Colour

[Lat. co;or,q. v.] In pleading. An apparent or prima facie right. To give colour is to admit such a right. Steph. PL 202, 203. Colour is of two kinds, implied and expressed. Implied colour is that which is naturally inherent in the structure of all pleas in confession and avoidance. Id. 206. That is, they all admit a right in the opposite party, but at the same time avoid it.* See Confession and avoidance. Express colour is defined to be, *' a feigned matter pleaded by the defendant in an action of trespass, from which the plaintiff seems to have a good cause or action, whereas he has in truth only an appearance or colour of cause." Bac. Abr. Trespass, (T. 4). Or, m the words of the author of the Termes de la ley, it is " feigned matter which the defendant or tenant uses in his bar [plea,] when an action of trespass or an assise is brought against him, in which he gives the demandant or plaintiff a shmo at first sight that he hath ^ood cause of action, where in truth it is no just cause, but only the colour and face of a cause." See this subject further explained in Stephen on Pleading, 206, et seq. Id. 225. (Am. ed. 1824), etseq. Z Beeves' Hist. Ei^f. Law, 4tZ^.

pleading, is of several kinds, namely, express colour, and implied colour.