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primitive and characteristic action of the Roman law, and the others were little more than modes of applying it to cases not contemplated in the See also:

ORIGINAL

original form, or of carrying the result of it into See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution when the action had been decided. The legis actiones were superseded by the formulae,originated by the praetor peregrines for the determination of controversies between foreigners, but found more flexible than the earlier system and made available for citizens by the Lex Aebutia. Under both these systems the praetor referred the See also:

MATTER

matter in dispute to an arbiter (judex), but in the later he settled the See also:

formula (i.e. the issues to be referred and the appropriate form of See also:

RELIEF

relief) before making the See also:

order of reference. In the third See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage, the formulary stage See also:

fell into disuse, and after A.D.

342 the See also:

MAGISTRATE (Lat. magistratus, from magister, master, properly a public office, hence the person holding such an office)

magistrate himself or his See also:

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

deputy decided the controversy after the defending party had been duly summoned by a libellus. The classifications of actiones in Roman law were very numerous. The See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division which is still most universally recognized is that of actions in rem and actions in personam (Sohm, Roman Law, tr. by Ledlie, 2nd ed. 277). An action in rem asserts a right to a particular thing against all the See also:

WORLD

world. An action in personam asserts a right only against a particular See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person. Perhaps the best See also:

MODERN

modern example of the distinction is that made in maritime cases between an action against a See also:

SHIP

ship after a collision at See also:

sea, and an action against the owners of the ship. In See also:

ENGLISH

English law the term " action " at a very See also:

early date became associated with See also:

CIVIL

civil proceedings in the Court of See also:

COMMON

Common Pleas, which were distinguished from pleas of the See also:

CROWN

crown, such as indictments or informations and for suits in the Court of See also:

CHANCERY

Chancery or in the See also:

ADMIRALTY, HIGH COURT OF

Admiralty or ecclesiastical courts. The English action was a proceeding commenced by See also:

WRIT (O. Eng. gewrit, writ, from writan, to write)

writ original at the common law. The remedy was of right and not of See also:

grace. The history of actions is the history of civil See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure in the courts of common law. As a result of the reform of civil procedure by the Judicature Acts the term " action " in English law now means at the High Court of Justice " a civil proceeding commenced by writ of See also:

SUMMONS (Fr. semonce, from semonner or semondre, Lat. summonere, summonitio)

summons or in such other manner as may be prescribed by rules of court " (e.g. by originating summons).

The proceeding thus commenced ends by See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment and execution. This See also:

DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition includes proceedings under the Chancery, Admiralty and See also:

PROBATE

Probate See also:

jurisdiction of the High Court, but excludes proceedings commenced by See also:

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

petition, such as See also:

DIVORCE

divorce suits and See also:

BANKRUPTCY (from Lat. bancus or Fr. banquet table or counter, and Lat. ruptus, broken)

bankruptcy and winding-up matters, as well as criminal proceedings in the High Court or applications for the issue of the writs of See also:

MANDAMUS, WRIT OF

mandamus, See also:

PROHIBITION (Lat. prohibere, to prevent)

prohibition, habeas corpus or certiorari. The Judicature Acts and Rules have had the effect of abolishing all the forms of " action " used at the common law and of creating one common form of legal proceeding for all See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary controversies between subjects in whatever division of the High Court. The stages in an English action are the writ, by which the persons against whom relief is claimed are summoned before the court; the pleadings and interlocutory steps, by which the issues between the parties are adjusted; the trial, at which the issues of fact and law involved are brought before the tribunal; the judgment, by which the relief sought is granted or refused; and execution, by which the law gives to the successful party the fruits of the judgment. The procedure varies according as the action is in the High Court, a See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county court or one of the other See also:

LOCAL

local courts of See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record which still survive; but there is no substantial difference in the incidents of trial, judgment and execution in any of these courts. The initial difference between actions in the High Court and the county court is that the latter are commenced by plaint lodged in the court, on which a summons is prepared by the court and served by its See also:

BAILIFF

bailiff, whereas in the High Court the party pre-pares the writ and lodges it in court for sealing, and when it is sealed, himself effects the service. An action is said to " See also:

lie " when the law provides a remedy for some particular See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act or omission by a subject which infringes the legal rights of another subject. An act of such a See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character is said to give a " cause of action." In the action the person who alleges himself aggrieved claims a judgment of the court in his favour giving an adequate and appropriate remedy for the injury or damage which he has sustained by the infraction of his rights. As to the See also:

time within which an action must be brought, see See also:

LIMITATION, STATUTES OF

LIMITATION, STATUTES OF. When the rights of a subject are in-fringed by the illegal action of the See also:

state, an action lies in See also:

England against the See also:

OFFICERS

officers who have done the wrong, unless the claim be one arising out of See also:

BREACH (Mid. Eng. breche, derived from the common Teutonic root brec, which appears in " break," Ger. brechen, &c.)

breach of a See also:

contract with the state, or out of an " Act of State." For a breach by the state of a contract made between the state and a subject the remedy of the subject is, as a See also:

general See also:

RULE

rule, not by action against the agents of the state who acted for the state with reference to the making or breach of the contract, but against the Crown itself by the proceeding called Petition of Right (see PETITION). While as a generic term " action " in its proper legal sense includes suits by the Crown and " criminal actions " (see Co. Litt.

284b; Bracton, de Legibus Angliae, bk. iii. ch. v. f. Io46; Brad-laugh v. See also:

Clarke, 1883, 8 App. Cas. 354, 361, 374), in popular See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language it is taken to mean a proceeding by a subject and is now rarely applied in England even by lawyers to criminal proceedings. What are now known as " penal actions," i.e. proceedings in which an individual who has not suffered personally by a breach of the law sues as a common informer for the statutory See also:

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

penalty either on his own benefit or on behalf also of the Crown (qui See also:

TAM, JACOB BEN MEIR (1100-1171)

tam See also:

pro rege quam pro se ipso), See also:

bear some See also:

ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy to the actio popularis of Roman law, from which they are derived (see the See also:

STATUTE

statute 4 See also:

Hen. VII. 1488); but they are now treated for most purposes as civil and not as criminal proceedings. The law of See also:

Scotland follows the lines of the civil law, and the expression " criminal action " is in use to distinguish proceedings to punish offences against the public as distinguished from civil action, brought to enforce a private right. In the See also:

UNITED

United States, and the See also:

BRITISH

British colonies in which English law runs by See also:

settlement, See also:

CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book)

charter, See also:

PROCLAMATION (Lat. proclamare, to make public by announcement)

proclamation or statute, the nature of an action is substantially the same as in England. The See also:

DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences between one state of the See also:

Union and another, and one See also:

COLONY (Lat. colonia, from colonus, a cultivator)

colony and another, depend mainly on the extent to which the old procedure of the common law has been abolished, simplified or reformed by local legislation.

End of Article: ACTION

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