Page:Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition).djvu/208

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CHURCH
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tution of the state, (see the first clause of Mag- na Charta,) of which the sovereign is the su- preme head by act of parliament, (26 Hen. VIII. ce. 1,) but in what sense is not agreed. The sov- ereign must be a member of the church, and every subject is in theory a member. Wharton. Pawlet v. Clark, 9 Cranch, 292, 3 L. Hd. 735. —Churech rate. In [English law. A sum as- sessed for the repair of parochial churchés by the representatives of the parishioners in vestry assembled.—Churech reeve. A church warden;

an overseer of a church. Now obsolete. Cowell. —Church-seot. In old Mnglish law. Custom-

ary obligations paid to the parish priest; from which duties the religious sometimes purchased an exemption for themselves and their tenants. —Church wardens. <A species of ecclesiastic- al officers who are intrusted with the care and guardianship of the church building and proper- ty. These, with the reetor and vestry, represent the parish in its corporate capacity —Church- yard, See CEMETERY.

CHURCHESSET. In old English law. A certain portion or measure of wheat, ancient- ly paid to the church on St. Martin's day; and which, according to Fleta, was paid as well in the time of the Britons as of the Rnglish. IPleta, lib. 1, ¢. 47, § 28.

CHURL. In Saxon law. A freeman of inferior rank, chiefly employed in husbandry. 1 Reeve, Eng. Law, 5. A tenant at will of free condition, who held land from a thane, on condition of rents and services. Cowell. See CEORL.

CI. Fr. So; here. Ci Diciu vous eyde, so help you God. Cé¢ devant, heretofore. Ci bien, as well.

CIBARIA. Lat. Inthecivillaw. Wood; victuals. Dig. 34, 1.

CICATRIX. In medical jurisprudence. A scar; the mark left in the flesh or skin after the healing of a wound, and having the appearance of a seam or of a ridge of flesh.

CINQUE PORTS. TF ive (now seven) ports or havens on the south-east coast of Eng- land, towards France, formerly esteemed the most important in the kingdom. They are Dover, Sandwich, Romney, Hastings, and Hythe, to which Winchelsea and Rye have been since added. They had similar fran- chises, in some respects, with the counties palatine, and particularly an exclusive juris- diction, (before the mayor and jurats, corres- ponding to aldermen, of the ports,) in which the king’s ordinary writ did not run. 8 BI. Comm. 79.

The 18 & 19 Vict. c. 48, (amended by 20 & 21 Vict. ec. 1,) abolishes all jurisdiction and authority of the lord warden of the Cinque Ports and constable of Dover Castle, in or in relation to the administration of justice in actions, suits, or other civil proceedings at law or in equity.

CIPPE. An old English law term for the stocks, an instrument in which the wrists or ankles of petty offenders were confined.

200

CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEALS

CIRCADA. A tribute anciently paid to the bishop or archbishop for visiting chureh- es. Du Fresne.

CIRCAR. In Hindu law. Head of af- fairs; the state or government; a grand dl- vision of a province; a headman. <A name used by Europeans in Bengal to denote the Hindu writer and accountant employed by themselves, or in the public offices. Whar- ton.

CIRCUIT. A division of the country, appointed for a particular judge to visit for the trial of causes or for the administration of justice. Bouvier.

Circuits, as the term is used in England,

may be otherwise defined to be the period- ical progresses of the judges of the superior courts of common law, through the several counties of Pngland and Wales, for the pur- pose of administering civil and criminal jus- tice. —Circuit judge. The judge ofa circuit court, Crozier v. Lyons, 72 lowa, 401, 34 N. W. 186. —Circuit justice. In federal law and prac- tice. The justice of the supreme court who is allotted to a given circuit. U. 8S. Comp. St 1901, p. 486.—Cireuit paper. In LInglish practice. A paper containing a statement of the time and place at which the several assises will be held, and other statistical information con- nected with the assises. Holthouse.

CIRCUIT COURTS. The name of a system of courts of the United States, in- vested with general original jurisdiction of such matters and causes as are of Federal cognizance, except the matters specially del- egated to the district courts.

The United States circuit courts are held by one of the justices of the supreme court ap pointed for the circuit, (and bearing the name, in that capacity, of cirewt justice,) together with the circuit judge and the district judge af the district in which they are held. Their bust ness is not only the supervision of trials of is- sues in fact, but the hearing of causes as a court in banc; and they have equity as well as common-law jurisdiction, together with appel- late jurisdiction from the decrees and judgments of the district courts. 1 Kent, Comm. 301-308.

In several of the states, circuit court is the name given to a tribunal, the territertal jurisdiction of which comprises several coun- ties or districts, and whose sessions are held in such counties or districts alternately. These courts usually have general original jurisdiction. In re Johnson, 12 Kan. 102.

CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEALS. A system of courts of the United States (one in each circuit) created by act of congress of Mareh 8, 1891 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 489), coinposed of the cireuit justice, the circuit judge, and an additional circuit judge ap- pointed for each such court, and having apr pellate jurisdiction from the circuit and dis- trict courts except in certain specified class es of cases.