LEX LOCI CONTRACTUS-continued. According to the former of these two senses, it is the Lex loci solutionis, according to the latter of them it is the lex loci actus, and it is desirable that these two phrases should be used for distinction's sake, when anything is to turn on the distinction. The former phrase, namely, the Lex loci solutionis, regulates the mode of recovery upon the contract, and the latter phrase, viz., the Lex loci actus, regulates the formalities or ceremonies requiring to be observed upon entering into a contract. In each case the law of the place denoted by the phrase is to be singly regarded, unless, indeed, pro majori cautelâ.

LEX LOCI REI SITE. This phrase denotes the law of the place of the situation of the property, as does also the phrase Lex loci situs; but the former phrase is exclusively applicable (and ought to be confined) to real property, including leaseholds, and the latter to personal property exclusive of leaseholds. There are also certain differences between the two laws expressed by the two respective phrases; thus, the Lex loci rei site is a paramount law, and regulates the devolution of lands whether upon a testacy or an intestacy; it also determines what shall be the forum, so that it is never in conflict with the Lex fori; and lastly, it completely disregards the Lex domicilii. The Lex loci situs, on the other hand, is different in all these three respects, being subsidiary to the Lex domicilii, being frequently in conflict with the Lex fori, and having absolutely no influence upon the devolution of property.

LEX LOCI SITUS: See the preceding title.

LEX LOCI SOLUTIONIS: See title LEX LOCI CONTRACTUS.

LEX MERCATORIA: See title LAW MERCHANT.

LIBEL. This word is commonly used in two senses, 1st, in the Court of Arches, and some few other Courts, as meaning a formal allegation in the nature of a pleading, containing the substance of the plaintiff's complaint. But, 2ndly, and more commonly, it signifies some malicious defamation of any person expressed otherwise than by mere words (see title SLANDER) as by writing, print, figures, signs, or any other symbols. Malice is an essential requisite to constitute any writing a libel, and the truth of defamatory writings is not at Common Law any justification of them, but under the Act 6 & 7 Vict. c. 96, it is competent for the defendant to plead

LIBEL-continued.

the truth of the libel, and that it was published for the public good.

Previously to the year 1792, the functions of the jury in actions or prosecutions for libel were confined to finding the fact of publication merely, or the absence of that fact (Dean of St. Asaph's Case, 21 St. Tr. 847); but since that year, and in virtue of Fox's Libel Act, 1792 (32 Geo. 3, c. 60), the jury now find a mixed verdict of libel. or no libel, returning generally the verdict of guilty or not guilty, in which both law and fact are blended. The functions of the judge, which were formerly very large, have been correspondingly diminished, and are now confined to points arising incidentally in the trial, and which require to be summarily disposed of, but including amidst such matters a rather important defence in actions of this sort, namely, PRIVILEGE, as to which see that title.

LIBERATE. A warrant which used formerly to issue out of Chancery under the great seal to the Treasurer, Chamberlain, and Barons of the Exchequer, &c., for the payment of any yearly pension or other sum of money granted under the great seal. Sometimes it was directed to the sheriff for the delivery of land or goods taken upon forfeiture of a recognizance; and sometimes to a gaoler for the delivery of a prisoner who had put in bail for his appearance. It was most in use for the delivery of goods on an extent; for until the liberate no property in the goods passed to the conusee in the recognisance. Tomlins.

LIBERTY: See title FRANCHISE.

As a general rule, licences in respect of land are revocable at the will of the grantor; for they confer no interest in the land; but where the licence is something more than a licence, in other words, where it is accompanied with a grant, it is irrevocable while the grant continues (Wood v. Leadbitter, 13 M. & W. 844), no matter whether it is made by deed or parol. Moreover, a licence is irrevocable when the licensee, acting upon it, has executed works of a permanent and expensive cha

Similarly, where the licence is in respect of goods.

By the C. L. P. Act, 1852, Sched. B. 44, the defendant licensee may plead that he did the act complained of by the leave and licence of the plaintiff; and the plaintiff may then take issue on that plea (Barnes v. Hunt, 11 East, 451), or may (in a fit case) new assign (Kavanagh v. Gudge, 7 M. & G. 316), or may reply specially. Price v. Peek, Bing. N. C. 380.

LIE. To subsist, to exist, to be sustainable, &c. Thus, the phrase, “an action will not lie," signifies that an action cannot be sustained, or that there is no ground upon which to found the action.

LIEN. A qualified right of property which a person has in or over a thing, arising from such person's having a claim upon the owner of such thing. Thus, the right which an attorney has to keep possession of the deeds and papers of his client until such client has paid his attorney's bill is termed the attorney's lien upon those deeds, papers, &c. There are two sorts of lien, viz., particular and general. A particular lien is the right which a person has to retain the specific thing itself in respect of which the claim arises; a general lien is the right which a person has to retain a thing not only in respect of demands arising out of the thing itself so retained, but also for a general balance of account arising out of dealings of a similar nature. A lien may exist over real and personal property equally; but there is this difference in the two cases, namely, (1), that the lien on personal property is dependent on possession, and ceases when the possession ceases; whereas, (2), the lien on real property is independent of possession, and indeed implies that the person claiming the lien is out of the possession, e.g., in the case of a vendor's lien for unpaid purchase-money, or of a purchaser for his deposit. The lien is, however, in all cases commensurate only with the interest of the person through whom it arises.

See also title STOPPAGE IN TRANSITU. LIFE ESTATE: See title ESTATE.

LIFE RENT. A rent payable to, or receivable by, a person for the term of his or her life, e.g., a jointure rent-charge, a

LIFE RENT-continued.

life annuity issuing out of lands, and such like.

LIGEANCE: See title ALLEGIANCE.

LIMIT. To mark out, to define, to fix the extent of. Thus, to limit an estate means to mark out or to define the period of its duration, and the words employed in deeds for this purpose are thence termed words of limitation, and the act itself is termed limiting the estate. Thus, if an estate be granted to A. for the term of his natural life the words "term of his natural life" would be the words of limitation, and the estate itself would be limited to A. for

LIMITATION.

that period. Sometimes very great importance attaches to the words of limitation that are used; for example, the Rule in Shelley's Case is entirely a rule of words; and again, in every conveyance (except by will) of an estate of inheritance, whether in fee tail or fee simple, the word "heirs" is necessary to be used as a word of limitation to make out the estate; for if a grant be made to a man and his seed, or to a man and his offspring, or to a man and the issue of his body, all these are insufficient to confer an estate tail, and only convey an estate for life for want of the word "heirs." Confinement within a certain time, &c. The word "limitation," as applied to actions, signifies the period of time which the law gives a man to bring his action for the recovery of any thing; and this period of time within which a man must bring his action in order to recover the thing sought is limited by the legislature in some cases to two years, in some to six years, and so on. The Acts of Parliament which prescribe these limits within which actions must be commenced are thence called the Statutes of Limitation, and the subject generally is termed limitation of actions. These statutes are principally the following:

(1.) 21 Jac. 1, c. 16, for actions on torts
and on simple contracts;
(2.) 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 42, for actions on
specialties;

(3.) 9 Geo. 3, c. 16, for suits by the
Crown and

(4.) 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 27, for actions of ejectment and such like.

The statute 37 & 38 Vict. c. 57 (Real Property Limitation Act, 1874), which comes into operation on the 1st of January, 1879, reduces the periods prescribed by the 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 27, supra.

LIMITATION OF ESTATES. The word "limitation" as applied to estates signifies the limits of duration beyond which an estate cannot last, as when an estate is so expressly confined and limited by the words

LIMITATION OF ESTATES-continued. of its creation, that it cannot endure for any longer time than till the contingency happens upon which the estate is to fail; as when land is granted to a man so long as he is lord of the manor of Dale, or while he continues unmarried, or until out of the rents and profits he shall have made £500, and so on. In such cases the estate determines as soon as the contingency happens (i.e., when he ceases to be lord of the manor, marries a wife, or has received the £500), and the next subsequent estate which depends upon such determination becomes immediately vested in possession without any act to be done by him who is next in expectancy. 1 Inst. 234; Litt. 347. See also for further explanation of the phrase "limiting an estate" title LIMIT.

An ad

LIMITED ADMINISTRATION. ministration of a temporary character, granted for a particular period, or for a special or particular purpose, as distinguished from an ordinary administration which is not granted subject to such limitations or conditions. Such, for instance, is an administration durante minore atate, which becomes necessary when an infant has been appointed sole executor, or the person upon whom the right to administration devolves is an infant, in which case administration is granted to some other proper person for a limited period, viz., until the infant attains the full age of twenty-one years, and is capable of taking the burden of the administration upon himself.

See also title ADMINISTRATION, LETTERS

OF.

LIMITED EXECUTOR. The appointment of an executor may be either absolute or qualified. It is absolute when there is no restriction, condition, or limitation imposed upon him in regard to the testator's effects, or no limitation in point of time. It may be qualified by limitations as to the time or place wherein, or the subject-matter whereon, the office is to be exercised, and when so qualified the executor is frequently, in reference to his limited or qualified powers, termed a limited executor. Thus, if one appoint a man to be his executor at a certain time, as at the expiration of five years after his death, or at an uncertain time, as upon the death or marriage of his son, such an executor with reference to the time he should begin to execute his office would be a limited executor. So also an executor may be a limited executor, with reference to the place in which he is empowered to execute his trust; as if a testator should make A. his executor for his goods in Cornwall, B. for those in Devon, and C. for those in

LIMITED EXECUTOR-continued. Somerset. Went. Off. Ex. 291, 4th ed.; Bro. Executors, 2, 155, cited in 1 Wms. Ex. 181.

LIMITED LIABILITY. The liability of the members of a Joint Stock Company (see that title) may be either unlimited (which it seldom is) or limited; and if the latter, then the limitation of liability is either the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares (in which case the limit is said to be by shares), or such an amount as the members guarantee in the event of the company's being wound up (in which case the limit is said to be by guarantee). Where the limit is by shares the memorandum of association must contain a declaration that the liability is limited, and the amount of the capital must be divided into shares of a fixed amount; and each mem. ber must take one share at least, and write the number he takes opposite to his name in the memorandum of association. the other hand, when the liability is limited by guarantee, the memorandum must contain a declaration that in the event of the company being wound up each member will contribute towards the liabilities what may be required, not exceeding a specified amount.

On

The memorandum of association is to be registered with the registrar of joint stock companies; and with it articles of association signed by each member MAY in the case of a company limited by shares, and SHALL in all other cases, be delivered to the registrar. If the company be limited by guarantee, or unlimited, these articles must state the number of the shares where the capital is divided into shares, and the proposed number of the members where the capital is not so divided. The registrar retains and registers the memorandum and articles thus delivered to him, and certifies under his hand that the company is incorporated, and in the case of a limited company that it is limited, whereupon the subscribers of the memorandum, together with such persons as may from time to time become members of the company, are constituted a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal, and power to hold lands; and this certificate is conclusive evidence that the statutory requirements with respect to registration have been complied with. The unpaid-up capital is called up when wanted, or at certain agreed periods; the successive demands for it are thence technically described as calls.

LINEAL CONSANGUINITY-continued. grandfather, great-grandfather, and so upwards in the direct ascending line, or downwards in the direct descending line.

See also title CONSANGUINITY.

LINEAL DESCENT. Descent in a right line, as where an estate descends from ancestor to heir in one line of succession.

See also title DESCENTS.

LINEAL WARRANTY: See titles COLLATERAL WARRANTY; WARRANTY.

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES are damages, the amount of which is fixed or ascertained, as opposed to unascertained or uncertain, i.e., unliquidated, damages. It is frequently mutually agreed between the parties to a contract that the one shall pay to the other some specified sum of money in the event of a breach of the contract; and in such a case it frequently becomes a nice question whether such sum is to be considered in the nature of a penalty merely for the purpose of covering the damages which one party may sustain in the event of a breach committed by the other, or whether the full sum specified is to be actually paid to the injured party as liquidated or settled damages, without reference to the extent of the injury sustined. See Kemble v. Farren, 6 Bing. 141; Reilly v. Jones, 1 Bing. 202; Ch. on Contr. 863, 864.

And see title DAMAGES.

LIQUIDATION. Under the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, a person in embarrassment, instead of suffering himself to be made a bankrupt, may (under s. 125) summon a meeting of his creditors and prevail with them by special resolution to declare that his affairs shall be liquidated by arrangement. A trustee is thereupon appointed, with or without a committee of inspection; and when that is done the general provisions of the Act applicable to the proof of debts, &c., in the case of bankruptcy are made applicable to the proof of debts, &c., in the liquidation. The property of the liquidating debtor vests in his trustee, who has the like powers as a trustee in bankruptcy. The close of the liquidation and the discharge of the liquidating debtor depend upon the creditors, who may make a resolution to that effect in a general meeting. The next two sections of the act (ss. 126, 127) relate to a debtor making a Composition with his creditors, which avoids both bankruptcy and liquidation, and may be carried by an extraordinary resolution of a majority in number and three-fourths in value of the creditors.

See titles BANKRUPTCY and COMPOSI-
TION.

LIQUIDATOR: See title WINDING-UP.

LIS PENDENS. This phrase denotes a suit or action depending, ie., in course. Inasmuch as every such suit or action would. when decided, naturally affect the land according to its result in whose soever hands the land might be at the date of the decision, it was enacted by the 2 & 3 Vict. c. 11, s 7, that no lis pendens, unless or until the same was registered, and duly re-registered, should bind a purchaser or mortgagee not having express notice thereof. By the stat. 13 & 14 Vict. c. 35, s. 17, a special case to which appearances have been entered is made a lis pendens. Lastly, by 30 & 31 Vict. c. 47, s. 2, if a suit or action is not prosecuted in a bona fide manner, the Court may order the registration of it as a lis pendens to be vacated, and that even without the consent of the person registering the same.

LIVERY. During the existence of the feudal tenures and customs, the male heir when he arrived at the age of twenty-one years, or the heir female at the age of sixteen, might sue out a writ of livery or ouster le main; that is, the delivery of their lands out of their guardian's hands; for in the feudal times the lord was entitled to the wardship of the heir, and was called the guardian in chivalry. This wardship consisted in having the custody of the body and lands of such heir till he or she attained the age of twenty-one if a male, or sixteen if a female (2 Inst. 203). This guardianship was not subject to account. See also next title.

LIVERY OF SEISIN. This simply means delivery of the land (traditio). It is of two kinds, being either in deed or in law.

(1.) Livery in deed, i.e., in fact or act, was performed by delivery of a part of the actual thing in lieu, and as a symbol of, the whole, e.g., by delivery of the ring of a door, or of a branch of a tree, or a turf of the ground, accompanied with these or the like words spoken by the feoffor: "Here I deliver you seisin of this house or land" [as the case might be], "in the name of the tenements contained in this deed, and according to the form and effect thereof." And thereupon the feoffee entered upon or took possession of the house or land. separate livery was wanted for lands in several counties. Livery in deed could only be made to the feoffee personally.

A

(2.) Livery in law, i.e., constructive or implied delivery of the actual thing. This was done off the land but in sight of it, the feoffor saying these or the like words: "I give you yonder land, enter and take possession ;" and if the feoffee thereupon or at any time thereafter during the life of