KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

700

LAUDUM

LAW

LAUDUM.

Lat

An arbitrament or

human conduct, answering to the Latin "jus;* as when it is spoken of as a subject of study or practice. In this sense, it includes the de cisions of courts of justice, as well as acts of the legislature. The judgment of a competent court, until reversed or otherwise superseded, is law, as much as any statute. Indeed, it may happen that a statute may be passed in violation of late, that is, of the fundamental law or constitution of a state; that it is the prerogative of courts in such cases %» declare it void, or, in other words, to declare it not to be law. Burrill. 3. A rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state. 1 Steph. Comm. 25; Civ. Code Dak. § 2; Pol. Code Cal. § 4466. A "law," in the proper sense of the term. Is a general rule of human action, taking cognizance only of external acts, enforced by a determinate authority, which authority is human, and among human authorities is that which is paramount in a political society. Holl. Jur. 36. A "law," properly so called, is a command which obliges a person or persons; and, as distinguished from a particular or occasional command, obliges generally to acts or for bearances of a class. Aust. Jur. A rule or enactment promulgated by the legislative authority of a state; a long-estab lished local custom which has the force of such an enactment. Dubois v. Hepburn, 10 Pet. 18, 9 L. Ed. 325. 4. In another sense the word signifies an enactment; a distinct and complete act of positive law; a statute, as opposed to rules of civil conduct deduced from the customs of the people or judicial precedents. When the term "law" is used to denote en actments of the legislative power, it is fre quently confined, especially by English writers, to permanent rules of civil conduct, as distin guished from other acts, such as a divorce act, an appropriation bill, an estates act. Rep. Eng. St. L. Com. Mar. 1856. For'other definitions and descriptions, see State v. McCann, 4 Lea (Tenn.) 9; State v. Hockett, 70 Iowa, 454, 30 N. W. 744; Dun can v. Magette, 25 Tex. 253; Baldwin v. Philadelphia, 99 Pa. 170; State v. Fry, 4 Mo. 189; Forepaugh v. Railroad Co., 128 Pa. 217, 18 Atl. 503, 5 L. R. A. 508, 15 Am. St. Rep. 672; State v. Swan, 1 N. D. 5, 44 N. W. 492; Smith v. U. S., 22 Fed. Cas. 696; Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. 1, 10 L. Ed. 865; Miller v. Dunn, 72 Cal. 462, 14 Pac. 27, 1 Am. St Rep. 67; Bier v. McGehee, 148 U. S. 137, 13 Sup. Ct. 580, 37 L. Ed. 397. Historically considered. With reference to its origin, "law" is derived either from judicial precedents, from legislation, or from custom. That part of the law which is de rived from judicial precedents is called "common law," "equity," or "admiralty," "probate," or "ecclesiastical law," according to the nature of the courts by which it was originally enforced. (See the respective ti tles.) That part of the law which is derived from legislation Is called the "statute law."

award. In old Scotch law. Sentence or judg ment; dome or doom. 1 Pitc. Crim. Tr. pt. 2, p. 8. LAUGHE. Frank-pledge. 2 Reeve, Eng. Law, 17. LAUNCEGAY. A kind of offensive weap on, now disused, and prohibited by 7 Rich. II. c. 13. LAUNCH. 1. The act of launching a vessel; the movement of a vessel from the land into the water, especially the sliding on ways from the stocks on which it is built. Homer v. The Lady of the Ocean, 70 Me. 352. 2. A boat of the largest size belonging to a ship of war; an open boat of large size used in any service; a lighter. LAUREATE. In English law. An of ficer of the household of the sovereign, whose business formerly consisted only in compos ing an ode annually, on tiie sovereign's birth day, and on the new year; sometimes also, though rarely, on occasion of any remark able victory. LAURELS. Pieces of gold, coined in 1619, with the king's head laureated; hence the name. LAUS DEO. Lat. Praise be to God. An old heading to bills of exchange. LAVATORIUM. A laundry or place to wash in; a place in the porch or entrance of cathedral churches, where the priest and other officiating ministers were obliged to wash their hands before they proceeded to divine service. LAVOR NXJEVA. In Spanish law. A new work. Las Partidas, pt. 3, tit. 32, 1. 1. LAW. 1. That which is laid down, or dained, or established. A rule or method according to which phenomena or actions co exist or follow each other. 2. A system of principles and rules of hu man conduct, being the aggregate of those commandments and principles which are either prescribed or recognized by the gov erning power in an organized jural society as its will in relation to the conduct of the mem bers of such society, and which it undertakes to maintain and sanction and to use as the criteria of the actions of such members. "Law" is a solemn expression of legislative will. It orders and permits and forbids. It announces rewards and punishments. Its pro visions generally relate not to solitary or sing ular cases, but to what passes in the ordinary course of affairs. Civ. Code La. arts. 1, 2. "Law," without an article, properly implies a science or system of principles or rules of