PREMIER

9 definitions found across Law Mind sources

PREMIERAuthored
The Law Mind • 1035 words
Definition
In legal and governmental usage, PREMIER refers to the principal minister of state — the head of government, synonymous with prime minister. The term designates the chief executive officer of a parliamentary government, responsible for leading the cabinet and directing state affairs. The term also appears in older English legal usage as an adjective denoting priority, seniority, or highest rank — most notably in the title PREMIER SERJEANT (or Premier Serjeant-at-Law), referring to the senior serjeant-at-law holding preaudience rights in court.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Foremost; first or highest in quality or degree. Also used to designate the most ancient holder of a particular status or rank. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): First; chief; principal — as in "premier place" or "premier minister." Also: most ancient, as applied to a peer bearing the oldest title of his degree. The gap between common and legal usage here is modest but worth noting. In ordinary modern English, "premier" functions primarily as a superlative adjective ("a premier institution") or as a title for subnational heads of government (Canadian provincial premiers, Australian state premiers). In historical English legal sources, however, its force is almost always ordinal and relational — designating priority of rank, seniority within a professional order, or formal precedence in a governmental hierarchy. Researchers encountering "premier" in older legal texts should resist reading it as merely emphatic and instead ask: premier over whom, and by what rule of precedence?
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES PREMIER (as head of government): The principal minister of a parliamentary state; equivalent to prime minister. Used in English constitutional sources to refer to the head of the British cabinet and, by extension, the heads of government in Commonwealth and other parliamentary systems. PREMIER SERJEANT: The senior serjeant-at-law. In English legal practice, this officer held preaudience rights — the right to be heard before other members of the bar — ranking after the attorney general, solicitor general, and queen's (or king's) advocate. The office was constituted by letters patent. PREMIER PEER: In English peerage law, the peer holding the oldest title within a given degree of the peerage (duke, marquess, earl, etc.). Seniority of creation, not personal distinction, determined the designation.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in Anglo-American legal and constitutional sources will encounter "premier" most often in one of three contexts, and conflating them produces real confusion. First, in constitutional and governmental law, "premier" and "prime minister" are treated as interchangeable in most historical English sources. The distinction between the two terms — if any — is largely rhetorical rather than legal. British constitutional scholarship of the 18th and 19th centuries often preferred "premier" for informal usage, while "prime minister" carried more formal constitutional weight. By the 20th century, "prime minister" became the dominant official designation in the United Kingdom, though "premier" persists in Commonwealth usage for heads of subnational governments. Second, in older court records and professional directories, "Premier Serjeant" designates a specific rank within the English bar with attendant procedural rights (preaudience). This rank was abolished with the serjeants-at-law as a class in the latter 19th century. Researchers encountering preaudience disputes or questions of counsel precedence in pre-1880 English sources should understand that the Premier Serjeant's position was formally constituted and not merely honorary. Third, in peerage and heraldic records, "premier" attaches to the oldest-created title in a degree. This usage survives in modern peerage reference works. It carries no governmental function but does affect ceremonial precedence. One navigational trap: American legal sources use "premier" almost exclusively in its ordinary adjectival sense ("premier authority," "premier jurisdiction") rather than as a formal title or rank designation. Importing the English technical meaning into American legal sources is generally an error.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three historical sources — Black's (1st ed.), Black's (2nd ed.), and Bouvier's — define PREMIER consistently and briefly as "the principal minister of state; the prime minister." None offers elaboration on constitutional function, and none distinguishes between "premier" and "prime minister" as legal terms of art. This brevity reflects the term's status in these dictionaries: a definitional placeholder pointing toward the more substantive entries on cabinet government and ministerial responsibility. Bouvier's cross-references CABINET, which is the more productive entry for researchers interested in the structure and legal accountability of the principal ministry. Black's 2nd edition is the most informative of the three for legal researchers because it records the PREMIER SERJEANT entry with enough detail to establish the procedural significance of the rank — specifically, preaudience rights after the attorney and solicitor general and the queen's advocate. The citation to 3 Stephen's Commentaries (7th ed.) 274 is the appropriate starting point for further research on this procedural hierarchy. No historical dictionary in the Law Mind corpus addresses the peerage usage of "premier" with any depth. Researchers needing that context should consult Blackstone's Commentaries and the standard peerage reference works rather than legal dictionaries.
Jurisdictional Note
In the United States, "premier" carries no formal legal title and no governmental rank. In the United Kingdom, "prime minister" is the constitutional designation; "premier" is informal. In Canada and Australia, "premier" is the formal title for the head of government of a province or state respectively — a usage with genuine legal significance in those jurisdictions' constitutional documents and conventions.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See CABINET (Law Mind Encyclopedia) for the structure, composition, and constitutional role of the principal ministry in parliamentary systems.
Related Terms
Prime Minister — Synonymous in most historical English usage; the modern preferred formal designation. Cabinet — The collective body of principal ministers over which the premier presides. Premier Serjeant — Senior serjeant-at-law; holder of preaudience rights in English courts. Serjeant-at-Law — The professional class from which the Premier Serjeant was drawn. Preaudience — The procedural right to be heard before other counsel; the operative privilege attached to the Premier Serjeant's rank. Premier Peer — The holder of the oldest title in a given degree of the English peerage. Minister of State — Broader category of governmental officer of which the premier is the head. Attorney General — The law officer ranking above the Premier Serjeant in order of preaudience.
PREMIERmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
A principal minister of state; the prime minister. PREMIER SERJEANT, THE
PREMIERmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
A principal minister of state; the prime minister. PREMIER SERJEANT, THE QUEEN’S. This otticer, so constituted by letters patent, has preaudience over the bar after the attorney and solicitor general and queen's advocate. 3 Steph. Comm. (7th Ed.) 274, note. ‘ PREMISES. That which is put before; the foregoing statements. Thus, in logic, the two introductory propositions of the syllogism are called the “premises,” and from them the conclusion is deduced. So, in pleading, .the expression “in consideration of the premises” frequently occurs, the meaning being “ia consideration of the matters hereinbefore stated.” See Teutonia F. Ins. Co. v. Mund, 102 Pa. 93; Alaska Imp. Co. v. Hirsch, 119 Cal. 249, 47 Pac, 124, In conveyancing. That part of a‘ deed which precedes the habcndum, in which are set forth the names of the parties with their titles and additions, and in which are recited such deeds, agreements, or matters of fact as are necessary to explain the reasons upon which the present transaction is founded; and it is here, also, the consideration on which it is made is set down and the certainty of the thing granted. 2 Bl. Comm. 298. And see Miller v. Graham, 47 S. C. 288, 25 S. E. 165; Brown v. Manter, 21 N. H. 533, 53 Am. Dec. 223; Rouse v. Steamboat Co., 59 Hun, 80, 138 N. Y. Supp. 126. In estates. Lands aud tenements; an estate; the subject-matter of a conveyance. The term “premises” is used in common parlance to signify land, with its appurtenances; but its usual and appropriate meaning in a conveyance is the thing demised or granted by the deed. New Jersey Zine Co. v. New Jersey Franklinite Co., 13 N. J. Eq. 322; In re Rohr- -PREMISES. bacher’s Estate, 168 Pa. 158, 32 Atl. 30; Cummings v. Dearborn, 56 Vt. 441; State v. French, 120 Ind. 229, 22 N. E. 108. The word is also used to denote the subject-matter insured in a policy. 4 Campb. 89. In equity pleading. The stating part of a bill It contains a narrative of the facts and circumstances of the plaintiff’s case, and the wrongs of which he complains, and the names of the persons by whom done and against whom he seeks redress. Story, Eq. Pl. 3 27.
PREMIERmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
The principal minister of state; the prime minister. See CABINET. PREMISES (Lat. præ, before, mittere, to put, to send). That which is put before. The introduc- tion. Statements previously made. See 1 East 456. In Conveyancing. That part of a deed which precedes the habendum, in which are set forth the names of the parties with their titles and additions, and in which are recited such deeds, agreements, or matters of fact as are necessary to ex- plain the reasons upon which the contract then entered into is founded; and it is here, also, the consideration on which it is made is set down and the certainty of the thing granted. 2 Bla. Com. 298; 8 Mass. 174; 6 Conn. 289; 13 N. J. Eq. 331; 15 id. 418. In Equity Pleading. The stating part of a bill. It contains a narrative of the facts and circumstances of the plaintiff's case, and the wrongs of which he com- plains, and the names of the persons. by whom done and against whom he seeks redress. Cooper, Eq. Pl. 9; Bart. Suit in Eq. 28; Mitf. Eq. Pl. 43; Story, Eq. Pl. § 27. Every material fact to which the plain- tiff intends to offer evidence must be stated in the premises; otherwise, he will not be permitted to offer or require evidence of such fact; 1 Bro. C. C. 94; 3 P. Wms. 276; 11 Ves. 240; 2 Hare 264; 6 Johns. 565;9 Ga. 148. In Estates. Lands and tenements. 1 East 453; 3 Maule & S. 169; 21 Ohio St. 188.
PREMIERa.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister. Camden. Swift. Most ancient; -- said of the peer bearing the oldest title of his degree.
PREMIERn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
The first minister of state; the prime minister.
premieradj
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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Foremost; first or highest in quality or degree. | Most ancient; first to hold a specified status.
premiernoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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The head of government in parliament and leader of the cabinet. | The prime minister. | The head of government in parliament and leader of the cabinet. | The leader of a state or provincial government and cabinet. | The government leader in a legislative congress or leader of a government-level administrative body; the head of government. | The first lieutenant or other second-in-command officer of a ship. | The champion team of a particular season (especially as used in Australian rules football).
premierverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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To perform, display or exhibit for the first time. | To govern in the role of premier.

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