DECLARATION

declaration,n.1. A formal statement, proclamation, or announcement, esp. one embodied in an

instrument. Cf. AFFIDAVIT.

declaration of alienage.The declaration of a citizen or subject having dual citizenship that the

person  wishes to  renounce  the  citizenship  of  one  state.  •  For  the  declaration  to  be  effective,  the

person making it must be of full age and not under any disability.

declaration of default.A creditor’s notice to a debtor regarding the debtor’s failure to perform

an obligation, such as making a payment.

declaration  of  dividend.A  company’s  setting  aside  of  a  portion  of  its  earnings or  profits for

distribution to its shareholders. See DIVIDEND. [Cases: Corporations    152. C.J.S. Corporations

§§ 295–299.]

declaration  of  homestead.A  statement  required  to  be  filed  with  a  state  or  local  authority  to

prove  property  ownership  in  order  to  claim  homestead-exemption  rights.  See  HOMESTEAD.

[Cases: Homestead    41.]

declaration of intention.An alien’s formal statement resolving to become a U.S. citizen and to

renounce allegiance to any other government or country. [Cases: Aliens    68(2).]

declaration of legitimacy.A formal or legal pronouncement that a child is legitimate. [Cases:

 

Children Out-of-Wedlock    1, 8. C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 2–11, 23.]

declaration  of  trust. 1.  The  act by  which  the  person  who  holds legal  title  to  property  or  an

estate  acknowledges  that  the  property  is  being  held  in  trust  for  another  person  or  for  certain

specified  purposes.  [Cases:  Trusts    1.  C.J.S.  Trover  and  Conversion  §§  1–9,  14–18.]  2.  The

instrument  that  creates  a  trust.  —  Also  termed  (in  sense  2)  trust  instrument;  trust  deed;  trust

agreement. [Cases: Trusts    19. C.J.S. Trover and Conversion § 35.]

judicial  declaration.Hist.  Scots  law.  1.  A  party’s  statement,  made  in  court  and  transcribed,

about a case’s material facts. 2.  An accused’s statement,  made after an arrest and taken  down in

2.Int’l law.  The  part of  a  treaty  containing  the  stipulations under  which  the  parties agree  to

conduct  their  actions;  TREATY(1).3.Int’l  law.  A  country’s  unilateral  pronouncement  that  affects

the rights and duties of other countries.

declaration  of  war.A  country’s  announcement  that  it  is  officially  engaged  in  war  against

another country. [Cases: War and National Emergency    7. C.J.S. War and National Defense §§ 2,

5.]

4.  A  document  that  governs  legal  rights  to  certain  types  of  real  property,  such  as  a

condominium or a residential subdivision. [Cases: Condominium    3. C.J.S. Estates §§ 197–201,

203–206.] 5. A listing of the merchandise that a person intends to bring into the United States. •

This listing is given to U.S. Customs when one enters the country. [Cases: Customs Duties    65.

C.J.S. Customs Duties §§  82–84.]  6.Evidence. An  unsworn  statement  made  by  someone  having

knowledge  of  facts relating to an  event in  dispute. [Cases: Evidence    266–313. C.J.S. Evidence

§§ 259–260, 267, 285–338, 340–341, 343.]

deathbed declaration.See dying declaration.

declaration  against  interest.A  statement by  a  person  who  is not a  party  to  a  suit  and  is  not

available to  testify  at  trial,  discussing  a  matter  that  is within  the  declarant’s personal  knowledge

and  is  adverse  to  the  declarant’s  interest.  •  Such  a  statement  is  admissible  into  evidence  as  an

exception  to  the  hearsay  rule.  Fed.  R.  Evid.  804(b)(3).  See  admission  against  interest  under

ADMISSION.  —  Also  termed  self-disserving  declaration.  See  admission  against  interest  under

ADMISSION(1).  [Cases:  Criminal  Law    417(15);  Evidence    272.  C.J.S.  Criminal  Law  §  960;

Evidence §§ 293–294, 296–298.]

declaration of pain.A person’s exclamation of present pain, which operates as an exception to

the hearsay rule. Fed. R. Evid. 803(3). [Cases: Criminal Law    419(2.20); Evidence    268. C.J.S.

Criminal Law § 862; Evidence §§ 314–318, 325, 327–328, 330.]

declaration of state of mind.A person’s state-of-mind statement that operates as an exception

to  the  hearsay  rule.  Fed.  R.  Evid.  803(3).  [Cases:  Criminal  Law    419(2.20);  Evidence    268.

C.J.S. Criminal Law § 862; Evidence §§ 314–318, 325, 327–328, 330.]

dying declaration.A statement by a person who believes that death is imminent, relating to the

cause or circumstances of the person’s impending death. • The statement is admissible in evidence

as an exception to the hearsay rule. — Also termed deathbed declaration; ante mortem statement.

[Cases: Evidence    275.5; Homicide    1075. C.J.S. Evidence § 288.]

“[A] rule peculiar to criminal cases is the exception to the rule respecting  hearsay evidence

which  renders  dying  declarations  as  to  the  cause  of  death  admissible  in  trials  for  murder  or

manslaughter…. The earliest emphatic statement of it … is to be found in Woodcock’s case, decided

in 1789 …. This case refers to a decision in 1720 … and to the case of R. v Reason and Tranter,

decided  in  1722.  That  case,  however,  says  nothing  as  to  any  limitation  on  the  rule.  A  series  of

cases from 1678 to 1765 show that during that period declarations of deceased  persons as to the

cause  of their death  were admitted  even though the declarants had hopes of recovery when they

were  made.”  1  James  Fitzjames  Stephen,  A  History  of  the  Criminal  Law  of  England  447–48

(1883).

self-disserving declaration.See declaration against interest.

self-serving declaration.An out-of-court statement made to benefit one’s own interest. [Cases:

Criminal Law    413; Evidence    271. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 877; Evidence § 289.]

7.Common-law pleading. The plaintiff’s first pleading in a civil action. • It is an amplification

of the original writ on which the action is founded, with the additional circumstances of the time

and place of injury. In a real action, the declaration is called a count. Today the equivalent term in

English  law  is  statement  of  claim;  in  most  American  jurisdictions,  it  is  called  a  petition  or

complaint.  —  Also  termed  narratio.  See  COUNT(2),  (3).  Cf.  PLEA  (2).  [Cases:  Pleading    41.

C.J.S. Pleading § 96.]“The declaration is a statement of all material facts constituting the plaintiff’s

cause of action in a methodical and legal form. It consists of the following parts: (a) Statement of

title  of  court.  (b)  Statement  of  venue  in  the  margin.  (c)  The  commencement.  (d)  The  body,  or

statement  of  the  cause  of  action.  (e)  The  conclusion.”  Benjamin  J.  Shipman,  Handbook  of

Common-Law Pleading § 76, at 192 (Henry Winthrop Ballantine ed., 3d ed. 1923).

declaration in chief.A declaration for the principal cause of action.

8. A formal, written statement — resembling an affidavit but not notarized or sworn to — that

attests, under penalty of perjury, to facts known by the declarant. • Such a declaration, if properly

prepared, is admissible in federal court with the same effect as an affidavit. 28 USCA § 1746. —

Also termed  declaration  under penalty of  perjury; unsworn  declaration  under  penalty of  perjury.

Cf.  AFFIDAVIT.  9.Int’l  law.  An  oral  or  written  statement,  unilaterally  made,  by  which  a  state

expresses  its  will,  intent,  or  opinion  when  acting  in  the  field  of  international  relations.  10.See

declaratory  judgment  under  JUDGMENT.  11.DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS.  —  declare,vb.  —

declaratory,adj. [Blacks Law 8th]