Placitum

In old English law. A public assembly at which the king presided, and which comprised men of all degrees, met for consultation about the great affairs of the kingdom. Cowell. A court; a judicial tribunal; a lord's court. Placita was the style or title of the courts at the beginning of the old nisi prius record. A suit or cause in court; a judicial proceeding; a trial. Placita were divided into placita coronæ (crown cases or picas of the crown, i. c., criminal actions) and placita communia, (common cases or common pleas, i. e., private civil actions.) A fine, mulct, or pecuniary punishment. A pleading or plea.

In this sense, the term was not confined to the defendant's answer to the declaration, but included all the pleadings in the cause, being nomen generalissimum. 1 Saund. 388, n. 6. In the old reports and abridgments, "placitum" was the name of a paragraph or subdivision of a title or page where the point decided in a cause was set out separately. It is commonly abbreviated "pi."

In the civil law. An agreement of parties ; that which is their pleasure to arrange between them. An imperial ordinance or constitution; literally, the prince's pleasure. Inst. 1, 2, 6. A judicial decision; the judgment, decree, or sentence of a court. Calvin.

;. sf. JPlacifa. A- plea, suit, cause; an assembly, court; a day in court; amulet or fine; a judicial proceeding; a legal principle. Placito debiti, detentionis, etc.: in a plea of debt, detinue, etc.

A plea; a suit or proceeding in court; particularly, a pleading. Usually found in the plural, — placita, — signifying pleas, pleadings or other judicial proceedings, suits. In old common-law practice, the capword of such caption in the Latin form. Placita formerly signified the public assemblies at which the king presided. Tomlins. Placita communla. Common pleas. All civil actions between private persons. Placita coronse. Pleas of the crown. Prosecutions for crimes in which the king prosecutes.