jones, 68 Vt 132, 34 Atl. 424; Com. v. Holmes, 127 Mass. 424, 34 Am. Rep. 391. In French law. Competency, as applied to a court, means its right to exercise juris diction in a particular case. Duly qualified; answer ing all requirements; adequate; suitable; sufficient; capable; legally fit. Levee Dist. v. Jamison, 176 Mo. 557, 75 S. W. 679. —Competent and omitted. In Scotch prac tice. A term applied to a plea which might have been urged by a party during the depend ence of a cause, but which had been omitted. Bell.—Competent authority. As applied to courts and public officers, this term imports ju risdiction and due legal authority to deal with the particular matter in question. Mitchel v. U. S., 9 Pet. 735, 9 L. Ed. 283; Charles v. Charles, 41 Minn. 201, 42 N. W. 935 —Compe tent evidence. That which the very nature of the thing to be proven requires, as the pro duction of a writing where its contents are the subject of inquiry. 1 Greenl. Ev. § 2; Chap man v. McAdams, 1 Lea (Tenn.) 500; Horbach v. State, 43 Tex. 242; Porter v. Valentine, 18 Misc. Rep. 213, 41 N. Y. Supp. 507.—Compel tent -witness. One who is legally qualified to be heard to testify in a cause. Hogan v. Sher man, 5 Mich. 60; People v. Compton, 123 Cal. 403, 56 Pac. 44; Com. v. Mullen, 97 Mass. 545. See COMPETENCY. In Scotch practice. The contest among creditors claiming on their respective diligences, or creditors claim ing on their securities. Bell. —JJnfair competition in trade. See UN FAIB. To compile Is to copy from various authors Into one work. Between a compilation and an abridgment there Is a clear distinction. A compilation consists of selected extracts from different authors; an abridgment is a condensation of the views of one author. Story v. Holcombe, 4 Mc Lean, 306, 314, Fed. Cas. No. 13,497. —Compilation. A literary production, com posed of the works of others and arranged in a methodical manner.—Compiled statutes. A collection* of the statutes existing and in force in a given state, all laws and parts of laws relating to each subject-matter being brought together under one head, and the whole arrang ed systematically in one book, either under an COMPETENT. COMPETITION. COMPILE.

alphabetical arrangement or some other plan of classification. Such a collection of statutes dif fers from a code in this, that none of the laws so compiled derives any new force or undergoes any modification in its relation to other stat utes in pari materia from the fact of the com pilation, while a code is a re-enactment of the whole body of the positive law and is to be read and interpreted as one entire and homo geneous whole. Railway Co. v. State, 104 Ga. 831, 31 S. E. 531; Black, Interp. Laws, p. 363. One who applies to the courts for legal redress; one who exhibits a bill of complaint. This is the proper designation of one suing In equity, though "plaintiff" is often used In equity proceedings as well as at law. Bene fit Ass'n v. Robinson, 147 111. 138, 35 N. E. 168. In those states having a Code of Civil Proced ure, the complaint is the first or initiatory pleading on the part of the plaintiff in a civil action. It corresponds to the declara tion In the common-law practice. Code N. Y. § 141; Sharon v. Sharon, 67 Cal. 185, 7 Pac. 456; Railroad Co. v. Young, 154 Ind. 24, 55 N. E. 853; McMath y. Parsons, 26 Minn. 246, 2 N. W. 703. The complaint shall contain: (1) The title of the cause, specifying the name of the court in which the action is brought, the name of the county in which the trial is required to be had, and the names of the parties to the action, plaintiff and defendant. (2) A plain and con cise statement of the facts constituting a cause of action, without unnecessary repetition; and each material allegation shall be distinctly num bered. (3) A demand of the relief to which the plaintiff supposes himself entitled. If the re covery of money be demanded, the amount there of must be stated. Code N. C. 1883, § 233. —Cross-complaint. In code practice. When ever the defendant seeks affirmative relief against any party, relating to or depending upon the contract or transaction upon which the action is brought, or affecting the property to which the action relates, he may, in addition to his answer, file at the same time, or by permis sion of the court subsequently, a cross-com plaint. The cross-complaint must be served up on the parties affected thereby, and such parties may demur or answer thereto as to the original complaint. Code Civ. Proc. Cal. § 442; Stand ley v. Insurance Co., 95 Ind. 254; Harrison v. McCormick, 69 Cal. 616, 11 Pac. 456; Bank r. Ridpath, 29 Wash. 687, 70 Pac. 139. In criminal law. A charge, preferred before a magistrate having jurisdiction, that a person named (or an unknown person) has committed a specified offense, with an offer to prove the fact, to the end that a prosecu tion may be Instituted. It is a technical term, descriptive of proceedings before a magistrate. Hobbs v. Hill, 157 Mass. 556, 32 N. E. 862; Com. v. Davis, 11 Pick. (Mass.) 436; U. S. v. Collins (D. C.) 79 Fed. 66; State v. Dodge Co., 20 Neb. 595, 31 N. W. 117. The complaint is an allegation, made before a proper magistrate, that a person has been guilty of a designated public offense. Code Ala. 1886, 5 4255. COMPLAINANT. In practice. COMPLAINT. In civil practice.