CASE

case. 1. A civil or criminal proceeding, action, suit, or controversy at law or in equity <the

parties settled the case>.

active case.A case that is still pending.

case at bar.A case under the immediate consideration of the court. — Also termed case at

bench; instant case; present case. See BAR(3).

case made.See case reserved (1).

case of first impression.A case that presents the court with an issue of law that has not

previously been decided by any controlling legal authority in that jurisdiction.

case reserved. 1. A written statement of the facts proved at trial and drawn up and stipulated to by the parties, so that certain legal issues can be decided by an appellate court. — Also termed case made; special case. 2.Hist. An agreement between litigants to submit the case to a judge rather than to a jury.

“It should have come as no surprise … that in most cases ‘merchants were not fond of juries.’ For one of the leading measures of the growing alliance between bench and bar on the one hand and commercial interests on the other is the swiftness with which the power of the jury is curtailed after 1790…. [D]uring the last years of the eighteenth century American lawyers vastly expanded the ‘special case’ or ‘case reserved,’ a device designed to submit points of law to the judges while avoiding the effective intervention of a jury. In England, Lord Mansfield had used a similar procedure to bring about an alliance between common lawyers and mercantile interests.” Morton J.

Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law, 1780–1860 141–42 (1977).

case stated. 1. A formal written statement of the facts in a case, submitted to the court jointly by the parties so that a decision may be rendered without trial. — Also termed case agreed on. [Cases: Trial  368. C.J.S. Trial § 1022.] 2.Hist. A procedure used by the Court of Chancery to refer difficult legal questions to a common-law court. • This procedure was abolished in 1852. 3.English law. An appeal from a Magistrates’ Court to the Divisional Court of Queen’s Bench on a point of criminal law. • After ruling, the magistrate states the facts for the appeal and the Queen’s Bench rules on the question of law presented by the magistrate’s ruling.

inactive case.A pending case that is not proceeding toward resolution. • This may occur for several reasons, such as nonservice, want of prosecution, or (in a criminal case) the defendant’s having absconded.

instant case.See case at bar. present case.See case at bar. special case.See case reserved (1).

test case. 1. A lawsuit brought to establish an important legal principle or right. • Such an action is frequently brought by the parties’ mutual consent on agreed facts — when that is so, a test case is also sometimes termed amicable action or amicable suit.

“The suit is spoken of, in the affidavits filed in support of it, as an amicable action, and the proceeding defended on that ground. But an amicable action, in the sense in which these words are used in courts of justice, presupposes that there is a real dispute between the parties concerning some matter of right. And in a case of that kind it sometimes happens, that, for the purpose of obtaining a decision of the controversy, without incurring needless expense and trouble, they agree

to conduct the suit in an amicable manner, that is to say, that they will not em-barrass each other with unnecessary forms or technicalities, and will mutually admit facts which they know to be true, and without requiring proof, and will bring the point in dispute before the court for decision, without subjecting each other to unnecessary expense or delay. But there must be an actual controversy, and adverse interests. The amity consists in the manner in which it is brought to issue before the court. And such amicable actions, so far from being objects of censure, are always approved and encouraged, because they facilitate greatly the administration of justice between the parties. The objection in the case before us is, not that the proceedings were amicable, but that there is no real conflict of interest between them; that the plaintiff and defendant have the same interest, and that interest adverse and in conflict with the interest of third persons, whose rights would be seriously affected if the question of law was decided in the manner that both of the parties to this suit desire it to be.” Lord v. Veazie, 49 U.S. 251, 255 (1850)(Taney, C.J.).

2. An action selected from several suits that are based on the same facts and evidence, raise the same question of law, and have a common plaintiff or a common defendant. • Sometimes, when all parties agree, the court orders a consolidation and all parties are bound by the decision in the test case. — Also termed test action.

2. A criminal investigation <the Manson case>.3. An individual suspect or convict in relation to any aspect of the criminal-justice system <the probation officer said he considers Mr. Jones a difficult case>.4. An argument <the debater made a compelling case for gun control>.5. An instance, occurrence, or situation <a case of mistaken identity> <a terminal case of cancer>.6.TRESPASS ON THE CASE <the actions of trover and case are not entirely defunct>. [Blacks Law 8th]