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Encyclopedia Britannica

DECLARATION (from Lat. declarare, to make fully clear, clams)

This article appears in Volume V07, Page 914 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DAH-DEM

DECLARATION (from Lat. declarare, to make fully clear, clams) , formerly, in an action at English law, the first step in pleadingthe precise statement of the matter in respect of which the plaintiff sued. It was divided into

counts

COUNTS

, in each of which a specific cause of action was alleged, in wide and general terms, and the same acts or omissions might be stated in several

counts

COUNTS

as different causes of actions. Under the

system

SYSTEM

of pleading established by the Judicature Act 1875, the declaration has been superseded by a statement of claim setting forth the facts on which the plaintiff relies. Declarations are now in use only in the mayor's

court

of London and certain local courts of

record

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

,
and in those of the United States and the British colonies in which the Common Law

system

SYSTEM

of pleading survives. In the United States a declaration is termed a " complaint," which is the first pleading in an action. It is divided into parts,the title of the

court

and

term

TERM

; the venue or county in which the facts are alleged to have occurred; the commencement, which contains a statement of the names of the parties and the character in which they appear; the statement of the cause of action; and the conclusion or claim for relief. (See PLEADING.)
The

term

TERM

is also used in other English legal connexions; e.g. the Declaration of Insolvency which, when filed in the Bankruptcy Court by any person unable to pay his debts, amounts to an act of bankruptcy (see BANKRUPTCY); the Declaration of Title, for which, when a person apprehends an invasion of his title to land, he may, by the Declaration of Title Act 1862,

petition

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

the Court of Chancery (see LAND REGISTRATION); or the. Declaration of Trust, whereby a person acknowledges that property, the title of which he holds, belongs to another, for whose use he holds it; by the

Statute

STATUTE

of Frauds, declarations of trust of land must be evidenced in writing and signed by the party declaring the trust. (See TRUSTS.) By the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 (which was an act to make provision for the abolition of unnecessary oaths, and to repeal a previous act of the same session on the same subject), various cases were specified in which a solemn declaration was, or might be, substituted for an

affidavit

AFFIDAVIT (Med. Lat. for " he has declared upon oath," from afftdare, fides, faith)

. In nearly all civilized countries an affirmation is now permitted to those who object to take an oath or upon whose conscience an oath is not binding. (See

AFFIDAVIT

AFFIDAVIT (Med. Lat. for " he has declared upon oath," from afftdare, fides, faith)

; OATH.)
An exceptional position in law is accorded to a Dying or Death-bed Declaration. As a general

rule

RULE

, hearsay evidence is excluded on a criminal charge, but where the charge is one of homicide it is the practice to admit dying declarations of the deceased with respect to the cause of his death. But before such declarations can be admitted in evidence against a prisoner, it must be proved that the deceased when making the declaration had given up all

hope

HOPE, ANTHONY
HOPE, THOMAS (c. 1770-1831)

of recovery. Unworn declarations as to family matters, e.g. as to pedigree, may also be admitted as evidence, as well as declarations made by deceased persons in the course of their duty. (See EVIDENCE.)

End of Article: DECLARATION (from Lat. declarare, to make fully clear, clams)

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