ASSESSOR, a Roman term originally applied to a trained lawyer who sat beside a governor of a province or other magis trate, to instruct him in the administration of the laws (see Roll, De assessoribus magistratuum Romanorum, Leipzig, 1872). The system is still exemplified in Scotland, where it is usual in the larger towns for municipal magistrates, in the administration of their civil jurisdiction, to have the aid of professional assessors. In England, by the Judicature Act 1873, the court of appeal and the High Court may in any cause or matter call in the aid of assessors. The Patents Act 1907 makes special provision for assessors in patent and mark cases. By the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1891 the House of Lords may, in appeals in ad miralty actions, call in the aid of assessors, while in the admiralty division of the High Court it is usual for the Elder Brethren of Trinity House to assist as nautical assessors. In admiralty cases in the county courts, too, the judge is frequently assisted by asses sors of "nautical skill and experience" (County Court Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1868). In the same courts assessors may be ap pointed by the rules made under the Employers' Liability Act 1880; while a medical referee may be summoned as an assessor in cases under the Workmen's Compensation Acts. In the ecclesias tical courts assessors assist the bishop in proceedings under the Church Discipline Act 1840, s. II, while under the Clergy Dis cipline Act 1892, s. 2, they assist the chancellor in determining questions of fact. By the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, s. 14, the king in council may make rules for the attendance of arch bishops and bishops as assessors in the hearing of ecclesiastical cases by the judicial committee of the privy council.
In France and in all European countries where the civil law system prevails, the term assesseur is applied to those assistant judges who, with a president, compose a judicial court.
In Germany an Assessor, or Beisitzer, is a member of the legal profession who has passed four years in actual practice and be come qualified for the position of a judge. (X.) United States.—An assessor in the United States is an official who evaluates property for purposes of taxation. An assessor exists as a county officer in virtually all of the States, and is elected by the voters for a term of two, three or four years. Originally, in the early colonial days, the work of the assessor was done by justices of the peace, transferred in later colonial days to county boards of commissioners or supervisors. The duties of the assessor are generally to list all property and persons subject to taxation. Appeals are provided by statutes to county boards of commissioners or supervisors or courts where the person taxed may protest against the amount assessed as being unfair. Some States have provided for township assessors, elected by the voters of the township, to work under the supervision of the assessor, and in others the assessor is permitted a sufficient number of deputies to aid him in the completion of his work, the assess ments generally being made annually. Most of the States have State boards of taxation which supervise, to some extent, the work of the assessors. In most of the States this board is named by the governor, but in a few, such as Illinois where it is called the board of equalization, it is elected.
In Roman law, used throughout Europe, wherever the civil law system obtains, an assessor is one who is called by the courts to give legal advice and assistance. In the United States Federal district courts experienced shipmasters serve as assessors in this sense of the word in admiralty matters. In the State probate and surrogate courts in the United States, "appraisers" are frequently appointed to ascertain the value of deceased persons' estates.
See H. G. James, Local Government in the United States (1920 .
(S. LE.)