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Demurrer

A mostly obsolete motion put to a trial judge after the plaintiff has completed his or her case, in which the defendant, while not objecting to the facts presented, and rather than responding by a full defence, asks the court to reject the petition right then and there because of a lack of basis in law or insufficiency of the evidence.

This motion has been been abolished in many states and, instead, any such arguments are to be made while presenting a regular defence to the claim or making a formal application to strike a statement of claim or applying for summary judgment.

Once a popular motion in British criminal trials to attempt to have an indictment thrown out by raising a formal and allegedly fatal defect in the charging document.

In a 1963 British case, one judge said: "I hope that now demurrer in criminal cases will be alowed to die naturally" (R v Deputy Chairman of Inner London Quarters Sessions 3 Al ER 1537 (1969).

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Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.

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