Also known as: cessions · cessio · cessionum · assignment · ceding
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An act of relinquishing property rights.
In international law the act consists of the transfer of territory from one sovereign to another, typically as part of a peace settlement.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
An act of relinquishing property rights.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
In international law the act consists of the transfer of territory from one sovereign to another, typically as part of a peace settlement.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
State officials in State A executed documents relinquishing a parcel of coastal land to the United States so that Congress could establish a post road under its enumerated powers. The cession transferred full title and jurisdiction to the federal government without further state action. The United States accepted the transfer and began construction of the road.
Clifford Cox, the obligee on a promissory note, told Continental Bank that he wished the bank to receive all future payments in his place. The statement manifested an intention to transfer the right immediately and without further action by Cox. Continental Bank recorded the transfer and began collecting from the obligor.
The City of Chicago instituted condemnation proceedings against a strip of land owned by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. After the taking was completed, title passed from the railroad to the city by operation of the judgment. The railroad received compensation and retained no residual interest in the parcel.
State legislators passed a statute that reassigned certain voting districts from one county to another, thereby relinquishing the original county's authority over those areas. The cession altered the political boundaries and shifted administrative responsibility. The receiving county immediately assumed jurisdiction over elections and taxation in the reassigned districts.
Cession permanently relinquishes the transferor's interest in the property or right, whereas an assignment under Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 324 requires only a manifestation of intention to transfer without further action by the obligee.
Supporting sources
The Black's definition does not impose a writing requirement. The Restatement allows an oral manifestation of intention for assignment of rights unless a statute or contract provides otherwise.
Supporting sources
Under the terms of a treaty ending hostilities, Great Britain executed documents relinquishing its claims to certain colonial lands in favor of the United States. The cession transferred sovereignty over the territory without any further act by the former sovereign. American officials took possession and began administering the area under federal authority.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida signed an agreement relinquishing a portion of its reservation lands to the State of Florida in exchange for monetary compensation. The cession transferred both title and jurisdiction to the state. Florida officials recorded the transfer and opened the land for public use.
In international law cession transfers sovereignty between nations, often after war, while domestic transfers move title between private parties or between a state and the federal government under enumerated powers.
Supporting sources
…of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Report on the Disability Insurance Program, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., 148 (1974). This assignment of responsibility was intended to encourage rehabilitation contacts for disabled workers and to utilize the well-established relationships of the local rehabilitation agencies with the…