Law officer

“ These cases are the more noteworthy as being cases of public offices, to which the incumbent is appointed for a term of years, upon a compensation provided by law, and in which he is required to give bond. If an attorney is to be regarded as an officer, it is in a lower sense. ”

“ Save to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law, no such officer shall consult any person or party on any fact in issue unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate; nor shall such officer be responsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of any officer, employee, or agent engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecuting functions for any agency. ”

“ Justice Miller stated the general doctrine to be 'that an officer to whom public duties are confided by law is not subject to the control of the courts in the exercise of the judgment and discretion which the law reposes in him as a part of his official functions. ”

“ Attorney General.—The Department of Justice was created in 1789, and its chief official, the Attorney General, was made a member of the Cabinet. This officer is head of the department, and his duty is to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States are concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law, when required by the heads of departments. ”

“ Such a Diet shall be opened on the fiftieth day from that period when the council of state had proclaimed the summons in the churches of the capital. Article 96. The estates shall at every Diet appoint an officer, distinguished for integrity and learning in the law, to watch over, as their deputy, the conduct of the judges and other official men, and who shall, in legal order and at the proper court, arraign those who in the performance of their offices have betrayed negligence and partiality, or else have committed any illegal act. ”

“ Rep. 954, the doctrine was affirmed that where an officer is charged by law with the duty to decide certain facts, his decision thereon is conclusive and takes the form of a judgment, only to be reviewed by a higher court. ”

“ But when the Legislature proceeds to impose on that officer other duties; when he is directed peremptorily to perform certain acts; when the rights of individuals are dependent on the performance of those acts; he is so far the officer of the law, is amenable to the laws for his conduct, and cannot at his discretion, sport away the vested rights of others. ”

“ I think when we are called upon, in the exercise of our equitable jurisdiction, to order an attorney to perform a contract, to pay money, or to fulfil an undertaking, there we have jurisdiction only if the undertaking or the contract is made in his character of attorney, or so connected with his character of attorney as to bring it within the power of the court to require that their officer shall behave well as an officer. ”

“ But I do not admit that the attorney-general has any corporate or juridical character, or that he can be introduced upon the record, in his official name, as an actor or respondent in a suit. His duties are strictly professional duties, and his powers those of an attorney at law. Whatever he may do for the United States, a special attorney might be retained to do; nor can the United States appear in his name, nor by his agency, in cases where they may not be a party. ”

“ Attached to the office of every official who may be called upon to try criminal cases is a law expert, to whom the judge or magistrate may refer, when he has any doubt, in private, just as our unpaid justices of the peace in England refer for guidance to the qualified official attached to the court. ”

“ The usage of the officers employed in the various details of the operations of the department, when acting within the line of their duty, as prescribed by law and regulations; become all important to a court and jury in deciding on what is legal diligence in giving notice or what is evidence of its reception. ”

“ General Aspects.—The provisions of the Statuto respecting the administration of justice are brief and general. Justice, it is declared, emanates from the king and is administered in his name by the judges whom he appoints. These judges, after three years of service, are irremovable. Proceedings of courts in civil cases and hearings in criminal cases are required to be public. No one may be withdrawn from his ordinary legal jurisdiction; and no modification may be introduced in respect to courts, tribunals, or judges, save by law. ”

“ It is in the power of any single magistrate, or of the Attorney for the Commonwealth, to lay hold of the commanding officer, whenever he comes ashore, for the breach of the peace, and to proceed against him by indictment. ”

“ The attorney general shall, whenever in his opinion the public interest requires it, employ and retain, in the name of the United States, such attorneys and counselors at law as he may think necessary to assist the district attorneys in the discharge of their duties, and shall stipulate with such assistant attorneys and counsel the amount of compensation, and shall have supervision of their conduct and proceedings. ”

“ It is to be remembered that the lawyer occupies an uncertain position. As an officer of the court he is sworn to promote justice; as a champion in the battle he is under the deep obligation of performing his utmost for his client. At times the conflict between his duties seems real. As an officer of the court he has the privilege of the floor. He can be heard and is admitted to the court. ”

“ The acts of an officer de facto, within the sphere of the powers and duties of the office he assumes to hold, are as valid and binding with respect to the public and third persons as if they had been done by an officer de jure. ”

“ Attorneys and counsellors-at-law-and the two characters are in this country generally united in the the same person-are officers of the court, admitted to be such by its order upon evidence that they possess sufficient learning to advise as to the legal rights of parties, and to conduct proceedings in the courts for their prosecution or defence, and that they have such fair private characters as to insure fidelity to the interests intrusted to their care. ”

“ The artillery, now so splendid, was then only remarkable for its cumbrous carriages and the obstinate valor of its men. Inured to hardship from infancy, the Russian soldier is better able to bear [9] the fatigues of war than any in Europe; he knows no duty so sacred as obedience to his officers. Submissive to his discipline as to his religion, no privation or fatigue makes him forget his obligations. The whole of the energies of the Empire are turned to the army. Commerce, the law, and civil employment are held in no esteem. ”

“ The enactment which we have just cited recognizes this body of men, and their utility in the judicial system of the United States, and imposes upon the courts the duty of providing rules, by which persons entitled to become members of this class, may be permitted to exercise the privilege of managing and conducting causes in these courts. They are as essential to the successful working of the courts, as the clerks, sheriffs, and marshals, and perhaps as the judges themselves, since no instance is known of a court of law without a bar. ”

“ No European can be appointed to the State service, nor can any one be granted the rank of commissioned officer in the State army, without His Highness's permission. Death sentences can be carried out only after the confirmation of the Nizam."
This was written while His Highness the late Nizam was on the gadi, and it is only necessary to add that the present ruler of Hyderabad has made himself intimately acquainted with the working of each State department, that he has a thirst for public affairs, and that he shews a determination to master every detail of government business. ”

“ The mere fact that any one aspect did not fall within the delegated function of a particular court officer did not give that officer free rein to act in a secret, non-judicial manner as to that aspect. ”

“ The Judge-Advocate attends every trial and coaches the Court in everything, from the etiquette of taking off your cap when you are taking the oath to the duty of rejecting "hearsay." He never prosecutes—that is always the task of some officer specially assigned for the purpose—but he may "sum up." ”

“ In a general sense a magistrate is a public civil officer, possessing such power legislative, executive, or judicial-as the government appointing him may ordain. In a narrow sense, a magistrate is regarded perhaps, commonly regarded-as an inferior judicial officer, such as a justice of the peace. ”

“ The Bureau of Law maintains an adequate corps of competent lawyers. It advises operatives upon all matters relating to their work, including questions of right and authority, the competency of evidence, etc. ”

“ The treasurer and the auditor (and also the secretary of state when he handles State funds) give heavy bonds for the faithful performance of their duties.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.--The attorney-general is a lawyer who acts as attorney for the State in law cases to which the State is a party. His duties pertain chiefly to the higher courts of the State. He is the legal adviser of the State officers, and, when requested by them, gives opinions upon points of law.
He prosecutes persons who are indebted to the State, and assists in bringing to justice those charged with crime. ”

“ But where there is a matter which would subject the person in question to a criminal proceeding, in my opinion, a different principle must be applied. We are to see that the officers of the court are proper persons to be trusted by the court with regard to the interests of suitors, and we are to look to the character and position of the persons, and judge of the acts committed by them, upon the same principle as if we were considering whether or not a person is fit to become an attorney. ”

“ In the one case the officers exist, the duty is plain, the plaintiff has a legal right to have these officers perform that duty for his benefit, and the remedy to compel this performance, namely, the writ of mandamus, has been a wellknown process in the hands of the courts of common law for ages. ”

“ In his character of officer of the court, he would, doubtless, be amenable to the authority it possesses to supervise the conduct of its own officer, and to secure the enforcement of its own judgments; an attachment would, therefore, lie against him, to effect these ends of justice. ”

“ The Judiciary and Local Government.—The organs of judicial administration comprise courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and a supreme tribunal sitting at the capital. Judges are appointed for life, but may be removed from office in accordance with procedure to be established by law. The employment of the jury is optional with the parties in civil cases but obligatory in all criminal cases of serious import. ”

“ The problematic nature of the position of the attorney at law which rests upon the premise that the lawyer acts, on the one hand, on principle as the representative of an individual citizen who appoints and remunerates him, on the other hand, as an agent of administration of justice and lawyer of the community which has assigned him to and entrusts him with his function, has long been especially apparent in criminal jurisdiction. ”

“ The latter, whose number is limited, act as procurators or agents, representing the parties before the tribunals, draft and prepare for them all formal acts and writings, and prepare their lawsuits for the oral debates. The office of the avocat, on the other hand, consists in giving advice as to the law, and conducting the causes of his clients by written and oral pleadings. ”

“ On the other hand, the general attorney is more apt to be the legal officer of the railroad. Like the general counsel he has an old-fashioned pride in his profession that makes him hesitate at accepting a vice-presidency ”

“ It was full time that these seditious demonstrations, and the sanguinary scenes enacted under former Sultans, should teach prudence to the fortunate, but daring and impetuous Mahmud. He felt the necessity of surrounding himself with faithful and vigorous-minded friends. He chose men qualified both as intelligent advisers and men of action. He invited to a great banquet in his palace his great state functionaries, the teachers of the law, the professors, the officers, the seven generals of the empire, the magnates of the nation, and the warmest partisans of his reforms. ”

“ When the lawyer prepares his own case and makes the argument, as he generally does, he acts in the capacity of both attorney and councillor. In the court of chancery the lawyer is denominated solicitor, and in the admiralty court, proctor. Before a person is permitted to practise law in our courts, he is required to pass through a regular course of study, and afterwards [216] undergo an examination before persons learned in the law.
2. This profession has its foundation in the numerous and complicated laws which have been adopted by men, to govern their intercourse with each other. ”

“ When we study law we are not studying a mystery but a well-known profession. We are studying what we shall want in order to appear before judges, or to advise people in such a way as to keep them out of court. The reason why it is a profession, why people will pay lawyers to argue for them or to advise them, is that in societies like ours the command of the public force is intrusted to the judges in certain cases, and the whole power of the state will be put forth, if necessary, to carry out their judgments and decrees. ”

“ In the first place, they ordain that their attorneys in fact for the purpose of law-making, generally called their legislators, shall be selected by themselves from time to time, at comparatively short intervals. ”

“ The courts have no power to direct them as to the mode in which the duties imposed upon them by. law shall be performed, and it seems to us to be a great misuse of language to call them officers of the courts.— Nor do we think that they can, with any propriety, be called judicial officers. ”

“ In the courts of law, they could not gain a place on the bench, nor act as a barrister, attorney, or solicitor, nor be employed even as a hired clerk, nor sit on a grand jury, nor serve as a sheriff, nor hold even the lowest civil office of trust and profit ”