APPOINTMENT

appointment,n.1. The designation of a person, such as a nonelected public official, for a job

or  duty;  esp.,  the  naming  of  someone  to  a  nonelected  public  office  <Article  II  of  the  U.S.

Constitution grants the President the power of appointment for principal federal officials, subject

to  senatorial  consent>.  [Cases:  Officers  and  Public  Employees    8;  United  States    35.  C.J.S.

Officers and Public Employees § 47; United States §§ 23, 53, 56–57.]

public   appointment.An   appointment   to   a   public   office.   [Cases:   Officers   and   Public

Employees    8. C.J.S. Officers and Public Employees § 47.]

2.  An  office  occupied  by  someone  who  has  been  appointed  <a  high  appointment  in  the

federal govern-ment>.3.Parliamentary law. The naming of an officer, the members of a committee,

or the holder of any other title in an organization by means other than the organization’s election. 4.

The  act  of  disposing  of  property,  in  exercise  of  a  power  granted  for  that  purpose  <the  tenant’s

appointment of lands>. See POWER OF APPOINTMENT. [Cases: Powers    1.C.J.S. Powers § 2.]

— appoint,vb. — appointer (for senses 1–3), n. — appointor (for sense 4), n.

illusory appointment.A nominal, unduly restrictive, or conditional transfer of property under

a power of ap-pointment. [Cases: Powers    36(3). C.J.S. Powers § 21.]

“Like many other theories which are very plausible in the abstract, experience has shown that

the  doctrine  of illusory appointments is difficult in application, since the term ‘illusory’ is vague

and  indefinite.  And,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  formulating  rules  for  determining  what  is  an

illusory  appointment  and  the  evils  resulting  from  attempts  to  substitute  the  judicial  will  for  the

intent of the donor and donee of the power, the doctrine has been condemned or rejected by many

courts.” 62 Am. Jur. 2d Powers of Appointment § 186 (1990). [Blacks Law 8th]