MONITION

6 definitions found across Law Mind sources

MONITIONAuthored
The Law Mind • 1277 words
Definition
A monition is a formal court process or order used in admiralty and ecclesiastical proceedings. The term carries two related but distinct legal meanings depending on the court in which it appears. 1. Admiralty practice. A monition is the process issued upon filing a libel (complaint) in an admiralty court, summoning a party to appear and answer. In a proceeding in personam, it operates as a simple summons directed at the named defendant. In a proceeding in rem, it takes the form of an attachment and monition directed against the res — the vessel, cargo, or other property at issue — and calls all interested persons to appear and assert their claims. The in rem variant is sometimes designated monition viis et modis. 2. Civil and ecclesiastical courts. In courts drawing their procedure from civil law, including English ecclesiastical courts, a monition is an order commanding or formally warning a party to do or refrain from doing a specified act. Where a court has decreed payment of money, a monition may be obtained directing its payment. In ecclesiastical proceedings, a monition functioned as a formal warning to a convicted or charged party not to repeat an offense — a step distinct from final judgment or sentence. In both contexts, the recipient of the order is sometimes called the "person monished." ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A caution or warning; a legal notification of something; a sign of impending danger or an omen. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Instruction or advice given by way of caution; an admonition; a warning; a caution." Also: "A process in the nature of a summons to appear and answer." The ordinary English meaning — a warning or admonition — overlaps with the ecclesiastical legal use but diverges sharply from the admiralty use. In admiralty, a monition is not merely a warning but a formal compulsory process functioning as the mechanism by which the court acquires jurisdiction over a party or a res. A researcher encountering "monition" in a general historical text may read it as a simple admonition; in an admiralty docket or pleading, it denotes a specific procedural instrument with jurisdictional force. ---
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES Simple monition (in personam): Directed at a named individual; operates as a summons to appear and answer the libel. Attachment and monition (in rem): Directed against property; combined with seizure of the res and a general call to all claimants. Monition viis et modis: An alternative designation for the in rem form; historically traced to Roman summoning practice. General monition: A citation or summons addressed to all persons interested in the matter, rather than to a specifically named party. Used where the class of potential claimants is unknown or numerous. Monitory letters (ecclesiastical): Communications of warning and admonition sent from an ecclesiastical judge concerning scandal or abuses within the court's cognizance. Distinct from a monition directed at a specific party; addressed more broadly to inform and caution. ---
Why It Matters in Research
Admiralty research is the primary context in which monition appears as an active procedural term. Researchers working in 19th-century federal admiralty materials will encounter it routinely: the monition was the foundational process by which admiralty jurisdiction was perfected, and its form — in personam or in rem — determined the shape of the entire proceeding. Confusing the two forms, or misreading a monition as a mere warning rather than a jurisdictional instrument, will distort the analysis of any admiralty case record. In rem admiralty practice and its use of the monition has modern successors in the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions (Supplemental Rule C). Researchers bridging historical and modern admiralty procedure should note that while the terminology has evolved, the structural logic — seizing property and calling claimants by publication — persists. In ecclesiastical sources, monition appears at a distinct procedural stage. It is not a final order or sentence but a conditional warning that preceded more severe church discipline. Researchers working in English ecclesiastical court records should distinguish a monition from excommunication, suspension, or penance; it is an intermediate and potentially remedial step. The Rapalje & Lawrence entry does not treat "monition" directly, instead addressing "monitory letters" — a related but narrower ecclesiastical instrument. Researchers should not rely on that entry for admiralty usage. Historical sources are largely silent on the procedural mechanics of general monition in American practice. Bouvier's citation to 76 Mo. 470 suggests state court equity or quasi-admiralty usage that is worth tracing for researchers working in inland waterway or river commerce litigation. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries largely agree on the dual character of the term — admiralty process and ecclesiastical warning — but differ in emphasis and completeness. Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the most technically precise admiralty treatment, distinguishing the simple monition in personam from the attachment and monition in rem, and noting the monition viis et modis designation. Burrill also gestures toward the Roman antecedents, citing Justice Johnson in the Wheaton reports, which is the most useful historical anchor for admiralty researchers. Bouvier's Law Dictionary adds the concept of the general monition — a summons to all interested persons — which neither Black's nor Burrill addresses with the same clarity. Bouvier also explicitly connects the term to civil law courts broadly, not just admiralty, which is historically accurate and practically important for understanding its appearance in prize courts and consular proceedings. Black's Law Dictionary (1st ed.) covers both the admiralty process and the ecclesiastical warning function, and introduces the phrase "person monished" — useful vocabulary for reading historical ecclesiastical records. The 2nd edition entry retrieved in the source material does not address monition directly (the excerpt contains an unrelated entry), which suggests researchers should not rely on the 2nd edition for this term. Rapalje & Lawrence skips "monition" and addresses only "monitory letters," which is a narrower ecclesiastical concept. This gap means Rapalje & Lawrence is not a reliable standalone source for the term. Anderson's Dictionary of Law provides no relevant entry for monition in the retrieved material. None of the historical dictionaries adequately address the intersection of monition with in rem forfeiture procedure as it developed in federal courts through the 19th century — a gap that modern admiralty scholarship has since filled. ---
Jurisdictional Note
Monition as admiralty process is a creature of federal admiralty jurisdiction in the United States; it does not appear in common law courts of record. In England, the term remained in active use in ecclesiastical courts through the 19th century in its warning function. Researchers should be alert to the different procedural traditions when reading English versus American sources using the same term. ---
Related Terms
Libel (admiralty) — the initiating pleading to which the monition responds In rem jurisdiction — the jurisdictional basis for attachment and monition practice In personam jurisdiction — governs the simple monition form Attachment (admiralty) — the seizure component that accompanies in rem monition Citation — functional analog in other court systems; summons to appear Summons — common law equivalent of the in personam monition Monitory letters — related ecclesiastical instrument; warning directed to a class rather than a party Libellant — the party who obtains and serves the monition Res — the property subject to an in rem monition and attachment Excommunication — the more severe ecclesiastical sanction that a monition might precede Contempt — the consequence for failure to comply with a court monition Prize court — admiralty context in which monition practice frequently appears in historical records
MONITIONmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
In practice. A monition is a formal order of the court commanding something to be done by the person to whom it is directed, and who is called the "person monished." Thus, when money is decreed to be paid, a monition may be obtained com- manding its payment. In ecclesiastical pro- cedure, a monition is an order monishing or warning the party complained against to do or not to do a certain act "under pain of the law and contempt thereof." A monition may also be appended to a sentence inflicting a punishment for a past offense; in that case the monition forbids the repetition of the offense. Sweet. In admiralty practice. The summons to appear and answer, issued on filing the libel; which is either a simple monition in personam or an attachment and monition in rem. Ben. Adm. 228, 239. It is some- times termed "monition viis et modis," and has been supposed to be derived from the old Roman practice of summoning a defendant. 10 Wheat. 490.
MONITIONmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
ed upon and liquidated by a jury, called “damages.’ Roberts v. Nodwift, 8 Ind. 341; Mills v. Long, 58 Ala. 460.—Mioney had and received. In pleading. The technical designation of a form of declaration in assumpsit, wherein the plaintiff declares that the defendant had and received certain money, etc.—Money land. A phrase descriptive of money which is held upon a trust to convert it into land.—Money lent. In pleading. The technical name of a declaration in an action of assumpsit for that the defendant promised to pay the plaintiff‘ for money lent.—Money made. Tlie return made by a sheriff to a writ of execution, signifying that he has collected the sum of money required by the writ--Money of adieu. In French law. Earnest money; so called because given at parting in completion of the bargain. Arrhes is the usual French word for earnest money ; “money of adieu” is a provincialism found in the province of Orleans. Poth. Cont. 507.— Money order. Under the postal regulations of the United States, a money order is a species of draft drawn by one post-office upon another for an amount o mony. deposited at the first office by the person purchasing the money order, and payable at the second office to a payee named in the order. See U. S. v. Long (C. C.) 30 Fed. 679.—Mioney-order office. One of the post-offices authorized to draw or pay money orders—Money paid. In pleading. The technical name of a declaration in assumpsit, in which the plaintiff declares for money paid for the use of the defendant.—Public money. This term, as used in the laws of the United States, includes all the funds of the general government derived from the public revenues, or intrusted to the fiscal officers. See Branch v. United States, 12 Ct. Cl. 281.—Mooneyed capital. This term has a more limited meaning than the term “personal property,’’ and applies to such capital as is readily solvable in money. Mercantile Nat. Bank v. New York, 121 U. S. 138, 7 Sup. Ct. 826, 30 L. Ed. 895.—Mioneyed corporation. See CORPORATION. As to money “Broker,” “Count,” “Judgment,” and “Scrivener,” see those titles. In practice. A monition {is a formal order of the court commanding something to be done by the person to whom it is directed, and who is called the “person monished.” Thus, when money is decreed to be paid, a monition may be obtained commanding its payment. In ecclesiastical procedure, a monition is an order monishing or warning the party complained against to do or not to do a certain act “under pain of the Jaw and contempt thereof.” <A monition may also be appended to a sentence inflicting a punishment for a past offense; in that case the monition forbids the repetition of the offense. Sweet. In admiralty practice. The summons to appear and answer, issued on filing the libel ; which is either a simple monition in personam or an attachment and monition in rem. Ben. Adm. 228, 239. It is sometimes termed “monition vtis et modis,” and has’ been supposed to be derived from the old Roman practice of summoning a defendant. Manro v. Almeida, 10 Wheat. 490, 6 L. Ed. 369. _ The monition, in American admiralty practice, is, in effect, a summons, citation, or notice, though in form a command to the marshal to cite and admonish the defendant to appear and answer, and not a summons addressed to the party. 2 Conk. Adm. (2d Ed.) 147. —General monition. Iu civil law and admiralty practice. all parties in interest to appear and show cause against the decree prayed tor..
MONITIONmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
- MONITORY LETTERS.-Communications of warning and admonition sent from an ecclesiastical judge, upon information of scandal and abuses within the cognizance of his court. - Wharton. MONOCRACY.-A government by one person. MONOGAMY.-Marriage of one husband to one wife.
MONITIONn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Instruction or advice given by way of caution; an admonition; a warning; a caution. Sage monitions from his friends. Swift. Information; indication; notice; advice. We have no visible monition of ... other periods, such as we have of the day by successive light and darkness. Holder. A process in the nature of a summons to appear and answer. An order monishing a party complained against to obey under pain of the law. Shipley.
monitionnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
A caution or warning. | A legal notification of something. | A sign of impending danger; an omen.

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