SIONS - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

SIONSAuthored

The Law Mind • 676 words

Definition

"Sions" does not appear in the legal record as a standalone term of art. The source material under this heading reflects a cataloging or indexing artifact: fragments from multiple unrelated dictionary entries were grouped together under the label "SIONS" — most likely because each source entry ended with that letter sequence as part of a longer word (e.g., "Sessions," "Successions," "Declarations," "Provisions"). No coherent legal definition attaches to "sions" itself.

The fragments preserved in the source material touch on at least four distinct legal concepts:

1. A historical English ecclesiastical officer who administered literacy tests (neck-verse) to malefactors claiming benefit of clergy — drawn from an entry likely titled ORDINARY or a related office. (Black's Law Dictionary, citing Wharton.)

2. General Sessions — a court of primarily criminal jurisdiction existing in several U.S. states, most notably New York, where it was held by a single judge (the Recorder, City Judge, or Judge of General Sessions) and produced its own series of reports. (Rapalje & Lawrence.)

3. Hearsay and original evidence — a fragment from a Bouvier's entry, likely under DECLARATIONS or RES GESTAE, discussing the general inadmissibility of third-party oral or written statements standing alone, with an exception where declarations accompany an admissible act. (Bouvier's Law Dictionary.)

4. Succession in French law — the right arising upon the natural or civil death of another. (Bouvier's Law Dictionary, citing Brown.)

Why It Matters in Research

Researchers encountering "SIONS" as a headword in a compiled or digitized legal dictionary index should treat it as a corrupted or truncated entry label, not a term of law. The correct approach is to identify which underlying concept the source fragment addresses and look up that term directly.

The four fragments are research-useful in their own right but belong under separate headings:

— The ecclesiastical officer fragment belongs under ORDINARY, BENEFIT OF CLERGY, or NECK-VERSE. The officer described — appointed by the bishop to test whether defendants could read and to minister to condemned prisoners — is a well-documented figure in the history of benefit of clergy. Researchers working on pre-modern English criminal procedure will find this fragment a useful pointer but should verify through Wharton's Law Lexicon directly.

— The General Sessions fragment (Rapalje & Lawrence) is valuable for researchers working with New York criminal court records or reports from the nineteenth century. The note that the court produced approximately seventeen volumes of its own reports under the name "General Sessions" is practically important: those reports are a distinct series and may not be indexed alongside standard New York appellate materials.

— The hearsay fragment (Bouvier's) is too incomplete to stand alone. It appears mid-sentence, suggesting significant text was truncated. Researchers should consult the full Bouvier's entry under EVIDENCE or DECLARATIONS, and cross-reference RES GESTAE.

— The French succession fragment is brief but accurate as a summary statement. Researchers in civil-law succession or comparative inheritance law should follow up under SUCCESSION in Bouvier's and consult Brown's Legal Maxims for the underlying authority cited.

Historical Dictionary Support

The source dictionaries do not agree on any shared subject here because the fragments are drawn from entirely different entries. Black's (via Wharton) addresses ecclesiastical criminal procedure. Rapalje & Lawrence address court organization. Bouvier's contributes two fragments: one on evidence doctrine, one on French private law. The only synthesis possible is negative: none of these sources treats "sions" as a legal term, and the grouping is an artifact of how entries were parsed or compiled.

What historical sources miss: None of the fragments is complete. The Black's entry breaks off mid-sentence ("The"), the Bouvier's hearsay entry breaks off mid-thought, and the Rapalje & Lawrence entry, while the most coherent of the set, omits the full procedural history of General Sessions jurisdiction. Researchers should treat all fragments here as starting points requiring verification in full-text editions of the original dictionaries.

SIONSmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

In old English law. A deputy of the bishop of the diocese, anciently appointed to give malefactors their neck-verses, and judge whether they read or not; also to per- form divine services for them, and assist in preparing them for death. Wharton. The

SIONSmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

A statement of all the distinctions be- tween what is to be regarded as hearsay and what is to be deemed original evidence would extend this article too far. The general principle is that the mere declara- tion, oral or written, of a third person, as to a fact, standing alone, is inadmissi- ble. Res geste. But where evidence of an act done by a party is admissible, his dec- larations made at the time, having a tend- ency to elucidate or give a character to the act, and which may derive a degree of credit from the act itself. are also admis- sible, as part of the res gestæ; 9 N. H. 271; 93 U. S. 465; 116 Ind. 278; 79 Ga. 631; 112 Mo. 374; 128 Ill. 545; 95 Mich. 412; 82 Tex. 516; 18 Fed. Rep. 156; 148 Pa. 566; 21 How. St. Tr. 514; Steph. Dig. Ev. §§ 2, 7. So, declarations of third persons, in the presence and hearing of a person, which tend to affect his interest, may be shown in order to introduce his answer or to show an admission by his silence, but this species of evidence must be received with great caution: 1 Greenl. Ev. 236. Confessions of guilt in criminal cases come within the class of admissions, pro- vided they have been voluntarily made and have not been obtained by the hope of favor or by the fear of punishment. And if made under such inducements as to ex- clude them, a subsequent declaration to the same effect, made after the inducement has ceased to operate, and having no con- nection with the hopes or fears which have existed, is admissible as evidence; 17 Ν. Н. 171. Actions as well as verbal declata- tions may constitute a confession, and the same rule as to admissibility applies to both; 98 N. C. 595. There is, however, a growing unwillingness to rest convictions on confessions unless supported by corro- borating circumstances, and in all cases there must be at least proof of the corpus delicti, independently of the confession; 1 Whart. Cr. Law, §683; Cooley, Const. Lim. 385; Tayl. Ev. 744. See ADMISSIONS; CON- FESSION; RES GESTE. Dying declarations are an exception to the rule excluding hearsay evidence, and are admitted, under certain limitations in cases of homicide, so far as the circum- stances attending the death and its cause are the subject of them. See DECLARA- TION; DYING DECLARATIONS. Opinions of persons of skill and experi- ence, called experts, are also admissible in certain cases, when, in order to the better understanding of the evidence or to the solution of the question, a certain skill and experience are required which are not ordi- narily possessed by jurors. See EXPERT ;

SIONSmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888

A court of jurisdiction chiefly criminal, in some of the States. The New York court of this name is held only in the county of New York, by a single judge (either the recorder, the city judge, or the series of reports of its own, bearing its judge of the General Sessions), and frename and now numbering some seventeen volumes. quently two terms or branches of the court are held at the same time. Its original jurisdiction extends to all offences, capiCOURT OF COMMISSIONERS OF tal or otherwise (but subject in some cases A court for the trial of petty offences in the city and county of New York. It has exclusive jurisdiction in

sionsnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC 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.

plural of sion

Sionsname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

plural of Sion

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