Plea

Plea, the answer of the defendant to the plaintiff's demand or charge. Pleas were divided formerly into pleas dilatory (where the party seeks to break down the conclusion of the action without entering into the merits of the case) and peremptory, Demurrers (q.v.), in Abatement (q.v.), special in bar, &c.; now the plea is usually Guilty or Not Guilty (see CRIMINAL LAW). In Scots law, plea means also a written statement by counsel of the legal grounds on which the party bases his case. In English civil procedure this is called Pleading; a term applied in criminal law to the accusation of the prosecutor or the answer of the accused. Pleadings have been much simplified by the Judicature Acts (1873-76). In the United States the New York legislature established a uniform procedure which has been adopted by most of the states. 'Pleas of the Crown' is an old term for criminal cases. In the Houses of Parliament pleading, as in the superior courts of law, must be conducted at the Bar (q.v.).