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BOND
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BOND ,1 in See also:English See also:law, an See also:obligation by See also:deed. Its See also:design is to secure that the obligor, i.e. the See also:person giving the bond, will either pay a sum of See also:money, or do or refrain from doing some See also:act; and for this purpose the obligor binds himself in a See also:penalty to the obligee, with a See also:condition added that, if the obligor pays the sum secured—which is usually See also:half the penalty—or does or refrains from doing the specified act, the bond shall be void: otherwise it shall remain in full force. This condition is known as the See also:defeasance because it defeats or undoes the bond. The See also:form of a See also:common money bond runs as follows: Know All Men by these presents that I, A. B. (name, address and description of obligor), am See also:bound to C. D. (name, address and description of obligee) in the sum of [2000] to be paid to the said (obligee), his executors, administrators or assigns or to his or their See also:attorney or attorneys, for which See also:payment I bind myself by these presents. Sealed with my See also:seal. Dated this See also:day of 19 . The condition of the above-written bond is such that if the above A. B., his heirs, executors or administrators, shall on the day of pay to the above-named C. D., his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns the sum of £[moo], with See also:interest for the same from the date of the above-written bond at the See also:rate of per cent per annum without any See also:deduction, then the above-written bond shall be void: otherwise the bond shall remain in full force. Signed, sealed and delivered by the above-named A. B. in the presence of (See also:witness) Recitals are frequently added to explain the circumstances under which the bond is given. If the condition is not performed, i.e. if the obligor does not pay the money by the day stipulated, or do or refrain from doing the act provided for, the bond becomes forfeit or See also:absolute at law, and charges the obligor and his See also:estate (see See also:Conveyancing Act 1881, s. 59). In old days, when a bond was forfeit, the whole penalty was recoverable at law and payment See also:post diem could not be pleaded to an See also:action on it, but the See also:court of See also:chancery See also:early interposed to prevent oppression. It held the penalty of a bond to be the form, not the substance of it, a See also:pledge merely to secure repayment of the sum See also:bona fide advanced, and would not permit a See also:man to take more than in See also:conscience he ought, i.e. in See also:case of a common money bond, his See also:principal, interest and expenses. This equitable See also:relief received statutory recognition by an act of 1705, which provided that, in case of a common money bond, payment of the lesser sum with interest and See also:costs shall be taken in full See also:satisfaction of the bond. An obligee of a common money bond can, since the date of the Judicature Act, obtain See also:summary See also:judgment under O. xiv. (R.S.C. 1883) by specially endorsing his See also:writ under O. iii. R. 6. Bonds were, however, and still are given to secure performance of a variety of matters other than the payment of a sum of money at a fixed date. They may be given and are given, for instance, This word, meaning " that which binds," is a phonetic variant of " See also:band," and is derived from the See also:Teutonic See also:root seen in bindan, to bind; it must be distinguished from the obsolete " bond," meaning originally a householder. In the See also:laws of Canute this word is used as equal to the Old English ceorl (see See also:CHURL), and thus, as the churl's position became less See also:free after the See also:Norman See also:Conquest, the " bond " approximated to the " villein," and still later to the ` serf." The word is in Old English bonda, and appears in " See also:husband " (q.v.), and is derived from the root of the verb bsia, to dwell, to have a See also:house, the Latin co/ere, and thus in origin is cognate with See also:German See also:Bauer and English " boor," The transition in meaning to the See also:idea of See also:serfdom, and hence to See also:slavery, is due to an early confusion with " bond," from " bind." The same wrong connexion appears in the transition of meaning in " bondage," properly " See also:tenure in villein-See also:age," but now used as synonymous with " slavery." A trace of the early meaning still survives in " See also:bondager " (q.v.).to See also:guarantee the fidelity of a clerk, of a See also:rent See also:collector, or of a person in an See also:office of public See also:trust, or to secure that an intended husband will See also:settle a sum on his wife in the event of her surviving him, or that a See also:building See also:contract shall be carried out, or that a See also:rival business shall not be carried on by the obligor except within certain limits of See also:time and space. The same See also:object can often be attained—and more conveniently attained—by a See also:covenant than by bond, and covenants have in the practice of conveyancers largely superseded bonds, but there are cases where See also:security by bond is still preferable to security by covenant. Thus under a bond to secure an See also:annuity, if the obligor makes See also:default, judgment may be entered for the penalty and stand as security for the future payments without the See also:necessity of bringing a fresh action for each payment. In cases of bonds with See also:special conditions, such as those instanced above, the remedy of the obligee for See also:breach of the condition is prescribed by an act of 1696, the See also:procedure under which is preserved by the Judicature Act (0. xxii. R. 1, O. xiii. R. 14). 
The obligee assigns the particular breaches of which he complains, See also:damages in respect of such breaches are assessed, and, on payment into court by the obligor of the amount of such damages, the court enters a stay of See also:execution. A difficulty which has much exercised and still exercises the courts is to determine, in these cases of special conditions, whether the sum for which the bond is given is a true penalty or only liquidated damages. There is nothing to prevent the parties to a bond from agreeing the damages for a breach, and if they have done so, the court will not interfere, as it will in the case of a penalty. The leading case on the subject is See also:Kemble v. See also:Farren (1829; 6 Bing. 148). Bonds given to secure the doing of anything which is contrary to the policy of the law are void. Such, for instance, is a bond given to a woman for future cohabitation (as distinguished from past cohabitation), or a See also:marriage brocage bond, that is, a bond given to procure a marriage between parties. (See the matrimonial agency case, See also:Hermann v. Charlesworth, 1905, 2 K.B. 123). It was not without design that See also:Shakespeare laid the See also:scene of Shylock's suit on See also:Antonio's bond in a Venetian court; the bond would have had See also:short shrift in an English court. Post See also:Obit Bonds.—A post obit bond is one given by an expectant See also:heir or legatee, payable on or after the See also:death of the person from whom the obligor has expectations. Such a bond, if the obligee has exacted unconscionable terms, may be set aside. See also:Bottomry Bonds.—A bottomry bond is a contract of hypothecation by which the owner of a See also:ship, or the See also:master as his See also:agent, borrows money for the use of the ship to meet some emergency, e.g. necessary See also:repairs, and pledges the ship (or See also:keel or bottom of the ship, partem See also:pro tots) as security for repayment. If the ship safely accomplishes her voyage, the obligee gets his money back with the agreed interest: if the ship is totally lost, he loses it altogether. See also:Lloyd's Bonds.—Lloyd's bonds are See also:instruments under the seal of a railway See also:company, admitting the indebtedness of the company to the obligee to a specified amount for See also:work done or goods supplied, with a covenant to pay him such amount with interest on a future day. They are a See also:device by which railway companies were enabled to increase their indebtedness without technically violating their See also:charter. The name is derived from the counsel who settled the form of the bond. Debenture Bonds.—Debenture bonds are bonds secured only by the covenant of the company without any floating or fixed See also:charge on the See also:assets. (See See also:DEBENTURES AND DEBENTURE STOCK.) See also:Recognizance.—A recognizance differs from a bond in being entered into before a court of See also:record and thereby becoming an obligation of record. Heritable bond is a Scots law See also:term, meaning a bond for money, joined with a See also:conveyance of See also:land, and held by a creditor as security for his See also:debt. For goods " in bond " see BONDED WAREHOUSE. (E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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