DEMURRER

demurrer  (di-m<<schwa>>r-<<schwa>>r).  [Law  French  demorer  “to  wait  or  stay”]  A

pleading stating that although the facts alleged in a complaint may be true, they are insufficient for

the  plaintiff  to  state  a  claim  for  relief  and  for  the  defendant  to  frame  an  answer.  •  In  most

jurisdictions, such a pleading is now termed a motion to dismiss, but the demurrer is still used in a

few  states,  including  California,  Nebraska,  and  Pennsylvania.  Cf.  DENIAL(1).  [Cases:  Federal

Civil Procedure    658; Pleading    189. C.J.S. Pleading §§ 235–236, 239, 289–290, 292.]

“The word ‘demurrer,’ derived from the Latin demorari, or the French demorrer, meaning to

‘wait or stay,’ imports that the party demurring waits or stays in his proceedings in the action until

the  judgment  of  the  court  is  given  whether  he  is  bound  to  answer  to  so  insufficient a  pleading.

Each party may demur to what he deems an insufficient pleading of the other. The demurrer was

general when it was to matter of substance; it was special when it was made to matter of form, and

must specifically point out the defect.” Edwin E. Bryant, The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of

Civil Procedure 15 (2d ed. 1899).

demurrer ore tenus.An oral demurrer. See ORE TENUS.

“The codes either expressly  or by implication require all pleadings to be in writing. To this

proposition there is the apparent exception that objections to the jurisdiction of the court, or to the

sufficiency of a pleading, that it does not state a cause of action or defence, may be raised on the

trial  by  what  is  sometimes  called  a  demurrer  ore  tenus  (that  is,  orally,  —  by  word  of  mouth).”

Edwin E. Bryant, The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of Civil Procedure 179 (2d ed. 1899).

general demurrer.See general exception (1) under EXCEPTION(1).

parol demurrer.Hist. A suspension of proceedings during the minority of an infant.

speaking  demurrer.A  demurrer  that  cannot be  sustained  because  it introduces new  facts  not

contained in the original complaint. [Cases: Pleading    210. C.J.S. Pleading §§ 289–290.]

special demurrer.An objection that questions the form of the pleading and states specifically

the  nature  of  the  objection,  such  as  that  the  pleading  violates  the  rules  of  pleading  or  practice.

[Cases: Pleading    206. C.J.S. Pleading § 233.] [Blacks Law 8th]