Tenure (law)

“ Corporeal hereditaments are all necessarily freehold; [8] an interest in land less than freehold, such as a term of years, is personalty only. There was no room for such an interest in the feudal gradation of tenure; it was regarded as a mere personal contract and was incapable of the incidents of tenure. By the Conveyancing Act 1881 the residue of a long term of years could in certain cases be enlarged into the fee-simple. A copyhold is in strict law only a tenancy at the will of the lord. ”

“ Before the abolition of forfeiture for treason and felony, the lord of a copyholder had a great advantage over the lord of a freeholder in this respect, that, whilst freehold lands in fee simple were forfeited to the crown by the treason of the tenant, the copyholds of a traitor escheated to the lord of the manor of which they were held.
One of the most curious incidents of the tenure is the right of the lord, on the death of a tenant, to seize the tenant’s best beast, horse, or other chattel under the name of a heriot. ”

“ Practically all the landed property in England is, by the policy of our laws, supposed to be granted by, dependent upon, and holden of some superior lord, in consideration of certain services to be rendered to such lord by the possessor of this property, and the terms or manner of their possession is therefore called a tenure. Thus all the land in the kingdom is supposed to be held, mediately or immediately, of the sovereign who is consequently styled the lord or lady paramount. ”

“ Green, so that by the common law her husband would have had as tenant by curtesy an immediate and continuing right to the enjoyment of the rents and profits during his life, and so that her two children would have in it no estate legal or equitable, would be in manifest violation of the intention of the parties to that deed. A rule of the law of tenure, which would require us so to hold, would work a monstrous perversion of justice. ”

“ It seems fair therefore, to conclude that this custom was a part of those liberties, agreeably to the general opinion, that Gavelkind, before the Norman Conquest, was the general custom of the realm. The distinguishing properties of this tenure are various; some of the principal are these: 1. The tenant is of age sufficient to alienate his estate by feoffment at the age of fifteen. 2. There never was any escheat in case of an attainder and execution for felony; their maxim being “the father to the bough, the son to the plough.” ”

“ Provided, however, that all shall be entitled to the privileges and rights of security of tenure, promotion in positions and salaries for meritorious service, leaves and retirement benefits, as in the government service as now provided for by law. ”

“ Resolved, That it was only in consequence of an erroneous supposition that feudal charges were inherent in the law of this country, as far as the possession and transmission of real property and the tenures recognised by that law were concerned, that it was enacted in the said Act that the lands with regard to which a change of tenure should be effected, should thereafter be held under the tenure of free and common soccage ”

“ Tenure is inseparable from the idea of property in land, according to the theory of the English law; and this idea of tenure pervades, to a considerable extent, the law of real property in the United States, where the title to land is essentially allodial, and almost all lands are held in fee simple, not of a superior, but the whole right and title to the property being vested in the owner. Tenure, in general, then, is the particular manner of holding real estate, as by exclusive title or ownership, by fee simple, by fee tail, by courtesy, in dower, by copyhold, by lease, at will, etc. ”

“ All of these forms of disturbance of private rights, together with the remedies appropriate to them, exist to-day, as at common law, without material alteration. The ancient wrong of disturbance of tenure, which consisted in breaking the feudal tie of lord and tenant, has become obsolete with the disappearance of the feudal system of land tenure. The disturbance of public rights, as of a highway or a public right of common or of fishing, may be either a private nuisance, remediable by the individual whose right is interfered with, or a public nuisance, or purpresture, remediable by the State. ”

“ Other special customs there are in burgage tenures; as that the wife shall be endowed of all her husband's tenements [27] , and not of the third part only, as at the common law: and that a man might dispose of his tenements by will [28] , which, in general, was not permitted after the conquest till the reign of Henry the eighth; though in the Saxon times it was allowable [29] . A pregnant proof that these liberties of socage tenure were fragments of Saxon liberty.
The nature of the tenure in gavelkind affords us a still stronger argument. ”

“ A justice of the Constitutional Court shall enjoy immunity as a deputy. The Constitutional Court shall decide on its immunity.
Termination of the tenure of office of the Constitutional Court justice Article 174 Tenure of office of the Constitutional Court justice shall terminate upon expiry of the period for which he/she had been elected or appointed, at his/her own request, after meeting the requirements regulated by the Law for obtaining the old age pension or by relief of duty. ”

“ Another is that there is one feature in the tenure of office law which, although obnoxious in its connection with the present system of appointments, will be of value connected with the reforms proposed. ”

“ No man is in law the absolute owner of lands. He can only hold an estate in them.” That is, the notion of tenure, of holding by a tenant from a lord, prevails. The last lord of all from whom all land was ultimately held was the king. Persons holding directly from the king and granting to others were the king’s tenants in capite, and were the mesne lords of their tenants. ”

“ As regards real property the general tenure is a customary freehold devolving from each possessor to his next heir-at-law. The descent of land follows the same rules as the descent of the crown of England. The right of primogeniture extends to females in default of males in the direct line. ”

“ In most places, the tenant had the power of devising his lands by will, before the statute for [Pg 107] that purpose was made. 4. The lands descend not to the eldest, youngest, or any one son only, but to all the sons together. This last incident is, of course, the most important affecting the tenure, and not only this, but also the most interesting, in that, like Borough English, it prevails to the present day. True it is that certain lands in Kent, once Gavelkind, have been made descendable according to the rules of the common law, by special statutes ”

“ Tenure by cornage was a species of grand serjeanty, being a grant of land upon condition that the tenant was to wind a horn when the Scots or other enemies entered the land, in order to warn the king’s subjects. ”

“ This tenure is expressly excepted from the statute, 12 Charles II., by which the other ancient tenures were destroyed. It has no peculiar incidents, the tenants not being bound even to do fealty to the lords, because, as Littleton says, the prayers and [Pg 104] other divine services of the tenants are better for the lords than any doing of fealty. As the church is a body having perpetual existence, there is, moreover, no chance of any escheat. By this tenure almost all the monasteries and religious houses held their lands. It was an old Saxon tenure ”

“ They are in their nature independent of tenure, and therefore not the object of those laws which are founded in the nature of tenure. They are rights arising solely out of the intent of the party who created them, and therefore such intent could be the only guide in the execution of them. ”

“ The common system of land tenure all over the State is ryotwari, and by this system each field is considered a holding, and the right of occupancy depends on the regular payment of the assessment. Non-payment of rent means forfeiture of the right to the land, which is then sold to pay the arrears.
If the rent is paid regularly, the ryot, although the period of holding is nominally for one year only, retains his land indefinitely. He may sell, sub-let, or transfer his right to the land and relinquish his holding by giving due notice. ”

“ High authority, in one sense, or that of political power, has pronounced the tenure of a durable lease to be opposed to the spirit of the institutions! Yet these tenures existed when the institutions were formed, and one of the provisions of the institutions themselves guarantees the observance of the covenants under which the tenures exist. ”

“ In a word they must decide like legislators, though they will be exempt from the responsibility to the public which controls other legislators. Such conditions you can only meet by making the judicial tenure of office ephemeral, as all legislative tenure is ephemeral. ”

“ That in all laws made or to be made every person may be bound alike, and that no tenure, estate, charter, degree, birth, or place do confer any exemption from the ordinary course of legal proceedings whereunto others are subjected. ”

“ Alesnes. Cockle, Corne-rose, field Nigella, wild Nigella.
Aleu: m. Libertie, freedome, franchise, immunitie; also free tenure which holds of no man, and for which no seruice, nor fine is due to any; (it hath commonly the addition of, franc; and franc-aleu is also, a free subiect, or tenant.)
Franc aleu noble. High iurisdiction, and Seigniorie, held without homage, fealtie, fine, or seruice.
Franc aleu roturier. A tenure without iurisdiction (whereunto it is subiect) but otherwise (as the other) exempted from all seruices, rents, fines, &c. ”

“ A condition of good behavior, and a tenure during good behavior, are distinct things. The condition for good behavior is necessarily implied, and adheres to every officer. The tenure during good behavior belongs only to those officers in whose commissions that tenure is expressed. ”

“ When they know that they cannot be whispered out of their duty, that their public conduct cannot be censured without a public discussion, that the schemes which they have begun will not be committed to those who will have an interest and credit in defeating and disgracing them, then we may entertain hopes. The tenure is for four years, or during their good behavior. That good behavior is as long as they are true to the principles of the bill; and the judgment is in either House of Parliament. ”

“ It is for the legislature to determine whether it can be rightly or safely granted. I have, therefore, directed my attention to this point in particular, and I have ascertained beyond question, from the best possible sources of information, that nothing will satisfy the people of this country but what they do not hesitate to name with the most determined emphasis—'Fixity of Tenure.' Whether they are Protestants or Catholics, Orangemen or [pg 354] Liberals, Presbyterians or Churchmen, this is their unanimous demand, the cry in which they all join to a man. ”

“ And a tenure for a period of years during good behavior has not been regarded as a contradiction in terms by American courts. [10] In Shurtleff v. United States, 189 U.S. 311, 316, 23 S.Ct. 535, 47 L.Ed. 828, this Court recognized and applied the strong presumption against the creation of a life tenure in a public office under the federal government. To hold that the City Manager was appointed for life would, according to the terms of § 39, give to all employees appointed by him a tenure for his life. ”

“ Besides, while perpetual tenure is the general rule of landed property, as it is in all the countries of Europe, a tenure for a limited period, however long, is sure to be regarded as a something of inferior consideration and dignity, and inspires less of ardour to obtain it, and of attachment to it when obtained. ”

“ In other words, the question, apart from the constitutional guarantee of tenure and the provision against diminution of salary, concerns the functions of the particular tribunal. Article III courts have prescribed for them constitutional standards some of which are in the Bill of Rights, while some (as for example those concerning bills of attainder and ex post facto laws) are in the body of the Constitution itself. ”

“ To these the chief regulations in the bill are helps, not fetters: they are authorities to support, not regulations to restrain them. From these we look for much more than innocence. From these we expect zeal, firmness, and unremitted activity. Their duty, their character, binds them to proceedings of vigor; and they ought to have a tenure in their office which precludes all fear, whilst they are acting up to the purposes of their trust,—a tenure without which none will undertake plans that require a series and system of acts. ”

“ The pensioner certainly, if he pleases, has a right to stand on his own defence, to plead his possession, and to bottom his title in the competency of the crown to give him what he holds. Possessed and on the defensive as he is, he will not be obliged to prove his special merit, in order to justify the act of legal discretion, now turned into his property, according to his tenure. The very act, he will contend, is a legal presumption, and an implication of his merit. ”

“ Since the conditions obtaining in one territory have been assumed to exist in each, this Court has in the past entertained a presumption that even those territorial judges who have been extended statutory assurances of life tenure and undiminished compensation have been so favored as a matter of legislative grace and not of constitutional compulsion. ”

“ There are officers under the constitution who hold their office by a different tenure—your judges are appointed during good behavior; and from the delicacy and peculiar nature of their trust, it is right it should be so, in order that they may be independent and impartial in administering justice between the Government and its citizens. But the removability of the one class, or immovability of the other, is founded on the same principle, the security of the people against the abuse of power. Does any gentleman imagine that an officer is entitled to his office as to an estate? ”