For the fictional creature from Jack Vance's "Dying Earth", see: Deodand. In Jack Vance 's Dying Earth fiction the Deodand is a recurring creature

Deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law, an object or instrument which becomes forfeit because it has caused a person's death. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific ^[1]

The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and has been applied, on and off, until Parliament finally abolished it in 1846. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive ^[2] Under this law, a chattel (i. Personal property is a type of Property. In the Common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. e. some personal property, such as a horse or a hay stack) was considered a deodand whenever a coroner's jury decided that it had caused the death of a human being. A coroner's jury is a body convened to assist a Coroner in an Inquest, that is in determining the identity of a deceased person and the cause of death ^[3] In theory, deodands were forfeit to the crown, which was supposed to sell the chattel and then apply the profits to some pious use. ^[4] (The term deodand derives from the Latin phrase "deo dandum" which means "to be given to God. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. " In reality, the juries who decided that a particular animal or object was a deodand also appraised its value and the owners were expected to pay a fine equal to the value of the deodand. If the owner could not pay the deodand, his township was held responsible. ^[3]

Contents 1 The history of deodands 2 The deodand's demise 3 Deodands in the United States 4 References 5 Bibliography

The history of deodands

Prior to 1066, animals and objects causing serious damage or even death were called banes, and were handed over directly to the victim in a practice known as noxal surrender. Noxal surrender was a provision of Roman law in the case where a Delict was brought against a Paterfamilias for a wrong committed by a son or slave ^[5] Early legislation also directed people to pay specific sums of money, called wergild, as compensation for actions that resulted in someone else's death. Weregeld (alternative spellings wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc ^[6]

The transition from bane to deodand remains obscure. By the second half of the thirteenth century, however, the coroner's rolls are replete with references to vats, tubs, horses, carts, boats, stones, trees, etc. ^[7] Deodands were still being forfeited throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, although not as frequently as before. Some scholars think the practice died out completely in the 18th century. Others speculated that deodands had become nominal assessment that were routinely levied. ^[8] Another possibility is that the practice was receiving less official attention because the profits from deodands were no longer going into royal coffers. By then, the crown had long sold off the rights to deodands from most jurisdictions to lords, townships and corporations. ^[9]

The deodand's demise

During the 1830s, the rapid development of the railways led to increasing public hostility to the epidemic of railway deaths and the indifferent attitudes of the railway companies. Events and trends Electromagnetic induction discovered by Michael Faraday. This article is part of a series on the History of rail transport in Great Britain The history of rail transport in Great Britain 1830 - 1922 covers the period Under the common law of England and Wales, the death of a person causes purely emotional and economic loss to their relatives. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive In Law, economic loss refers to financial loss and damage suffered by a person such as can only be seen in Balance sheets rather than physical injury to the person In general, damages cannot be recovered for either type of damage, only for physical damage to the claimant or their property, and families of fatal accident victims had no claim. As a result, coroner's juries started to award deodands as a way of penalising the railways. A coroner is an official responsible for investigating deaths particularly some of those happening under unusual circumstances and determining the cause of death A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them ^[10]

On Christmas Eve 1841, in an accident on the Great Western Railway, a train ran into a landslip in Sonning Cutting and eight passengers were killed. For the game see 1841 (board game. Year 1841 ( MDCCCXLI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link The Great Western Railway ( GWR) was a British railway company and a notable example of Civil engineering, linking London with the West The Sonning Cutting railway accident occurred in the early hours on December 24, 1841 in the Sonning Cutting, near Reading Berkshire, The inquest jury assigned a deodand value of £1000 to the train. An inquest is a judicial investigation usually by a group of court-appointed people ( Jury) in Common law Jurisdictions The most common kind of inquest Subsequently, a Board of Trade inspector exonerated the company from blame and the deodand was quashed on appeal, on technicalities. The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government In Law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision

This alerted legislators, in particular Lord Campbell and the Select Committee on Railway Labourers (1846). John Campbell 1st Baron Campbell, PC ( 17 September 1779 &ndash 24 June 1861) was a British Liberal Politician ^[11] In the face of railway opposition, Campbell introduced a bill in 1845 to compensate victims. The bill led to the Fatal Accidents Act 1846, also known as Lord Campbell's Act. The Fatal Accidents Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict c93 often referred to as Lord Campbell's Act, was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Campbell also introduced a bill to abolish deodands. The latter proposal, which became law as the Deodands Act 1846, to some extent mitigated railway hostility. The Deodands Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict c62 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that abolished the ancient remedy of Deodands ^[10]

Deodands in the United States

In American law, the deodand has been cited as a source for the modern civil forfeiture doctrine. ^[12][13]

Some U.S. state constitutions prohibit deodands, frequently in the same article that prohibits corruption of blood. Every state in the United States possesses its own constitution In English Criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious Capital

References

Bibliography

• [Anon. ] (1911) "Deodand", Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Cornish, W. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc & Clarke, G. (1989). Law and Society in England 1750-1950. London: Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 0421311509.  
• Finkelstein, Jacob J. (1973). "The Goring Ox: some historical perspecgtives on deodands, forfeitures, wrongful death and the western notion of sovereignty". Temp. L. Q. 46: 169.  
• Kostal, R. W. (1994). Law and English Railway Capitalism, 1825–1875. ISBN 019825671X.  
• Sutton, T. (1997). "The deodand and responsibility for death". Journal of Legal History 18: 44.  

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