Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Foreign Apposer: A person who asks questions or examines records to make sure everything is correct. In the past, there was a special officer called an Exchequer officer who did this job for sheriffs in England. They would look at the fines and compare them to court records, and then ask the sheriff about each one. This office doesn't exist anymore, but it was also called a foreign apposer.
A foreign apposer is a type of apposer. An apposer is a person who questions or interrogates someone or something. In the past, a foreign apposer was an officer in the Exchequer who examined the accounts of sheriffs. They were responsible for comparing the entries in the sheriff's estreat (book of fines) with those in court records and questioning the sheriff about each sum in the estreat.
For example, if a sheriff had collected fines from people, the foreign apposer would check if the fines were recorded correctly in the estreat and if the amount collected matched the court records. If there was a discrepancy, the foreign apposer would question the sheriff to find out why.
The office of foreign apposer was abolished in England in 1833.