KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

INSTITUTIO H^EREDIS

640

INSTRUMENT

INSTITUTIONS. Lat Works contain ing the elements of any science; institutions or institutes. One of Justinian's principal law collections, and a similar work of the Roman jurist Gaius, are so entitled. See IN STITUTES. INSTRUCT. To convey information as a client to an attorney, or as an attorney to a counsel; to authorize one to appear as ad vocate ; to give a case in charge to the jury. INSTRUCTION. In French criminal law. The first process of a criminal prosecu tion. It includes the examination of the ac cused, the preliminary interrogation of wit nesses, collateral investigations, the gather ing of evidence, the reduction of the whole to order, and the preparation of a document containing a detailed statement of the case, to serve as a brief for the prosecuting offi cers, and to furnish material for the indict ment —Juges d'instrnction. In French law. Officers subject to the procureur imperial or g6n4ral, who receive in cases of criminal of fenses the complaints of the parties injured, and who summon and examine witnesses upon oath, and, after communication with the pro cureur imperial, draw up the forms of accusa tion. They have also the nght, subject to the approval of the same superior officer, to admit the accused to bail. They are appointed for three years, but are re-eligible for a further period of office. They are usually chosen from among the regular judges. Brown. In common law. Order given by a prin cipal to his agent in relation to the business of his agency. In practice. A detailed statement of the facts and circumstances constituting a cause of action made by a client to his attorney for the purpose of enabling the latter to draw a proper declaration or procure it to be done by a pleader. In trial practice. A direction given by the judge to the jury concerning the law of the case; a statement made by the judge to the jury informing them of the law ap plicable to the case in general or some aspect of it; an exposition of the rules or principles of law applicable to the case or some branch or phase of it which the jury are bound to accept and apply. Lehman v. Hawks, 121 Ind. 541, 23 N. E. 670; Boggs v. U. S., 10 Okl. 424, 63 Pac 969; Lawler v. McPheeters, 73 Ind. 579. —Peremptory instruction. An instruction given by a court to a jury which the latter must obey implicitly; as an instruction to re turn a verdict for the defendant, or for the plaintiff, as the case may be. INSTRUMENT. A written document; a formal or legal document in writing, such as a contract, deed, will, bond, or lease. State v. Phillips, 157 Ind. 481, 62 N. E. 12; Cardenas v. Miller, 108 Cal. 250, 39 Pac. 783, 49 Am. St Rep. 84; Benson v. McMahon, 127 U. S. 457, 8 Sup. Ct 1240, 32 L. Ed. 234:

gether from the ancient reports and Year Books, but greatly defective in method. It is usually cited by the name of "Co. Litt.," or as "1 Inst." The second volume is a comment up on old acts of parliament, without systematic order; the third a more methodical treatise on the pleas of the crown; and the fourth an ac count of the several species of courts. These are cited as 2, 3, or 4 "Inst.," without any au thor's name. Wharton. INSTITUTIO BLZEREDIS. Lat In Ro man law. The appointment of the hceres in the will. It corresponds very nearly to the nomination of an executor in English law. Without such an appointment the will was void at law, but the prcetor (i. e., equity) would, under certain circumstances, carry out the intentions of the testator. Brown. The commencement or inauguration of anything. The first estab lishment of a law, rule, rite, etc. Any cus tom, system, organization, etc., firmly estab lished. An elementary rule or principle. In practice. The commencement of an action or prosecution; as, A. B. has institut ed a suit against C. D. to recover damages for trespass. In. political law. A law, rite, or cere mony enjoined by authority as a permanent rule of conduct or of government Webster. A system or body of usages, laws, or regu lations, of extensive and recurring opera tion, containing within itself an organism by which it effects its own independent action, continuance, and generally its own further development. Its object is to generate, ef fect, regulate, or sanction a succession of acts, transactions, or productions of a pecu liar kind or class. We are likewise in the habit of calling single laws or usages "in stitutions," if their operation is of vital im portance and vast scope, and if their con tinuance is in a high degree independent of any interfering power. Lieb. Civil Lib. 300. In corporation law. An organization or foundation, for the exercise of some public purpose or function; as an asylum or a uni versity. By the term "institution" in this sense is to be understood an establishment or organization which is permanent in its nature, as distinguished from an enterprise or undertaking which is transient and tem porary. Humphries y. Little Sisters of the Poor, 29 Ohio St. 206; Indianapolis v. Stur devant, 24 Ind. 391. In ecclesiastical law. A kind of inves titure of the spiritual part of the benefice, as induction is of the temporal; for by institu tion the care of the souls of the parish is committed to the charge of the clerk. Brown. In the civil law. The designation by a testator of a person to be his heir. In jurisprudence. The plural form of this word ("institutions") is sometimes used as the equivalent of "institutes," to denote an elementary text-book of the law. INSTITUTION.