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CAPTION

In practice. That part of a legal instrument, as a commission, indictment, etc., which shows where, when, and by what authority it is taken, found, or executed. State v. Sutton, 5 N. C. 281; U. S. v. Beebe, 2 Dak. 292, 11 N. W. 505; State t. Jones, 9 N. J. Law, 365, 17 Am. Dec. 483. When used with reference to an indictment, caption signifies the style or preamble or commencement of the indictment; when used with reference to a commission, it signifies the certificate to which the commissioners’ names are subscribed, declaring when and where it was executed. Brown. The caption of a pleading, deposition, or other paper connected with a case in court, is the heading or introductory clause which shows the names of the parties, name of the court, number of the case on the docket or calendar, etc. Also signifies a taking, seizure, or arrest of a person. 2 Salk. 498. The word in this sense is now obsolete in English law. In Scotch law. Caption is an order to incarcerate a debtor who has disobeyed an order, given to him by what are called “letters of horning,” to pay a debt or to perform some act enjoined thereby.

Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition

(A) A heading on all pleadings submitted to the court. It states basic information such as the parties names, court and case number. (B) practice. That part of a legal instrument, as a Commission, indictment, which shows where, when, and by what authority it was taken, found or executed. 2. In the English practice, when an in ferior court in obedience to the writ of certiorari, returns an indictment into the K. B. , it is annexed to the caption, then called a schedule, and the caption concludes with stating, that it is presented in manner and form as appears in a certain indictment thereto annexed, and the caption and indictment are returned on separate parchments. 3. Caption is another name for arrest.

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