Declaration in United Kingdom

Definition of Declaration

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Declaration :

1. (in the law of evidence) An oral or written statement not made on oath. The term is often applied to certain types of out-of-court statement that are admissible as an exception to the rule against *hearsay evidence; for example, *declaration against interest, *declaration concerning pedigree, *declaration concerning public or general rights, and *declaration in course of duty.

2. A discretionary remedy involving a bare finding by the High Court as to a person’s legal status, rights, or obligations. A declaration cannot be directly enforced, but is frequently sought both in private law (e.g. to answer a question as to nationality or rights under a will) and in public law (e.g. to test a claim that delegated legislation or the decision of some inferior court, tribunal, or administrative authority is *ultra vires). In both public and private law the applicant must show standing, i.e. that the issue affects him directly.

History

Declaration (from Lat. declarare, to make fully clear, clarus), formerly, in an action at English law, the first step in pleading—the precise statement of the matter in respect of which the plaintiff sued. It was divided into 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 as different causes of actions. Under the system of pleading established by the Judicature Act 1875, the declaration has been superseded by a statement of claim setting forth the facts on which the plaintiff relies.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, and in those of the United States and the British colonies in which the Common Law 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; 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 some information about close of Pleading here.)

The 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 the Court of Chancery (see more about 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 of Frauds, declarations of trust of land must be evidenced in writing and signed by the party declaring the trust. (See more about Trusts here.) 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. 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; Oath.)

An exceptional position in law is accorded to a Dying or Deathbed Declaration. As a general 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 of recovery. Unsworn 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 for more information.) (1)

Concept of Declaration

The following is an old definition of Declaration [1], a term which has several meanings:1. An assertion or statement explicitly made. Any statement of material matters of fact sworn to and subscribed is a written declaration. A declaration which accompanies and qualifies an act is part of it; but when made of a thing that is past it is mere hearsay. Made contemporaneously, and by a person interested in the matter, a declaration is admissible as original evidence: (1) when the fact of the making is in question; (2) when the inquiry is as to expressions of bodily feehnga – their existence or nature; (3) in cases of pedigree, see, in this resource, the term; (4) when part ol the res gestae. The declarations of an injured party, made after the injury has happened or the cause of suffering occurred, with regard to the facts of the injury or the cause of the suffering, may not be shown, in an action for damages by such person; nor may his declarations with regard to past suffering or pain, or past conditions of body or mind, be shown. Some authorities seem to oppose the last proposition, especially where the declarations are made to a physician or surgeon while examining the party as a patient. Declarations, however, with regard to present suffering or present condition of the body or mind may generally be shown by any person who heard them; but there are authorities also seemingly opposed to this proposition. After one’s death his former declarations are admissible as secondary evidence when on a matter: (1) of general interest; (2) of ancient possession; (3) against interest – before the controversy arose, and it was the deceased’s duty to know the facts; (4) when in the nature of a dying declaration. A declaration by an agent binds his principal, and by a partner binds his copartner, when made during the continuance of the relation and while the particular transaction is pending. After a person has made a sale of personalty he stands as a stranger to the title, and his declaration respecting the title is not binding on the vendee. Such deplaration is admissible only when it appears from independent evidence that, both vendor and vendee were engaged in a common purpose to defraud the creditors of the vendor, and that the admission had such relation to the execution of the purpose as to constitute part of the res gestae. The declaration of a conspirator, to bind his fellows, must be made while acting in furtherance of the common design. See Conspiracy. Declaration of intention. A formal, solemn asseveration by an alien that it is his bona fide intention to become a citizen. See Naturalization. Declaration of Rights. See Right, 2, Declaration, etc. Declaration of trust. An acknowledgment that property, the title to which the declarant holds, belongs, in whole or in part, to another; also, the writing in which such acknowledgment is made. See Trust, 1. Dying declaration. A statement of a material fact concei’ning the cause and circumstances of a homiicide, made by the victim under the solemn belief of impending death. Such declaration as is made by the party, relating to the facts of the injury of which he afterward dies, under the fixed belief and moral conviction that his death is impending and certain to follow almost immediately, without opportunity of repentance, and in the absence of all hope of avoidance; when he has despaired of life and looks to death as inevitable and at hand. An exception to the rule rejecting hearsay evidence is made in the case of dying declarations. The general principle on which they are admitted is, they are declarations made in extremity, vrhen the party is at the point of death, when every hope of this world is gone; when every motive to falsehood is silenced, and the mind is induced by the most powerful considerations to speak the truth. A situation so solemn is considered as creating an obligation. equal to that imposed by a positive oath administered in a court of justice. The person must have been qualified to testify, and the declaration must be complete. The competency of the evidence is to be determined by the court; its weight by the jury. If resting in memory, the substance of all that was stated may be given. The declaration may be by signs. Declarations of the deceased are admissible upon a trial for murder only as to those things as to which he would have been competent to testify if sworn as a witness in the cause: they must relate to facts only, not to mere matters of opinion. It is essential to the admissibility of such declarations, and it is a primary fact to be proved by the party offering them, that they were made under a sense of impending death. But it is not necessary that they be stated at the time to be so made; it is enough if it satisfactorily appears in any mode that they were made under that sanction, whether it be directly proved by the express language of the declarant, or be inferred from his evident danger, from the opinions of the medical or other attendants expressed to him, or from his conduct or other circumstances of the case. Such declarations must relate to the circumstances of the death; they cannot be received as proof when not connected as res gestce with the death. See further Admission; Estoppel; Hearsay; Parol, 2, Evidence; Res, Gestae

Alternative Meaning

A statement in legal form of the plaintiff’s cause of action. The plea by which a plaintiff in a suit at law sets out his cause of action, as the word ” complaint ” is in the same sense the technical name of a bill in chancery. The first pleading filed in a suit is the declaration, narratio, count; anciently called the ” tale.” In this the plaintiff sets forth his cause of complaint at length being, indeed, only an amplification of the original vrit (see this term in this resource) upon whicti his action is founded, with the aditional circumstances of time and place when and rhere the injury was committed. A declaration contains a succinct statement of the plaintiff’s case, and generally comprises the following larts: (1) The title and the date – the court, day and rear, term, and number of the case; (2) the venue – State and county; (3) the commencement – A B, by lis attorney or in person, complains of C D, for that, beretofore, etc.; (4) the body – which consists of: (a) he inducement (see this term in this resource) – introductory matter; (b) the goverments – allegations of performance of precedents by the plaintiff; (c) the counts – statements of injuries oy the defendant; (5) the conclusion – “to the damage of plaintiff dollars; and thereupon (or wherefore) he brings suit. See further Amendment; Consolidate, Actions; Count, 4; Cure; Damages, General; Description, 4; Pleading; Suit, 1. Declaratory. Rendering clear what was before obscure: giving a clear statement; making certain what might remain in doubt; explanatory; elucidatory: as, a declaratory covenant, act, statute, law. The ” declaratory part of the law ” is that portion whereby the rights to be observed and the wrongs to be eschewed are clearly defined and laid down. A “statute declaratory” of the common law states what that law is, as where a custom has almost fallen into disuse or become disputable. A declaratory statute removes uncertainty as to the rule of law when decisions or prior enactments conflict. It may elucidate existing common or statute law. Magna Charta was for the most part declaratory of the principal grounds of the fundamental laws of England. A large portion of our modem codes is but declaratory of the common law as expounded by the courts. Statutes declaratory of the meaning of former acts are not uncommon. By the courts they are regarded with respect, as expressive of the legislative opinion, and, so far as they can act upon subsequent transactions, they are of bindmg force. But they cannot operate to disturb rights acquired before their enactment, or to impose penalties for lawful acts done before their passage. The construction of an existing Statute is a judicial function. See Declare.Declare. To announce clearly as fact or truth. 1. To aver, affirm, allege in express terms: as, to declare a person innocent or guilty

Alternative Meaning

To announce, pronounce, decide: as, to declare a contract illegal or void, or a statute unconstitutional. 3. To state or set forth as a cause of action. 4. To proclaim as due: as to declare a dividend, see, in this resource, the term “In no part of the application did the assured promise that he would not practice any pemicious habit. He ‘ declared ‘ that he would not. To ‘ declare ‘ is to state, assert, publish, utter, announce, announce clearly some opinion or resolution; while to ‘ promise ‘ is to agree, ‘ pledge one’s self, engage, assure or make sure, pledge by contract.’ The assured declared, as a matter of intention, that he would not practice any pemicious habit. Was this declaration of future intention false? There is no allegation, much less proof, that it was so. The assured might well have intended to adhere to his declaration In the most perfect good faith, and yet in a moment of temptation have been overcome by this insidious enemy ” – intoxicating liquor, from the use of which the assured was attacked with delirium tremens and died. ” Declare and affirm ” may be equivalent to promise and affirm. For a judge to “declare the law,” is for him to chaise the law arising upon the evidence. 5. To determine what shall constitute; to define. Declaring that a certain act shall constitute an offense, is ” defining ” that offense. Declarant. 1. One who states a thing as a fact; he who asserts a thing for the truth

Alternative Meaning

One who avers the truth of a matter as the basis of a cause of action. See Declaration, 2.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Meaning of Declaration provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889)

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica (1911)

See Also

Quashing order
Judicial review
Statutory declaration

Further Reading