Law Dictionary Definitions

bill of Middlesex.Hist. A process by which the Court of the King’s Bench in Middlesex obtains jurisdiction over a defendant who resides in a county outside the Court’s jurisdiction, by alleging a fictitious trespass in a county over which the court has jurisdiction. • Once the sheriff returns the bill noting that the defendant is…

bill of lading (layd-ing). A document acknowledging the receipt of goods by a carrier or by the shipper’s agent and the contract for the transportation of those goods; a document that indicates the receipt of goods for shipment and that is issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods. UCC…

bill of indictment.An instrument presented to a grand jury and used by the jury to declare whether there is enough evidence to formally charge the accused with a crime. See INDICTMENT; NO BILL; TRUE BILL.[Blacks Law 8th]

bill of indemnity. 1.Hist. An act of Parliament passed annually to protect officeholders who unwittingly fail to take a required oath from liability for acts done in an official capacity. • A more general statute, the Promissory Oaths Act, replaced the bill of indemnity in 1868. 2. A law protecting a public official from liability…

bill of health.Maritime law. A statement certifying the healthy condition of a ship’s cargo and crew. • The bill is issued by the port authority from which a vessel sails and is shown to the port authority at the ship’s destination as proof that the ship’s cargo and crew are disease-free. A “clean” bill states…

bill of exchange.See DRAFT(1). [Blacks Law 8th]

bill of entry.Maritime law. A written description of goods filed by an importer with customs officials to obtain permission to unload a ship’s goods.[Blacks Law 8th]

bill of credit. 1. Legal tender in the form of paper, issued by a state and involving the faith of the state, designed to circulate as money in the ordinary uses of business. U.S. Const. art. I, § 10. [Cases: States  145. C.J.S. States § 251.] 2.LETTER OF CREDIT.[Blacks Law 8th]

  bill of attainder. 1.Archaic. A special legislative act that imposes a death sentence on a person without a trial. 2. A special legislative act prescribing punishment, without a trial, for a specific person or group. • Bills of attainder are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution (art. I, § 9, cl. 3; art. I, 10, cl.…

bill of adventure.Maritime law. A shipper’s written statement that the shipped property belongs to another and is conveyed at the owner’s risk.[Blacks Law 8th]