The term comes from the old French merit and means „reward” or „moral value”. Practice. substance in law, as opposed to mere form; an essential defence. A defendant must „swear by the case” or „take an affidavit” when making an affidavit that he has a good and sufficient or substantial defence to the claim in the case. 3 puppy. Gene. Pr. 543, 544. In this application, „merits” have the technical sense of merit in law and are not limited to a strictly moral and conscientious defence. Id. 545; 1 Burrill, Pr.
214; Rahn v. Gunnison, 12 Wis. 529; Bolton v. Donovan, 9 N. D. 575, 84 N. W. 357; Ordway v. Boston & M. R. Co., 69 N.H. 429, 45 Atl.
243; Blakely v. Frazier, 11 pp. C. 134; Rogers v. Rogers, 37 W. Va. 407, 16 pp. E. 633; Oatman v. Anleihe, 15 Wis. 26.
As used in the New York Rules of Procedure, 5,340, it has been held to be „the strict statutory rights of the parties, as opposed to mere matters of practice which each court regulates for itself, and of all matters which depend on the discretion or favor of the court.” St. Johns v. West, 4 IIow. Prac. (N.Y.) 332. A defence on the merits is a defence that depends on the inherent fairness of the defendant`s allegation, as supported by the essential facts of the case, as opposed to a defence based on technical objections or trivia. Thus, there may be a good defence arising from an error in the plaintiff`s pleadings, but there is no defence on the merits unless the true nature of the impugned transaction shows that the defendant is correct. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the leading source of free legal information and resources on the Internet. Contact us.
MERITS. This word is mainly used in matters of defence. 2. A defence on the merits is based on the fairness of the case and not only on technical grounds; So there is a difference between a good defence, which may or may not be technical, and a substantive defence. 5 B. & ald. 703 1 Ashm. No. 4; 5 John.
R. 536; No. 360; 3 John. R. 245 Id. 449; 6 John. No. 131; 4 John. R. 486; 2 Cowen, r. 281; 7 Cowen, r. 514; 6 Wend.
No. 511; 6 Cowen, r. 895. The word substance refers to the content of a dispute, not to the technical details that may affect a claim. A judgment on the merits is the final resolution of a particular dispute. The FindLaw Legal Dictionary – free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries. In law, merit consists of the inherent rights and injustices of a court case without any emotional or technical bias.
Evidence is applied only to cases decided on the merits and procedural issues are not taken into account. The strict legal rights of the parties to a dispute. adj. Reference to a judgment, decision or decision of a court based on the facts presented as evidence and the law applicable to that evidence. A judge decides a case „on the merits” if he or she bases his or her decision on the fundamental issues and considers that the technical and procedural defences are irrelevant or have been overcome. Example: A lawyer is two days late in filing a number of legal and authority points against a motion to dismiss. Instead of dismissing the case on the basis of this technical procedural defect, the judge considers the case „on the merits” as if this error had not occurred. FindLaw.com free and reliable legal information for consumers and legal professionals Abogado.com the #1 website in Spanish Consumer Legal LawInfo.com National Directory of Law Societies and Legal Resources for Consumers Are you a lawyer? Visit our professional website”.
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