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common adventure- See ADVENTURE.

common agent An agent who acts on behalf of more than one principal in a transaction. Cf. co-agent.

common agent- See AGENT (2).

common ancestor A person to whom the ancestry of two or more persons is traced.

common ancestor- See ANCESTOR.

common and notorious thief See common thief under THIEF.

common appendant (a-pen-dant). A tenant's right to graze animals on the landowner's land as a result of longstanding practice. See profit appendant under PROFIT "The common appendant is founded on prescription, and is regularly annexed to arable land The tenant was limited to such beasts as were levant and couchant on his estate, because such cattle only were wanting to plough and manure his land. It was deemed an incident to a grant of land, as of common right, and to enable the tenant to use his plough land." 3 James Kent, Commentaries on American Law *404 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866).

common appendant- See COMMON.

common appurtenant (a-par-ta-nant). A landowner's right to graze animals on another's land as a result of a written grant relating to the ownership or occupancy ofland. See profit appurtenant under PROFIT (2). "Common appurtenant may be affixed to any kind of land. It allowed the owner to put in other beasts than such as plough or manure the land; and, not being founded on necessity, like the other rights, ... was not favored in the law." 3 James Kent, Commentaries on American Law *404 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866).

common appurtenant- See COMMON.

common area 1. Landlord-tenant law. The realty that all tenants may use though the landlord retains control over and responsibility for it. 2. An area owned and used in common by the residents of a condominium, subdivision, or planned-unit development. Also termed common elements.

common assault 1. See ASSAULT (1).2. See ASSAULT (2).

common assurance See MUNIMENT OF TITLE.

common assurance- See MUNIMENT OF TITLE.

common at large See common in gross under COMMON.

common bail See bail common.

common bail- See bail common under BAIL (4).

common bar See BLANK BAR.

common bench The former name of the English Court of Common Pleas.o The court was so called because it was the forum for the common people, that is, for cases between two or more subjects when the Crown had no interest. Abbr. C.B.

common business purpose Related activity by two or more associated businesses . If one of the businesses comes within the jurisdiction of the Fair Labor Standards Act, then another business that shares a common business purpose will also.

common calling 1. An ordinary occupation that a citizen has a right to pursue under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. 2. A commercial enterprise that offers services to the general public, with a legal duty to serve anyone who requests the services .o For example, an innkeeper or a common carrier engages in a common calling. "It was only in a very few cases indeed that a person was under a legal obligation to enter into a contract; virtually the only example of such an obligation in fact was the person exercising a 'common calling' such as the innkeeper and the common carrier who were (subject to certain safe· guards) legally bound to contract with any member of the public who required their services." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 8 (3d ed. 1981).

common carrier A commercial enterprise that holds itself out to the public as offering to transport freight or passengers for a fee. A common carrier is generally required by law to transport freight or passengers or freight, without refusal, if the approved fare or charge is paid. Also termed public carrier."[A] 'common carrier' is bound to take all goods of the kind which he usually carries, unless his conveyance is full, or the goods be specially dangerous; but may charge differ· ent rates to different customers." Thomas E. Holland, The Elements ofJurisprudence 299 (l3th ed. 1924).

common carrier- See CARRIER.

common cause See common plea (1) under PLEA (3).

common chase A chase in which everyone is entitled to hunt.

common chase- See CHASE.

common cost See indirect cost under COST (1).

common cost- See indirect cost.

common council See COUNCIL.

common council- 1. In some cities, the lower branch of a city council. 2. In some cities, the city's governing board.

common count See COUNT.

common count- In a plaintiff's pleading in an action for debt, boilerplate language that is not founded on the circumstances of the individual case but is intended to guard against a possible variance and to enable the plaintiff to take advantage of any ground of liability that the proof may disclose. In the action for indebitatus assumpsit, the common count stated that the defendant had failed to pay a debt as' promised. See indebitatus assumpsit under ASSUMPSIT.

common day See DAY.

common day- In England, an ordinary court day.

common debtor See DEBTOR.

common debtor- Scots law. A debtor whose property has been arrested by more than one creditor.

common descriptive name See GENERIC NAME.

common design 1. The intention by two or more people to join in committing an unlawful act. 2. An intention to commit more than one crime. 3. The general design or layout of plots ofland surrounding a particular tract. Also termed common scheme; common plan. See ZONING.

common diligence See due diligence (1) and ordinary diligence under DILIGENCE (2).

common diligence- 1. See due diligence (1). 2. See ordinary diligence.

common disaster An event that causes two or more persons with related property interests (such as an insured and the beneficiary) to die at very nearly the same time, with no way of determining who died first. See UNIFORM SIMULTANEOUS DEATH ACT; COMMORIENTES.

common duty of care A landowner's obligation to take reasonable care under the circumstances to see that a lawful visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which the visitor is permitted to be there.

common easement See EASEMENT.

common easement- An easement allowing the servient landowner to share in the benefit of the easement. Also termed nonexclusive easement.

common elements See COMMON AREA (2).

common enterprise See JOINT ENTERPRISE.

common error A mistake found both in a copyrighted work and in an allegedly infringing work, the mistake being persuasive evidence of unauthorized copying.

common external tarif A tariff rate that members of a customs union, common market, or economic union uniformly apply to imports from nonmember nations. Abbr. CXT. Also termed tariffexterior commun .

common external tariff See TARIFF (2).

common fine See FINE (4).

common fine- A sum of money due from a tenant to a lord to defray the cost of a court leet or to allow the litigants to try the action closer to home. - Also termed head-silver. 5. A pecuniary criminal punishment or civil penalty payable to the public treasury. fine, vb.

common fishery See FISHERY (2).

common fishery- A fishing ground where all persons have a right to take fish. Cf. common ofpiscary under COMMON.

common gambler 1. One who owns or is employed by a gambling establishment; a bookmaker. 2. A professional gambler. o A person who gambles but not customarily, habitually, or frequently, and who does not rely on gambling for a liVing, is considered a casual gambler, not a common gambler.

common heritage of mankind The parts of the earth and cosmos that can be said to belong to all humanity, without regard for geographic location, and that should be protected and administered for its benefit. The term embraces the ocean floor and its subsoil, and outer space. Also termed common heritage of humankind.

common highway See HIGHWAY.

common highway- A highway for use by the public for any purpose of transit or traffic.

common in gross A right to graze animals on another's land as a result of a written grant unrelated to ownership or occupancy of land. Also termed common at large. See profit in gross under PROFIT (2).

common in gross- See COMMON.

common in the soil The right to dig and take away earth from another's land. Also termed common of digging.

common in the soil- See COMMON.

common informer A person who sues to recover a penalty in a penal action. In some jurisdictions, such an action may be instituted either by the attorney general on behalf of the state or by a common informer. See INFORMER; penal action under ACTION (4).

common intendment See INTENDMENT.

common intendment The natural or common meaning in legal interpretation. 3. A persons expectations when interacting with others within the legal sphere. "Our institutions and our formalized interactions with one another are accompanied by certain interlocking expectations that may be called intendments, even thoug h there is seldom occaSion to bring these underlying expectations across the threshold of consciousness. In a very real sense when I cast my vote in an election my conduct is directed and conditioned by an anticipation that my ballot will be counted in favor of the candidate I actually vote for. This is true even though the possibility that my ballot will be thrown in the wastebasket, or counted for the wrong man, may never enter my mind as an object of conscious attention. In this sense the institution of elections may be said to contain an intendment that the votes cast will be faithfully tallied, though I might hesitate to say, except in a mood of rhetoric, that the election authorities had entered a contract with me to count my vote as I had cast it." Lon L. Fuller, The Morality of Law 217 (rev. ed. 1969).

common jury See petit jury under JURY.

common jury See petit jury.

common knowledge See COMMON KNOWLEDGE.

common knowledge A fact that is so widely known that a court may accept it as true without proof. See JUDICIAL NOTICE.

common law [fr. Law French commen ley "common law"]. 1. The body oflaw derived from judicial decisions, rather than from statutes or constitutions; CASELAW <federal common law>. Cf. STATUTORY LAW. "Historically, [the common law] is made quite differently from the Continental code. The code precedes judg· ments; the common law follows them. The code articulates in chapters, sections, and paragraphs the rules in accordance with which judgments are given. The common law on the other hand is inarticulate until it is expressed in ajudgment. Where the code governs, it is the judge's duty to ascertain the law from the words which the code uses. Where the common law governs, the judge, in what is now the forgotten past, decided the case in accordance with morality and custom and later judges followed his decision. They did not do so by construing the words of his judgment. They looked for the reason which had made him decide the case the way he did, the ratio decidendi as it came to be called. Thus it was the principle of the case, not the words, which went into the common law. So historically the common law is much less fettering than a code." Patrick Devlin, The Judge 177 (1979).

common law See COMMON LAW.

common lawyer See COMMON-LAW LAWYER.

common market See MARKET.

common market- The European Economic Community. Common Market is a colloquial term not a formal deSignation. See EUROPEAN UNION.

common money bond A promise to pay money as a penalty for failing to perform a duty or obligation.

common money bond- See BOND (2).

common nuisance See public nuisance under NUISANCE.

common occupant See general occupant under OCCUPANT.

common of digging See common in the soil under COMMON.

common of estovers (e-stoh-varz). A tenant's right to take necessary supplies, esp. wood, from the lord's estate; the right to estovers. See ESTOVERS (1).

common of estovers- See COMMON.

common of fishery See common ofpiscary.

common of fishery- See common of piscary under COMMON.

common of pasture A right to pasture one's cattle on another's land . The common of pasture may be appendant, appurtenant, or in gross.

common of pasture- See COMMON.

common of piscary (pis-ka-ree). A right to fish in waters on another's land. - Often shortened to piscary. Also termed common of fishery.

common of piscary, See COMMON.

common of shack The right of people occupying land in a common field to release their cattle to graze after harvest.

common of shack- See COMMON.

common of turbary (tar-ba-ree). The right to dig turf (for use as fuel in a house) from another's land.

common of turbary- See COMMON.

common order See conditional judgment under JUDGMENT.

common parliamentary law See PARLIAMENTARY LAW.

common parliamentary law 1. See general parliamentary law. 2. The common law as applied to parliamentary law; parliamentary law as it is found in judicial decisions.

common plan See COMMON DESIGN.

common plea See PLEA (3).

common plea 1. A common-law plea in a civil action as opposed to a criminal prosecution. Also termed common cause; cornman suit. 2. A plea made by a commoner. "By common pleas Magna Carta meant no more than ordinary pleas between commoners. Alan Harding, A Social History of English Law 51 (1966).

common pleas court See COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

common pleas, court of See COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

common property See PROPERTY.

common property 1. Real property that is held by two or more persons with no right of survivorship. Cf. joint property. 2. COMMON AREA.