§ 61. Words denoting number, gender, etc.; definitions As used in this Code, unless it is otherwise provided or the context requires a different meaning: words importing the singular include the plural, and words importing the plural include the singular; words importing the masculine gender include all genders; words used in the present tense include the future as well as the present; "affinity", when applied to the marriage relation, means the connection existing in consequence of marriage between each of the married persons and the blood relatives of the other; "agency", includes the Canal Zone Government, the Panama Canal Company, and any department, independent establishment, commission, administration, authority, board or bureau of the United States or corporation in which the United States has an interest, unless the context shows that the term is intended to be used in a more limited sense; "aircraft" means contrivance used, capable of being used, or designed, for navigation or flight in the air: "Canal Zone", in a geographical sense, embraces the same land, land under water, and islands that are designated as such by sections 1 and 2 of Title 2, and the corridor referred to in section 2 of this title, as far as its inclusion in the term "Canal Zone" is consistent with the General Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Panama, signed March 2, 1936; "department" means any one of the executive departments enumerated in section 158 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 1), unless the context shows that the term is intended to describe the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the government of the United States. "depose" means to make a written statement under oath; "Government of the Canal Zone" embraces the Canal Zone Government, the agency continued under section 31 of Title 2, together with the judicial and law-enforcement offices and officers established or provided for by Title 3. "insane person" includes every idiot, lunatic, and person non compos mentis; "month" means a calendar month; "oath" includes affirmation or declaration; "officer" includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office; "person" and "whoever", respectively, include a corporation, company, association, joint stock company, firm, partnership, and society, as well as an individual; "personal property" includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt; "President" means the President of the United States; "process" means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings; "property" includes both real and personal property; "real property" includes real estate, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal; "seal" means a particular sign made to attest, in the most formal manner, the execution of an instrument; and a public seal, when the seal of a court or public officer is required by law to be affixed to any paper, means a stamp or impression of the seal, made with an instrument provided by law, upon the paper alone, or upon any substance attached to the paper capable of receiving a visible impression; "signature" or "subscription" includes a mark of a person who can not write, as provided by section 65 of this title; "State", when applied to different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the several territories and possessions of the United States, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; "sworn" includes "affirmed" or "declared"; "testify" includes every mode of oral statement under oath; "United States includes its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico: "vehicle" includes every description of carriage, or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land; "vessel", when used with reference to shipping or navigation, includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water; "writ" means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of the Government of the Canal Zone, or of a court or judicial officer; "writing" includes printing and typewriting and reproduction of visual symbols by any process; and "year" means a calendar year. § 62. Words and phrases Words and phrases shall be interpreted according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined by section 61 of this title, shall be interpreted according to the peculiar and appropriate meaning or definition. § 63. Words giving joint authority Words granting a joint authority to three or more persons grant the authority to a majority of them, unless otherwise provided. 8 64. Notice (a) Notice is: (1) actual, which consists in express information of a fact; or (2) constructive, which is imputed by law. (b) A person who has actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a man upon inquiry as to a particular fact has constructive notice of the fact itself in all cases in which, by prosecuting the inquiry, he might have learned the fact. 865. Execution of signature by mark When a person, who can not write, makes his signature or subscription by a mark, his name must be written near it and the mark witnessed by another person who writes his own name as a witness; but when a signature is by mark and it is desired or required that the signature be acknowledged or serve as the signature to a sworn statement, it must be witnessed by two other persons who must subscribe their own names as witnesses thereto. § 66. Construction of Code (a) The provisions of this Code, as far as they are substantially the same as statutes existing on January 2, 1963, shall be construed as continuations thereof, and not as new enactments. (b) The provisions of this Code shall be construed according to the fair construction of their terms, with a view to effect its object and to promote justice. Sec. CHAPTER 7—MAXIMS OF JURISPRUDENCE 81. Enumeration and application. Enumeration and application The following maxims of jurisprudence are intended not to qualify any of the provisions of this Code, but to aid in their just application: (1) When the reason of a rule ceases, so should the rule itself. (2) Where the reason is the same, the rule should be the same. (3) One must not change his purpose to the injury of another. (4) One may waive the advantage of a law intended solely for his benefit. But a law established for a public reason can not be contravened by a private agreement. (5) One must so use his own rights as not to infringe upon the rights of another. (6) One who consents to an act is not wronged by it. (7) Acquiescence in error takes away the right of objecting to it. (8) One can not take advantage of his own wrong. (9) One who has fraudulently dispossessed himself of a thing may be treated as if he still had possession. (10) One who can and does not forbid that which is done on his behalf is deemed to have bidden it. (11) One should not suffer by the act of another. (12) One who takes the benefit must bear the burden. (13) One who grants a thing is presumed to grant also whatever is essential to its use. (14) For every wrong there is a remedy. (15) Between those who are equally in the right or equally in the wrong, the law does not interpose. (16) Between rights otherwise equal, the earliest is preferred. (17) No man is responsible for that which no man can control. (18) The law helps the vigilant before those who sleep on their rights. (19) The law respects form less than substance. (20) That which ought to have been done is to be regarded as done, in favor of him to whom, and against him from whom, per formance is due. (21) That which does not appear to exist is to be regarded as if it did not exist. (22) The law never requires impossibilities. (23) The law neither does nor requires idle acts. (24) The law disregards trifles. (25) Particular expressions qualify those which are general. (26) Contemporaneous exposition is in general the best. (27) The greater contains the less. (28) Superfluity does not vitiate. (29) That is certain which can be made certain. (30) Time does not confirm a void act. (31) The incident follows the principal, and not the principal the incident. (32) An interpretation which gives effect is preferred to one which makes void. (33) Interpretation must be reasonable. (34) Where one of two innocent persons must suffer by the act of a third, he, by whose negligence it happened, must be the sufferer. CHAPTER 9-HOLIDAYS Sec. 111. Legal holidays. 112. Business days. 113. Performance of acts under law or contract. § 111. Legal holidays (a) The following are legal holidays: Every Sunday January 1 (New Year's Day) February 22 (George Washington's Birthday) May 30 (Memorial Day) July 4 (Independence Day) First Monday in September (Labor Day) November 11 (Veterans Day) Thanksgiving Day December 25 (Christmas Day) and such other days as may, pursuant to law, be declared to be holidays. (b) As far as practicable, all public business shall be suspended on the holidays enumerated in subsection (a) of this section. § 112. Business days All days other than those specified by section 111 of this title are business days for all purposes. § 113. Performance of acts under law or contract An act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, may be performed upon the next business day, with the same effect as if it had been performed upon the day appointed. § 1. Designation The zone of land and land under water granted to the United States by the treaty with the Republic of Panama, dated March 18, 1903, as modified by subsequent treaties, shall be known and designated as the Canal Zone, and the canal constructed thereon shall be known and designated as the Panama Canal. § 2. Acquisition of additional land; exchange of land The President, by treaty with the Republic of Panama, may : (1) acquire additional land or land under water not already granted, or which was excepted from the grant, which he deems necessary for the maintenance, operation, sanitation or protection of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone; and (2) exchange land or land under water not deemed necessary for those purposes, for other land or land under water which he deems necessary for those purposes. The additional land or land under water so acquired shall become part of the Canal Zone. § 3. Towns and subdivisions Sec. The President shall: (1) determine or cause to be determined what cities or towns shall exist in the Canal Zone; and (2) subdivide and from time to time re-subdivide the zone into subdivisions with clearly defined boundaries, which he shall designate by name or number, so that at least one city or town will be situated in each subdivision. CHAPTER 3-EXECUTIVE 31. Canal Zone Government; administration and functions generally. 32. Appointment and term of Governor. 33. General powers and duties of Governor. 34. Army control in time of war or imminence of war. 35. Assistance of Armed Forces. § 31. Canal Zone Government; administration and functions generally The Canal Zone Government, an independent agency of the United States, shall: (1) be administered, under the supervision of the President or such officer of the United States as may be designated by him, by a Governor of the Canal Zone; and (2) be charged, except as otherwise provided by law, with the performance of the various duties connected with the civil government, including health, sanitation, and protection, of the Canal Zone. § 32. Appointment and term of Governor The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the Governor of the Canal Zone. The Governor shall hold office for a term of four years and until his successor is appointed and has qualified. § 33. General powers and duties of Governor The Governor of the Canal Zone shall: (1) have official control and jurisdiction over the Canal Zone; and (2) perform all duties in connection with the civil government of the Canal Zone, which is to be held, treated and governed as an adjunct of the Canal. |