Appropriation (law)

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In law and government, appropriation (from Latin appropriare, "to make one's own", later "to set aside") is the act of setting apart something for its application to a particular usage, to the exclusion of all other uses.

It typically refers to the

spending bill
.

Ecclesiastical law

In

ecclesiastical law, appropriation is the perpetual annexation of an ecclesiastical benefice to the use of some spiritual corporation, either aggregate or sole. In the Middle Ages in England the custom grew up of the monasteries reserving to their own use the greater part of the tithes of their appropriated benefices, leaving only a small portion to their vicars in the parishes. On the dissolution of the monasteries the rights to collect "great tithes" were often sold off, along with former monastic lands, to laymen; whose successors, known as "lay impropriators" or "lay rectors," still hold them, the system being known as impropriation.[1]

Law of debtor and creditor

In the

law of debtor and creditor, appropriation of payments is the application of a particular payment for the purpose of paying a particular debt. When a creditor has two debts due to him from the same debtor on distinct accounts, the general law as to the appropriation of payments made by the debtor is that the debtor is entitled to apply the payments to such account as he thinks fit; solvitur in modum solventis. In default of appropriation by the debtor the creditor is entitled to determine the application of the sums paid, and may appropriate them even to the discharge of debts barred by the Statute of Limitations. In default of appropriation by either debtor or creditor, the law implies an appropriation of the earlier payments to the earlier debts.[1]

Constitutional law

In constitutional law, appropriation is the assignment of money for a special purpose.[1]

In the United Kingdom an appropriation act appropriating various sums to government departments and quangos, as set out by the government.

United States

In the United States, an

treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law." This places the responsibility and power of deciding appropriations under the jurisdiction of the United States House Committee on Appropriations and the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.[2]
Both committees have twelve matching subcommittees, each tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills.

Appropriations bills in the United States can also come in the format of an

War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War were funded with a variety of supplemental appropriations.[5][6] Supplemental appropriations bills also provide funding for recovering from unexpected natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy (the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
).

Criminal law

In England and Wales, the Theft Act 1968 s 3(1) defines appropriation as "Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner".

Contract authority

A contract authority is a form of budget authority that permits obligations to be made in advance of appropriations.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Appropriation". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 229.
  2. ^ a b c Tollestrup, Jessica (February 23, 2012). "The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  3. ^ Heniff Jr., Bill (November 26, 2012). "Basic Federal Budgeting Terminology" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. ^ Tollestrup, Jessica (February 23, 2012). "The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 13. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  5. Cost of War
    website
  6. ^ "Congressional Reports: Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan since 9/11". zFacts.org. April 24, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. Retrieved August 15, 2006.