Classification in United States

Classification Definition in English Practice

In the English chancery division, where there are several parties to an administration action, including those who have been served with notice of the decree or judgment, and it appears to the judge (or chief clerk) that any of them form a class having the same interests (e. g. residuary legatees), he may require them to be represented by one solicitor, in order to prevent the expense of each of them attending by separate solicitors. This is termed “classifying the interests of the parties attending,” or, shortly, “classifying” or “classification.” In practice, the term is also applied to the directions given by the chief clerk as to which of the parties are to attend on each of the accounts and inquiries directed by the judgment. Consol. Orders, 20; Daniell, Ch. Pr. 1088. See, also, Rules of Court, xvi. 12b (April, 1880). Special regulations on this head are in force in the master of the roll’s chambers. (1)

Classification of Law

F. Allan Hanson (2) made a distinction between classification and indexing. A classification “reflects ideas about meaningful relationships among the parts in the body of information being classified.” In contrast to this, an index simply leads the user to the location of a particular topic but conveys nothing about any relationship among topics. For him, the West key number system serves as both a classification system by “organizing information in judicial opinions in
accordance with a conceptual scheme” and as an index by allowing users to access that information. Hason believes that the classification scheme built into print research tools “promotes a view of the law as a hierarchically organized system based on general principles.” Keyword searches provide a list of matches in the database but convey nothing about any relationships between the search results and other information in the database. Computer research, he observes, is “good at indexing” but fail at classifying information in an important way. (based on The Death of the Digest and the Pitfalls of Electronic Research: What Is the Modern Legal Researcher to Do?, by Lee F. Peoples).

Principle of Classification Issues of U.S. States Power in relation to Local Government

Main issues include:

• Constitutionally prescribed classes
• curative laws
• classification according to method of establishment of local government Unit
• classification according to form of local government organization
• classification according to geographic factors
• justiciability of the applicability of general laws and validity of classifications
• local option laws
• classification according to multiple factors
• classification according to type of local government unit
• classification according to population

Notes

1. This definition of Classification is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary.
2. F. Allan Hanson, From Key Numbers to Keywords: How Automation Has Transformed the Law, 94 LAW LIBR. J. 562, 574, 2002 LAW LIBR. J. 36, ¶ 30

Classification (Types)

This section introduces, discusses and describes the basics of classification. Then, cross references and a brief overview about Types is provided. Finally, the subject of Claims in relation with classification is examined. Note that a list of cross references, bibliography and other resources appears at the end of this entry.

Concept of Classification in Foreign Trade

A definition of Classification in relation with foreign trade is provided here: A systematic grouping of commodities, such as the Harmonized System (HS), Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTS), Schedule B, Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), or End-Use. The Foreign Trade Division collects statistical import data by HTS numbers and export data by Schedule B numbers. These are recoded to SITC, NAICS, and End-Use codes for publication in the monthly trade press release.

Concept of District and Port Classification in Foreign Trade

A definition of District and Port Classification in relation with foreign trade is provided here: The names and codes of districts and ports are listed in Schedule D, Classification of U.S. Customs Districts and Ports for Foreign Trade Statistics. The geographical limits of each district are published in the U.S. Customs Regulations. Schedule D is published as a statistical annex in HTSA and as a part of Schedule B. Statistics for two or more Customs Districts may be combined and published under an arbitrary designation or shipping weight may be excluded from an individual Customs District as a solution to disclosure situations. Consequently, statistics for individual ports may be understated due to the suppression of the weight of the affected commodities.

Classification

In Legislation

Classification in the U.S. Code: Title 5, Part III, Subpart D, Chapter 51

The current, permanent, in-force federal laws regulating classification are compiled in the United States Code under Title 5, Part III, Subpart D, Chapter 51. It constitutes “prima facie” evidence of statutes relating to Government Employees (including classification) of the United States. The reader can further narrow his/her legal research of the general topic (in this case, Government Pay and Allowances of the US Code, including classification) by chapter and subchapter.