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Order of 11th April, 1842

Lord Lyndhurst's order, 5th August, 1842
Lord Lyndhurst's orders, 26th October, 1842
Lord Lyndhurst's orders, 17th March, 1843

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Page 30, line 9 from the bottom; "for the return of

all writs, &c., dele “all.”

PART I.

THE ORDINARY PROCEEDINGS IN A SUIT TO

THE DECREE.

CHAPTER I.

THE COMMENCEMENT OF A SUIT.

SECTION 1.

THE BILL.

1. Nature of.

THE first proceeding in a chancery suit is the bill of complaint, which is in the nature of a petition to the Lord Chancellor, stating the subject matter of complaint and praying a relief. The party preferring the bill is called the complainant or plaintiff, and the party against whom the suit is instituted is called the defendant.

The bill is divided into nine parts: the first part is the address; the second contains the name, description, and residence of the plaintiff; the third contains a statement of the facts; the fourth part contains a general charge against the defendant; the fifth particular charges or pretences set up by the defendant in his defence; the sixth part avers that the acts of the defendant are contrary to equity; -the seventh is the interrogatory part; -the eighth

B

is the prayer for relief;-and the ninth is the prayer of process to compel the defendant's appearance and

answer.

It has hitherto been the practice for the defendant, or each of the defendants when more than one, to answer not merely all the interrogatories, but every fact stated or charged, whether interrogated to or not. This practice, however, has been materially altered by the orders of the 26th August, 1841.

By the 16th of these orders it is ordered, "That a defendant shall not be bound to answer any statement or charge in the bill, unless specially and particularly interrogated thereto; and a defendant shall not be bound to answer any interrogatory in the bill, except those interrogatories which such defendant is required to answer; and where a defendant shall answer any statement or charge in the bill, to which he is not interrogated, only by stating his ignorance of the matter so stated or charged, such answer shall be deemed impertinent."

By the 17th id. it is ordered, "That the interrogatories contained in the interrogating part of the bill, shall be divided as conveniently as may be from each other, and numbered consecutively 1, 2, 3, &c., and the interrogatories which each defendant is required to answer, shall be specified in a note at the foot of the bill, in the form, or to the effect following; that is to "The defendant (A. B.) is required to answer the interrogatories numbered respectively 1, 2, 3, &c.," and the office copy of the bill taken by each defendant shall not contain any interrogatories except those which such defendant is so required to answer, unless such defendant shall require to be furnished with a copy of the whole bill."

say,

By the 18th id. it is ordered, "That the note at the foot of the bill, specifying the interrogatories which each defendant is required to answer, shall be considered and treated as part of the bill, and the addition of any such note to the bill, or any alteration in or

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