KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

23

ACTIO

ACTA PUBLIOA

ACTA PUBLICA. Lat. Things of gen eral knowledge and concern; matters trans acted before certain public officers. Calvin. ACTE. In French law, denotes a docu ment, or formal, solemn writing, embodying a legal attestation that something has been done, corresponding to one sense or use of the English word "act." Thus, actes de naissance are the certificates of birth, and must contain the day, hour, and place of birth, together with the sex and intended christian name of the child, and the names of the parents and of the witnesses. Actes de manage are the marriage certificates, and contain names, professions, ages, and places of birth and domicile of the two persons marrying, and of their parents ; also the con sent of these latter, and the mutual agree ments of the intended husband and wife to take each other for better and worse, to gether with the usual attestations. Actes de dices are the certificates of death, which are required to be drawn up before any one may be buried. lies actes de I'itat civil are public documents. Brown. — Acte authentique. A deed, executed with certain prescribed formalities, in the presence of a notary, mayor, greffier, huisster, or other func tionary qualified to act in the place in which it is drawn up. Argles, Fr. Merc. Law, 50. — Acte de francisation. The certificate of registration of a ship, by virtue of which its French nationality is established — Acte d'he ritier. Act of inheritance. Any action or fact on the part of an heir which manifests his intention to accept the succession; the accept ance may be express or tacit. Duverger.— Acte extrajudiciaire. A document served by a huisster, at the demand of one party upon an other party, without legal proceedings. A term employed to designate a locum tenens who is performing the duties of an office to which he does not himself claim title; e. g„ "Acting Supervising Archi tect." Fraser v. United States, 16 Ct. CI. 514. An acting executor is one who assumes to act as executor for a decedent, not being the executor legally appointed or the exec utor in fact. Morse v. Allen, 99 Mich. 303, 58 N. W. 327. An acting trustee is one who takes upon himself to perform some or all of the trusts mentioned in a will. Sharp v. Sharp, 2 Barn. & Aid. 415. ACTIO. Lat In the civil law. An action or suit; a right or cause of action. It should be noted that this term means both the pro ceeding to enforce a right in a court and the right itself which is sought to be enforced. —Actio ad exhibendum. An action for the purpose of compelling a defendant to exhibit a thing or title in his power. It was preparatory to another action, which was always a real action in the sense of the Roman law; that is, for the recovery of a thing, whether it was mov able or immovable. Merl. Quest, tome i. 84.— Actio cestimatoria; actio quanti minoris. Two names of an action which lay in behalf of a buyer to reduce the contract price, not to cancel the sale; the judex had power, however, to cancel the sale. Hunter, Rom Law, 332.— Actio arbitraria. Action depending on the ACTING.

discretion of the judge. In this, unless the de fendant would make amends to the plaintiff as dictated by the judge in his discretion, he was liable to be condemned. Id. 825.— Actio bonse fidei. A class of actions in which the judge might at the trial, ex officio, take into ac count any equitable circumstances that were presented to him affecting either of the parties to the action. 1 Spence, Eq. Jur. 218— Actio calumnise. An action to restrain the defend ant from prosecuting a groundless proceeding or trumped-up charge against the plaintiff. Hunter, Rom. Law, 859.— Actio commodati. Included several actions appropriate to enforce the obligations of a borrower or a lender. Id. 305.— Actio commodati contraria. An ac tion by the borrower against the lender, to com pel the execution of the contract. Poth. PrSt a Usage, n. 75.— Actio commodati directa. An action by a lender against a borrower, the principal object of which is to obtain a restitu tion of the thing lent. Poth. Pret a Usage, nn. 65, 68.— Actio communi dividundo. An ac tion to procure a judicial division of joint prop erty. Hunter, Rom. Law, 194. It was ana logous in its object to proceedings for partition in modern law.— Actio condictio indebitati. An action by which the plaintiff recovers the amount of a sum of money or other thing he paid by mistake. Poth. Promutuum, n. 140; Merl. Repert.— Actio confessoria. An affirmative petitory action for the recognition and enforce ment of a servitude. So called because based on the plaintiff's affirmative allegation. of a right in defendant's land. Distinguished from an actio negatoria, which was brought to repel a claim of the defendant to a servitude in the plaintiff's land. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 324. — Actio damni injuria. The name of a gen eral class of actions for damages, including many species of suits for losses caused by wrongful or negligent acts. The term is about equivalent to our "action for damages."— Actio de dolo malo. An action of fraud; an action which lay for a defrauded person against the defrauder and his heirs, who had been enriched by the fraud, to obtain the restitution of the thing of which he had been fraudulently de prived, with all its accessions {cum omni causa;) or, where this was not practicable, for compen sation in damages. Mackeld. Rom. .Law, § 227.— Actio de peculio. An action concern ing or against the peculium, or separate proper ty of a party.— Actio de pecunia consti tuta. An action for money engaged to be paid; an action which lay against any person who had engaged to pay money for himself, or for another, without any formal stipulation. Inst. 4, 6, 9; Dig. 13, 5; Cod. 4, 18.— Actio de positi contraria. An action which the de positary has against the depositor, to compel him to fulfil his engagement towards him. Poth. Du DSpdt, n. 69.— Actio deposit! di recta. An action which is brought by the de positor against the depositary, in order to get back the thing deposited. Poth. Du D6p6t, n. 60.— Actio directa. A direct action; an ac tion founded on strict law, and conducted ac cording to fixed forms; an action founded on certain legal obligations which from their origin were accurately defined and recognized as ac tionable.— Actio empti. An action employed in behalf of a buyer to compel a seller to per form his obligations or pay compensation; al so to enforce any special agreements by him, embodied in a contract of sale. Hunter, Rom. Law. 332.— Actio ex conducto. An action which the bailor of a thing for hire may bring against the bailee, in order to compel him to re deliver the thing hired.— Actio ex locato. An action upon letting; an action which the per son who let a thing for hire to another might have against the hirer. Dig. 19, 2; Cod. 4, 65.— Actio ex stipulatu. An action, brought to enforce a stipulation.— Actio exercitoria. An action against the exercitor or employer of a vessel.— Actio families erciscundse. An