Plea - Peremptory Pleas

Peremptory Pleas

These are pleas which claim that a case cannot proceed for some reason. They are so called because, rather than being an answer to the question of guilt or innocence, they are a claim that the matter of guilt or innocence should not be considered.

They are :

• autrefois convict - where the defendant has already been convicted of the charge (and thus cannot be tried again)
• autrefois acquit - where he has previously acquitted of the same charge (and hence cannot be tried again, under the doctrine of double jeopardy),
• plea of pardon - where he has been pardoned for the offence.
• special liability to repair a road or bridge - in English law, where a defendant local authority alleges that a private landowner was responsible for repairing a road or bridge