KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

254

CONSTRUCTION

CONSTITUTIONAL

Constitutum esse earn domum uni« cuique nostrum debere existimari, ubi quisque sedes et tabulas baberet : suar umque rerum constitutionem f*cisset. It is settled that that is to be considered the home of each one of us where he may have his habitation and account-books, and where he may have made an establishment of his business. Dig. 50, 16, 203. exactly equivalent with "restraint." mondson v. Harris, 2 Tenn. Ch. 427. In Scotch, law. To build; erect; put to gether; make ready for use. Morse v. West Port, 110 Mo. 502, 19 S. W. 831; Contas v. Bradford, 206 Pa. 291, 55 Atl. 989. Constructio legis non facit injuriam. The construction of the law (a construction made by the law) works no injury. Co. Litt 183; Broom, Max. 603. The law will make such a construction of an instrument as not to injure a party. The process, or the art, of determining the sense, real meaning, or proper explanation of obscure or ambigu ous terms or provisions in a statute, written Instrument, or oral agreement, or the appli cation of such subject to the case in question, by reasoning in the light derived from ex traneous connected circumstances or laws or writings bearing upon the same or a con nected matter, or by seeking and applying the proba'ble aim and purpose of the pro vision. It is to be noted that this term Is properly distinguished from interpretation, although the two are often used synonymously. In strictness, interpretation is limited to explor ing the written text, while construction goes beyond and may call in the aid of extrinsic Strict construction is construction of a statute or other instrument according to its letter, which recog nizes nothing that is not expressed, takes the language used in its exact and technical mean ing, and admits no equitable considerations or implications. Paving Co. v. Watt, 51 La. Ann. 1345, 26 South. 70; Stanyan v. Peterborough, 69 N. H. 372, 46 Atl. 191. Liberal construction, on the other hand, expands the meaning of the statute to meet cases which are clearly within the spirit or reason of the law, or within the evil which it was designed to remedy, provided such an interpretation is not inconsistent with the language used; it resolves all reasonable doubts in favor of the applicability of the stat ute to the particular case. Black, Interp. Laws, 282; Lawrence v. McCalmont, 2 How. 449, 11 L. Ed. 326; In re Johnson's Estate, 98 Cal. 531, 33 Pac. 460, 21 L. R. A. 380; Shorey v. Wyckoff, 1 Wash. T. 351. —Construction, court of. A court of equity or of common law, as the case may be, is called the court of construction with regard to wills, as opposed to the court of probate, whose duty is to decide whether an instrument be a will at all. Now, the court of probate may decide that Ed Constraint means duress. CONSTRUCT. CONSTRUCTION. considerations, as above indicated. Strict and liberal construction. CONSTRAINT. This term is held to be

the constitution or fundamental law of the state. Dependent upon a constitution, or se cured or regulated by a constitution; as "constitutional monarchy," "constitutional rights." — Constitutional convention. A duly con stituted assembly of delegates or representatives of the people of a state or nation for the pur pose of framing, revising, or amending its con stitution.— Constitutional liberty or free dom. Such freedom as is enjoyed by the citi zens of a country or state under the protection of its constitution; the aggregate of those per sonal, civil, and political rights of the individual which are guarantied by the constitution and secured against invasion by the government or any of its agencies. People v. Hurlbut, 24 Mich. 106, 9 Am. Rep. 108.— Constitutional law. (1) That branch of the public law of a state which treats of the organization and frame of government, the organs and powers of sover eignty, the distribution of political and govern mental authorities and functions, the fundamen tal principles which are to regulate the rela tions of government and subject, and which pre scribes generally the plan and method according to which the public affairs of the state are to be administered. (2) That department of the science of law which treats of constitutions, their establishment, construction, and interpre tation, and of the validity of legal enactments as tested by the criterion of conformity to the fundamental law. (3) A constitutional law is one which is consonant to, and agrees with, the constitution ; one which is not in violation of any provision of the constitution of the par ticular state.— Constitutional officer. One whose tenure and term of office are fixed and defined by the constitution, as distinguished from the incumbents of offices created by the legislature. Foster v. Jones, 79 Va. 642, 52 Am. Rep. 637; People v. Scheu, 60 App. Div. 592, 69 N. Y. Supp. 597. promulgat ed, i. e., enacted, by the Roman Emperor. They were of various kinds, namely, the fol lowing: (1) Edicta; (2) decreta; (3) re scripta, called also "epistolce." Sometimes they were general, and intended to form a precedent for other like cases; at other times they were special, particular, or individual, (personates,) and not intended to form a prec edent. The emperor had this power of irre sponsible enactment by virtue of a certain lea regia, whereby he was made the fountain of justice and of mercy. Brown. Constitutiones tempore posteriores po tiores sunt bis quse ipsas prsecesserunt. Dig. 1, 4, 4. Later laws prevail over those which preceded them. CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON. See CLAEENDON. In the civil law. One who, by a simple agreement, becomes respon sible for the payment of another's debt. CONSTITUTUM. In the civil law. An agreement to pay a subsisting debt which ex ists without any stipulation, whether of the promisor or another party. It differs from a stipulation in that it must be for an existing debt Du Cange. CONSTITUTION'S. Laws CONSTITUTOR.