In
common law systems, the peremptory pleas (pleas in bar) are defensive
pleas that set out special reasons for which a
trial cannot proceed; they serve to bar the case entirely. Pleas in bar may be used in
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
or
criminal cases; they address the substantial
merits of the case.
Criminal
In a criminal case, the peremptory pleas are the plea of ''autrefois convict'', the plea of ''autrefois acquit'', and the plea of
pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
. The former two refer to cases of
double jeopardy.
A plea of "''autrefois convict''" (
Law French for "previously convicted") is one in which the
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
claims to have been previously
convicted of the same offence and that he or she therefore cannot be tried for it again.
[Rogers v The Queen (1994)] In the instance where a defendant has been summonsed to both criminal and civil proceedings, a plea of ''autrefois convict'' is essentially an application to 'merge' proceedings, giving rise to ''
res judicata'' or a cause of
action estoppel in civil proceedings.
A plea of "''autrefois acquit''" is one in which the defendant claims to have been previously
acquitted for the same offence and thus should not be tried again. The plea of ''autrefois acquit'' is a form of estoppel by which the state cannot reassert the guilt of the accused after they have been acquitted.
[Pearce (1998) 194 CLR 610 3 4] The plea prevents inconsistent decisions and the reopening of litigation.
The limitations of these pleas have been circumscribed by various legal cases and
appeals. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, significant changes were made by the
Criminal Justice Act 2003, by which an acquittal on a serious charge can be
quashed and a
retrial ordered, if there is "new and compelling
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
" against the acquitted person.
Civil
In a civil case, a plea in bar alleges that circumstances exist that serve to block and defeat the
plaintiff's case absolutely and entirely. Pleas in bar can include
accord and satisfaction or the running of the
statute of limitations. A special plea in bar advances
new matter, while a general plea in bar denies some
material allegation in the
complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
.
[''Black's Law Dictionary'', 4th ed. 1968, p. 1311, citing ''Gould, Pl.'', c.2, ยง 38.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peremptory Plea
Criminal procedure
Legal defenses
Legal terminology
Pleas