Bind, Bind Over

BIND, BINDING - Contracts. These words are applied to the contract entered into between a master and an apprentice the latter is said to be bound.

In order to make a good binding the consent of the apprentice must be had together with that of his father, next friend, or some one standing in loco parentis. Whether a father has, by the common law, a right to bind out his child during his minority without his consent seems not to be settled.

The words to bind or binding are also used to signify that a thing is subject to an obligation, engagement or liability; as the judgment binds such an estate.

BIND, BIND OVER - Crim. Law. The act by which a magistrate or a court hold to bail a party accused of a crime or misdemeanor.

A person accused may be bound over to appear at a court having jurisdiction of the offence charged to answer; or he may be bound over to be of good behaviour or to keep the peace.

On refusing to enter into the requisite recognizance, the accused may be committed to prison.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.