Caption in United Kingdom

Concept of Caption

The following is an old definition of Caption [1], a term which has several meanings:1. A taking, a seizure, see, in this resource, the term; an arrest; a capture, see, in this resource, the term See also Capere. Recaption. When any one deprives another of his personal property, or wrongfully detains his wife, child, or servant. The owner of the good, and the husband, parent, or master, may claim and retake them wherever he finds them, so that it be not attended with a breach of the peace. The owner may have this only opportunity to do himself justice. See Defense, 1

Alternative Meaning

The heading of a legal document, in which is shown the time when, the place where, and the person by whose authority, it was prepared or executed. This use of the word is not warranted by its derivation – captio, a taking, and not caput, a head; but it is quite common in law books. Though usual, is not necessary to an affidavit. when an inferior court, in obedience to the mandate of the king’s bench, transmitted an indictment to the crown office, it was accompanied with its history – naming the court in which, the jurors by whom, and the time and place when and where, it was found. All this was entered of record by the clerk of the superior court immediately before the indictment, and was called the ” caption,” but was not then and is not now a part of the indictment itself. See Affidavit; Commence, Indictment; Title.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Meaning of Caption provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)