BAILIFF signifies a keeper or super intendent, and is directly derived from the French word bailli, which appears to come from ballivus, and that from be galus, a Latin word signifying generally a governor, tutor, or superintendent, and also designating an officer at Constanti nople who had the education and care of Ow Greek emperor's sons. (Du cane, Glossary.) The word Baiolus, which seems to be the same as Bagalus, is used by the Roman classical writers to signify a porter, one who carries any burden on his back. (Facciolati, Les.) The French word Bashi is thus explained by Richelet (Dictionnaire, &c.): " [Praetor Peregrines]. Ile who in a province has the superintendence of jus tice, who is the ordinary judge of the nobles, who is their head for the bass and arrilre ban, and who maintains the right and property of others against those who attack them. Messieurs of the Aca ddmie write the word with an f, Bailif." Richelet also mentions two classes of Baillis in the order of Malta. All the various officers who are called by this name, though differing as to the nature of their employments, seem to have some kind of superintendence intrusted to them by their superior. The sheriff is called the King's bailiff, and his county is his bailiwick. The keeper of Dover Castle is called the bailiff; and the chief magis trates of many ancient corporations in England bad this name. Amongst the principal officers of corporate towns to which the inquiries of the Corporation Commissioners extended in 1835, there were 120 officers called bailiffs, and 45 inferior officers with the same designation, besides 29 water-bailiffs. But the chief functionaries to whom the name is applied in England are the bailiffs of sheriffs, the bailiffii of liberties or franchises, and the bailiffs of lords of manors.
L Bailiffs of Sheriffs were anciently appointed in every hundred, to execute all process directed to the sheriff to col lect the King's fines and fee-farm rents, and to attend the justices of assize and jail delivery : they are called in the old books bailiffs errant. There is now a Pertain number of bailiffs appointed by the sheriff in his county or bailiwick, who are commonly called bound bailiffs, From their entering into a bond to the •heriff in a considerable penalty for their Inc and proper execution of all process which the sheriff intrusts to them to exe :ate, whether against the person or the ;cods of individuals. These are called 'mown bailiffs; but the sheriff may and den does, at the request of the suitor or otherwise, intrust the execution of pro cess to a person named merely for the occasion, who is called a special bailiff. The bailiff derives his authority from a warrant under the hand and seal of the sheriff : and he cannot lawfully arrest a party till he receives such warrant. It is a contempt of the court from which pro cess issues, to hinder the bailiff in exe cuting it ; and when a party is taken by the bailiff, he is legally in the custody of the sheriff. An arrest may be made by the bailiff's follower ; but the bailiff must in such case be at hand and acting in the arrest. The bailiff is forbidden by the Lord's Day Act, 29 Car. II. c. 7, to exe cute process on Sunday ; and he is not authorized to break open an outer door to make an arrest under civil process, or to seize goods; but if the outer door is open, he may, in general, break open inner doors m execution of the process. If a
bailiff misdemean himself grossly in the execution of process, as if he use unne cessary violence or force, or extort money from prisoners, or embezzle money levied, he will be punished by attach ment from the court from whence the process issues.
2. The bailiff of a franchise or liberty is one who has the same authority granted to him by the lord of a liberty as the sheriff's bailiff anciently had by the sheriff'. These liberties are exclusive jurisdictions, which still exist in some parts of the kingdom (as the honour of Pontefract, in Yorkshire, the liberty of Gower in Gloucestershire and adjoining counties), in which the King's writ could not formerly be executed by the sheriff, but only by the lord of the franchise or his bailiff. These districts proving in convenient, the statute of Westminster the 2nd., c. 29, provided, that if the bailiff, when commanded to execute a writ within the franchise, gave no answer, a writ, with a clause of non omittas, should issue, authorizing and commanding the sheriff himself to enter the franchise and execute the writ ; and it is now the prac tice in every case to insert this clause in the writ in the first instance, which en ables the sheriff at once to execute it in the franchise. If, however, the party who sues out the writ neglects to insert this clause, the sheriff is not bound to I enter the franchise ; though if he do enter it, the execution will not be invalid : but if a sheriff's bailiff, in executing such a writ within a franchise, is resisted by the party to be taken, and is killed, it is not murder; for the bailiff is commit ting a trespass in consequence of the clause of non owittas not being inserted in the writ.
3. Bailiffs of manors are stewards or agents appointed by the lord (generally by an authority under seal) to superin tend the manor; • collect fines and quit rents ; inspect thebuildings ; order repairs, cut down trees; impound cattle trespass ing ; take an account of wastes, spoils, and misdemeanors in the woods and demesne lands ; and do other acts for the lord's interest. Such a bailiff can bind his lord by acts which are for his benefit, but not by such as are to his prejudice, without the lord's special authority.
An act was passed in 1844 for regu lating the bailiffs of inferior courts (7 & 8 Viet. c. 19), the preamble of which states that—" whereas courts are holden in and for sundry counties, hundreds and wapentakes, honours, manors, and other lordships, liberties and franchises, having, by custom or charter, jurisdic tion for the recovery of debts and da mages in personal actions, and in many places great extortion is practised under colour of the process of such courts :" and it is then enacted that bailiffs are to be appointed by the judge of the court ; and remedies are adopted to prevent mis conduct on the part of such bailiffs.
(Bacon's Abndgment, tit. "Bailiff," 7th ed. ; Tomline's Law Dictionary, same title.)