libellus accusationis) was usually in writing, and contained a formal statement of the offence. In some cases oral accusations were allowed. The pleading of the accused seems to have been informal. In English criminal cases the expression “pleadings” is limited to those tried on indictment Criminal. or information before a jury. In matters dealt with by justices of the peace there are in formations sometimes in writing, but they are never regarded as “pleadings.” English criminal pleading has been less affected by legislation than civil pleading, and retains more of what is called the common law system. Cases in which the Crown was a party early became known as “pleas of the Crown” (placita coronae), as distinguished from “common pleas” (communia placita), or pleas between subject and subject—that is to say, ordinary civil actions. Pleas of the Crown originally included all matters in which the Crown was concerned, such as exchequer cases, franchises and liberties, but gradually became confined to criminal matters, strictly to the greater crimes triable only in the king’s courts. In criminal pleading the Crown states the case in an indictment or information. The answer of the accused is a plea, which must be pleaded by the accused in person, except in certain cases of misdemeanour tried in the High Court (Crown Office Rules, 1906). The plea, according to Blackstone, is either to the jurisdiction, a demurrer, in abatement, special in bar, or the general issue. The last is the only plea that often occurs in practice; it consists in the answer (usually oral) of “guilty” or “not guilty” to the charge. A demurrer is strictly not a plea at all, but an objection on legal grounds. Pleas to the jurisdiction or in abatement do not go to the merits of the case, but allege that the court has no jurisdiction to try the particular offence, or that there is a misnomer or some other technical ground for stay of proceedings. The powers of amendment given in 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 100) and the procedure by motion in arrest of judgment have rendered these pleas of no practical importance. The special pleas in bar are autrefois convict or autrefois acquit (alleging a previous conviction or acquittal for the same crime) and pardon (see Pardon). The plea of autrefois attaint has fallen out of use since the abolition of attainder by the Forfeitures Act 1870. There are also special pleas of justification to indictments for defamatory libel under the Libel Act 1843; and to indictments for non-repair of highways and bridges the accused may plead that the liability to repair falls upon another person. These special pleas are usually, and in some cases must be, in writing. When there is a special plea in writing the Crown puts in a replication in writing.
Ireland.—The practice as to civil and criminal pleading in Ireland is substantially the same as in England, though to some extent based on different statutes and rules of court.
Scotland.—In Scotland an action in the Court of Session begins by a summons on the part of the pursuer, to which is annexed a condescendence, containing the allegations in fact on which the action is founded. The pleas in law, or statement of the legal rule or rules relied upon (introduced by the Court of Session Act 1825), are subjoined to the condescendence. The term libel is also used (as in Roman law) as a general term to express the claim of the pursuer or the accusation of the prosecutor. The statement of the, defender, including his pleas in law, is called his defences. They are either dilatory or peremptory. There is no formal joinder of issue, as in England, but the same end is attained by adjustment of the pleadings and the closing of the record. Large powers of amendment and revisal are given by the Court of Session Act 1868. In the sheriff court pleadings are very similar to those in the Court of Session. They are commenced by a petition, which includes a condescendence and a note of the pursuer’s pleas in law. The defender may upon notice lodge defences. The procedure is now governed by the Sheriff Courts Scotland Act 1876. The term “pleas of the Crown” is confined in Scotland to four offences—murder, rape, robbery and fire-raisin. The criminal procedure of Scotland was simplified and amended in 1887. The old procedure by criminal letters has been abolished, and prosecutions fer the public interest whether in the high court of judiciary or before the sheriff with a jury are by indictment in the name of His Majesty’s advocate. The Scots indictment differs from the English in not being found by a grand jury, except in cases of high treason, and resembles rather the ex officio information of English law. Until 1887 it was in the form of a syllogism, the major proposition stating the nature of the crime, the minor the actual offence committed and that it constitutes the crime named in the major, the conclusion that on conviction of the panel he ought to suffer punishment. Under the present practice it is in the second person addressed to the accused, and follows the forms scheduled to the act of 1887, which also makes specific provisions for simplification. and if need be for amendment (s. 70). A copy of the indictment with a list of the witnesses and the productions must be served on the accused. There are two sittings (diets) to deal with the indictment. At the first. held before the sheriff, the accused (termed the panel) may plead guilty or raise preliminary objections to the relevancy of the indictment, &c., or otherwise (such as want of jurisdiction or res judicata); or without taking such objections, or after they are overruled, may plead not guilty. The second diet is the diet of trial. If the trial is before the sheriff his rulings at the first diet are final, if before the court of justiciary his rulings may be reviewed. At the second diet, besides his plea of not guilty, the panel may rely on certain special defences, e.g. insanity or alibi, but only if his special and written plea was tendered and recorded at the first diet or the delay explained, and he cannot call evidence in support of these pleas except on written notice specifying the names of the witnesses and the documents not included in the prosecutor’s lists (s. 36). (See Macdonald, Criminal Law of Scotland.)
British Dominions Beyond Seas.—In most of the Australian states, and in Ontario and New Zealand, civil pleadings are governed by rules adopted from the English Judicature Acts. In New South Wales a system based on the Common Law Procedure Acts is retained. Civil pleadings in India are regulated by the Civil Procedure Code. Indictments, except in India, are based on the English system as modified by the criminal codes or other legislation of the colony. Indictments in India are regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of 1898.
United States.—In the United States two systems of pleading in civil procedure exist side by side. Up to 1848 the pleading did not materially differ from that in use in England at the same date. But in 1848 the New York legislature made a radical change in the system, and the example of New York has been followed by many states. The New York Civil Code of 1848 established a uniform procedure called the civil action, applicable indifferently to common law and equity. The pleadings are called complaint, answer (which includes counterclaim) and reply. The demurrer also is still used. In some states which follow this procedure the complaint bears the name of petition. In inferior courts, such as courts of justices of the peace, the pleadings are more simple, and in many cases oral. In states which do not adopt the amended procedure the pleading is much the same as it was in the days of Blackstone, and the old double jurisdiction of common law and equity still remains. Criminal pleading is on the lines of the common law system of England. (W. F. C.)
PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please;
Gr. ἡδονή), a term used loosely in ordinary language as practically
synonymous with “enjoyment.” As such it is applied equally
to what are known as the “higher” or "intellectual” pleasures,
and to purely “sensual," “animal” or “lower” pleasures.
The conditions under which a man is pleased are the subject
both or psychological and of ethical investigation. In general
it may be said that pleasure and pain follow respectively upon
the success of the failure of some effort, mental or physical (see
Psychology); they may also attend upon purely passive sensations,
e.g. a warm sun, a heavy shower, or upon associations with
previous states of mind (i.e. a man may enjoy a sensation which
is intrinsically painful, if it has pleasant associations). Recognition
of the fact that mankind seeks pleasure and avoids pain has
led some moralists to the conclusion that all human conduct
is actuated by hedonic considerations: this is the direct antithesis
to ethical theories which maintain an absolute criterion of right
and wrong (see Hedonism; Ethics). Aristotle took a middle
view, holding that pleasure, though not the end of virtuous action
yet necessarily follows upon it (ἐπιγενόμενόν τι τέλος).
PLEBISCITE (Lat. plebiscitum, a decree of the plebs), a term
borrowed from the French for a Vote of all the electors in a
country taken on some specific question (see also Referendum).
The most familiar example of the use of the plebiscite in French
history was in 1852, when the coup d’état of 1851 was confirmed
and the title of emperor was given to Napoleon III. In Roman
constitutional law the plebiscitum was a decree enacted in the
assembly of the plebs, the comitia tributa, presided over by a plebeian magistrate.
PLEBS (from the root seen in Lat. plenus, full; cf. Gr. πλῆθος), the “multitude,” or unprivileged class in the early Roman state. For the origin and history of this order see Patricians and Nobility. Its disqualifications were originally based on
