In common law systems, the peremptory pleas (pleas in bar) are defensive

plea In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

s that set out special reasons for which a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

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 In law, merits are the inherent rights and wrongs of a legal case, absent of any emotional or technical bias. The evidence is applied solely to cases decided on its merits, and any procedural matters are discounted. The term comes from Old French ...

Criminal

In a criminal case, the peremptory pleas are the plea of ''autrefois convict'', the plea of ''autrefois acquit'', and the plea of pardon. The former two refer to cases of

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

. A plea of "''autrefois convict''" (

Law French Law French ( nrf, Louai Français, enm, Lawe Frensch) is an archaic language originally based on Old Norman and Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England, be ...

for "previously convicted") is one in which the defendant claims to have been previously

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...

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 ''Res judicata'' (RJ) or ''res iudicata'', also known as claim preclusion, is the Latin term for "a matter decided" and refers to either of two concepts in both civil law and common law legal systems: a case in which there has been a final judgm ...

'' 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 In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

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 law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, significant changes were made by the

Criminal Justice Act 2003 The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide-ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland a ...

, by which an acquittal on a serious charge can be

quashed Quashed (foaled 1932) was a British-bred and British-trained racehorse, winner of The Oaks in 1935. For many years, the Verdict family was not accepted into the British Stud Book because Quashed's dam was effectively a half-bred and it was ...

and a

retrial A new trial or retrial is a recurrence of a court case. A new trial may potentially be ordered for some or all of the matters at issue in the original trial. Depending upon the rules of the jurisdiction and the decision of the court that ordered ...

ordered, if there is "new and compelling evidence" 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 A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

's case absolutely and entirely. Pleas in bar can include

accord and satisfaction Accord and satisfaction is a contract law concept about the purchase of the release from a debt obligation. It is one of the methods by which parties to a contract may terminate their agreement. The release is completed by the transfer of valuable ...

or the running of the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

. A special plea in bar advances new matter, while a general plea in bar denies some material allegation in the complaint.''Black's Law Dictionary'', 4th ed. 1968, p. 1311, citing ''Gould, Pl.'', c.2, § 38.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peremptory Plea Criminal procedure Legal defenses Legal terminology Pleas