Action

Action in United States

Action Definition

(Lat. agere, to do; to lead; to conduct). A doing of something; something done. The term is, in legal usage, confined to practice, having no technical meaning, in the substantive law, except in the French law, in which it denotes shares in a company, or stock in a corporation. It signifies the formal demand of one’s right from another person or party made and insisted on in a court of justice. In Justinian’s Institute, “action” was defined as the right of pursuing in a court of justice what was due one’s self. Inst. 4. In the Digest, however, it was defined as the right of pursuing, the pursuit itself, or exercise of this right, or the form of proceedings by which it was exercised. Dig. 50. 16. 16; Id. 1. 2. 10. This definition is adopted by Mr. Taylor (Tayl. Civ. Law, p. 50). In modem usage, the signification of the right of pursuing has been generally dropped, though it is recognized by Bracton (98b), Coke (2d Inst. 40), and Blackstone (3 Comm. 116) , while the two latter senses, of the exercise of the right, and the means or method of its exercise, are in general use. The vital idea of an action is a proceeding on the part of one person as actor against another, for the infringement of some right of the first, before a court of justice, in the manner prescribed by the court or the law. Subordinate to this is now connected in a quite common use the idea of the answer of the defendant or person proceeded against; the adducing evidence by each party to sustain his position; the adjudication of the court upon the right of the plaintiff; and the means taken to enforce the right, or recompense the wrong done, in case the right is established and shown to have been injuriously affected. 3 How. Pr. (N. Y.) 318. All proceedings in the court up to the final termination of the litigation, whether instituted by a party, by a third person, or by the court of its own motion, are part of the action, if incidental; the principal remedy constituting the action, and founded on its existence. Even when regulated by special statute, such proceedings are considered proceedings in the action, and not special proceedings, except where the statutes otherwise declare, or the papers are so entitled as to forbid their being so treated. As distinguished from “suit,” the word “action” is generally applied to proceedings at law, and “suit” to proceedings in equity. 9 Barb. (N. Y.) 300. See “Suit.” Actions are to be distinguished from those proceedings, such as writ of error, scire facias, mandamus, and the like, where, under the form of proceedings, the court, and not the plaintiff, appears to be the actor. 6 Bin. (Pa.) 9. Actions are classified as (1) in the civil law, or (2) in the common law. (1a) Civil Actions In the Civil Law. Those personal actions which are instituted to compel payments, or do some other thing purely civil. Poth. Introd. Gen. aux Coutumes, 110. (lb) Criminal Actions In tiie Civil Law. Those personal actions In which the plaintiff asks reparation for the commission , of some tort or injury which he or those who belong to him have sustained. (1c) Mixed Actions in tlie Civil Law. Those which partake of the nature of both real and personal actions; as actions of partition;, actions to recover property and damages. Inst. 4. 6. 18-20; Domat. Supp. Civ. Law, liv. 4, tit. 1, note 4. (Id) Mixed Personal Actions in tlie Civil Law. Those which partake of both a civil and a criminal character. (1e) Personal Actions in the Civil Law. Those in which one person (actor) sues another as defendant (reus) in respect of some obligation which he is under to the actor, either ex contractu or ex delicto, to perform some act or make some compensation. (If) Real Actions in the Civil Law. Those by which a person seeks to recover his property, which is in the possession of another. (2a) Civil Actions in the Common Law. Those actions which have for their object the recovery of private or civil rights, or of compensation for their infraction. (2b) Criminal Actions in the Common Law. Those actions prosecuted In a court of justice, in the name of the government, against one or more individuals accused of a crime. See 1 Chit. Crim. Law. (2c) Local Actions in the Common Law. Those civil actions the cause of which could have arisen in some particular place or county only. See “Local Action.” (2d) Mixed Actions in the Common Law. Those which partake of the nature of both real and personal actions. See “Mixed Action.” (2e) Personal Actions in the Common Law. Those civil actions which are brought for the recovery of personal property, for the enforcement of some contract, or to recover damages for the commission of an injury to the person or property. See “Personal Action.” (2f) Real Actions in the Common Law. Those brought for the specific recovery of lands, tenements, or hereditaments. Steph. PI. 3. See “Real Action.” ~ (2g) Transitory Actions In the Common Law. Those civil actions the cause of which might have arisen in one place or county as vrell as another.

Action in Foreign Legal Encyclopedias

Link Description
Action Action in the World Legal Encyclopedia.
Action Action in the European Legal Encyclopedia.
Action Action in the Asian Legal Encyclopedia.
Action Action in the UK Legal Encyclopedia.
Action Action in the Australian Legal Encyclopedia.

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Browse the American Encyclopedia of Law for Action

Scan Action in the appropriate area of law:

Link Description
Action Action in the Family Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the IP Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Commercial Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Criminal Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Antritrust Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Bankruptcy Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Constitutional Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Tax Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the and Finance and Banking Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Employment and Labor Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in the Personal Injury and Tort Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.
Action Action in
the Environmental Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law.

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Explore other Reference Works

Resource Description
Action in the Dictionaries Action in our legal dictionaries
http://lawi.us/action The URI of Action (more about URIs)
Action related entries Find related entries of Action

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Legal Issue for Attorneys

(Lat. agere, to do; to lead; to conduct). A doing of something; something done. The term is, in legal usage, confined to practice, having no technical meaning, in the substantive law, except in the French law, in which it denotes shares in a company, or stock in a corporation. It signifies the formal demand of one’s right from another person or party made and insisted on in a court of justice. In Justinian’s Institute, “action” was defined as the right of pursuing in a court of justice what was due one’s self. Inst. 4. In the Digest, however, it was defined as the right of pursuing, the pursuit itself, or exercise of this right, or the form of proceedings by which it was exercised. Dig. 50. 16. 16; Id. 1. 2. 10. This definition is adopted by Mr. Taylor (Tayl. Civ. Law, p. 50). In modem usage, the signification of the right of pursuing has been generally dropped, though it is recognized by Bracton (98b), Coke (2d Inst. 40), and Blackstone (3 Comm. 116) , while the two latter senses, of the exercise of the right, and the means or method of its exercise, are in general use. The vital idea of an action is a proceeding on the part of one person as actor against another, for the infringement of some right of the first, before a court of justice, in the manner prescribed by the court or the law. Subordinate to this is now connected in a quite common use the idea of the answer of the defendant or person proceeded against; the adducing evidence by each party to sustain his position; the adjudication of the court upon the right of the plaintiff; and the means taken to enforce the right, or recompense the wrong done, in case the right is established and shown to have been injuriously affected. 3 How. Pr. (N. Y.) 318. All proceedings in the court up to the final termination of the litigation, whether instituted by a party, by a third person, or by the court of its own motion, are part of the action, if incidental; the principal remedy constituting the action, and founded on its existence. Even when regulated by special statute, such proceedings are considered proceedings in the action, and not special proceedings, except where the statutes otherwise declare, or the papers are so entitled as to forbid their being so treated. As distinguished from “suit,” the word “action” is generally applied to proceedings at law, and “suit” to proceedings in equity. 9 Barb. (N. Y.) 300. See “Suit.” Actions are to be distinguished from those proceedings, such as writ of error, scire facias, mandamus, and the like, where, under the form of proceedings, the court, and not the plaintiff, appears to be the actor. 6 Bin. (Pa.) 9. Actions are classified as (1) in the civil law, or (2) in the common law. (1a) Civil Actions In the Civil Law. Those personal actions which are instituted to compel payments, or do some other thing purely civil. Poth. Introd. Gen. aux Coutumes, 110. (lb) Criminal Actions In tiie Civil Law. Those personal actions In which the plaintiff asks reparation for the commission , of some tort or injury which he or those who belong to him have sustained. (1c) Mixed Actions in tlie Civil Law. Those which partake of the nature of both real and personal actions; as actions of partition;, actions to recover property and damages. Inst. 4. 6. 18-20; Domat. Supp. Civ. Law, liv. 4, tit. 1, note 4. (Id) Mixed Personal Actions in tlie Civil Law. Those which partake of both a civil and a criminal character. (1e) Personal Actions in the Civil Law. Those in which one person (actor) sues another as defendant (reus) in respect of some obligation which he is under to the actor, either ex contractu or ex delicto, to perform some act or make some compensation. (If) Real Actions in the Civil Law. Those by which a person seeks to recover his property, which is in the possession of another. (2a) Civil Actions in the Common Law. Those actions which have for their object the recovery of private or civil rights, or of compensation for their infraction. (2b) Criminal Actions in the Common Law. Those actions prosecuted In a court of justice, in the name of the government, against one or more individuals accused of a crime. See 1 Chit. Crim. Law. (2c) Local Actions in the Common Law. Those civil actions the cause of which could have arisen in some particular place or county only. See “Local Action.” (2d) Mixed Actions in the Common Law. Those which partake of the nature of both real and personal actions. See “Mixed Action.” (2e) Personal Actions in the Common Law. Those civil actions which are brought for the recovery of personal property, for the enforcement of some contract, or to recover damages for the commission of an injury to the person or property. See “Personal Action.” (2f) Real Actions in the Common Law. Those brought for the specific recovery of lands, tenements, or hereditaments. Steph. PI. 3. See “Real Action.” ~ (2g) Transitory Actions In the Common Law. Those civil actions the cause of which might have arisen in one place or county as vrell as another.

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Notice

This definition of Action Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This definition needs to be proofread..

Concept of Action in Judicial Assistance

In this context, a definition of Action may be as follows: A law suit or other proceeding pending before a court or a quasi-judicial body or a body acting in such a capacity.

Resources

See Also

  • Legal Topics.
  • Civil Procedure.

    Further Reading (Books)

    “The National and Community Service Act of 1990.” Available from http://www.cns.gov/about/ogc/legislation.html.

    United States Congress, Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Special Subcommittee on Human Resources. Action Act of 1972 and Action Domestic Programs. Joint hearing before the Special Subcommittee on Human Resources and the Subcommittee on Aging of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, 92nd Congress, Second session on S. 3450 and related bills, Older Americans Action Programs. Washinton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1972.

    Kirk H. Beetz

    Further Reading (Articles)

    Action and Passion, New Catholic Encyclopedia; January 1, 2003; DURBIN, P. R.

    Action Software International: Change Action version 5. (systems management utility)(Enterprise Systems Journal 1995 Buyers Guide), Enterprise Systems Journal; January 1, 1995

    Class Actions Shrugged: Mass Actions and the Future of Aggregate Litigation, The Review of Litigation; October 1, 2013; Mullenix, Linda S.

    Actions speak louder… Creating effects with Photoshop Actions.(Brief Article)(Evaluation), The Press; September 1, 2001; Farace, Joe

    Corporate Actions Automation: Hit or Myth?, Securities Industry News; May 3, 2004

    Action Research: Building the Capacity for Learning and Change. (Overview), Human Resource Planning; June 1, 2003; Marsick, Victoria J. Gephart, Martha A.

    Industrial Action – Best Practice Guide, Mondaq Business Briefing; October 8, 2012

    Action, Encyclopedia of Philosophy; January 1, 2006; Mele, Alfred

    Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study.(Book Review), Stanford Law Review; November 1, 2004; Sterba, James P.

    Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Management Services; October 1, 1999; Kiely, Julia A. Ellis, John H. M.

    Action research: Building the capacity for learning and change, Human Resource Planning; January 1, 2003; Marsick, Victoria J

    Action Learning: How the World’s Top Companies Are Re-Creating Their Leaders and Themselves, Personnel Psychology; April 1, 1999; Carsten, Jeanne Bennett, LeAnne E

    Industrial Action in Australia: Best Practice Guide, Mondaq Business Briefing; August 20, 2013

    Action Research in the Academy: Why and Whither? Reflections on the Changing Nature of Research1, Irish Journal of Management; July 1, 2004; Coghlan, David

    Action Item lists: Help or Hindrance?(meetings)(Brief Article)(Column), Program Manager; November 1, 2001; Hewitt, Lee

    Inletting actions by novices: more to it than meets the eye. (gunstock fitting), Shooting Industry; May 1, 1989; Schumaker, William

    Securities Class Actions Escalate in Australia, Mondaq Business Briefing; May 15, 2014; Emmerig, John

    “Action Performed Indicators for Menu Items” in Patent Application
    Approval Process, Politics & Government Week; April 24, 2014

    Action movies return to Bollywood boulevard, Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); March 23, 2008

    Mutual Action Planning, Agency Sales; September 1, 2010; Zafiro, Peter

    Action in the Context of Law Research

    The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library defined briefly Action as: The formal legal demand of one’s rights from another person brought in court.Legal research resources, including Action, help to identify the law that governs an activity and to find materials that explain that law.


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