Page:EB1911 - Volume 21.djvu/867

 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 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 ). 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.

 PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr.  ), 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 ); 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 ; ). Aristotle took a middle view, holding that pleasure, though not the end of virtuous action yet necessarily follows upon it ( ).

 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 ). 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.  ), the “multitude,” or unprivileged class in the early Roman state. For the origin and history of this order see and. Its disqualifications were originally based on 