REPLICATION, pleading. The plaintiff's answer to the defendant's plea.

2. Replications will be considered, 1. With regard to their several kinds. 2. To their form. 3. To their qualities.

3. - §1. They are to pleas in abatement and to pleas in bar.

4. - 1. When the defendant pleads to the jurisdiction of the court, the plaintiff may reply, and in this case the replication commences with a statement that the writ ought not to be quashed, or that the court ought not to be ousted of their jurisdiction, because &c., and concludes to the country, if the replication merely deny the subject-matter of the plea. Rast. Entr. 101 Thomps. Entr. 2; Clift's Entr. 17; 1 Chit. Pl. 434. As a general rule, when the plea is to the misnomer of the plaintiff or defendant, or when the plea consists of matter of fact which the plaintiff denies, the replication may begin without any allegation that the writ or bill ought not to be quashed. 1 Bos. & Pull. 61.

5. - 2. The replication is, in general, governed by the plea, and most frequently denies it. When the plea concludes to the country, the plaintiff must, in general, reply by adding a similiter; but when the plea concludes with a verification, the replication must either, 1. Conclude the defendant by matter of estoppel; or, 2. May deny the truth of the matter alleged in the plea, either in whole or in part; or, 3. May confess and avoid the plea; or, 4. In the case of an evasive plea, may new assign the cause of action. For the several kinds of replication as they relate to the different forms of action, see 1 Chit. Pl. 551, et seq.; Arch. Civ. Pl. 258.

6. - §2. The form of the replication will be considered with regard to, 1. The title. 2. The commencement. 3. The body. 4. The conclusion.

7. - 1. The replication is usually entitled in the court and of the term of which it is pleaded, and the names of the plaintiff and defendant are stated in the margin, thus "A B against C D." 2 Chit. Pl. 641.

8. - 2. The commencement is that part of the replication which immediately follows the statement of the title of the court and term, and the names of the parties. It varies in form when it replies to matter of estoppel from what it does when it denies, or confesses and avoids the plea; in the latter case it commences with an allegation technically termed the preclude non. (q. v.) It generally commences with the words, "And the said plaintiff saith that the said defendant," &c. 1 Chit. Pl. 573.

9. - 3. The body of the replication ought to contain either. 1. Matter of estoppel. 2. Denial of the plea. 3. A confession and avoidance of it; or, 4. In case of an evasive plea, a new assignment. 1st. When the matter of estoppel does not appear from the anterior pleading, the replication should set it forth; as, if the matter has been tried upon a particular issue in trespass, and found by the jury, such finding may be replied as an estoppel. 3 East, R. 346; vide 4 Mass. R. 443. 2d. The second kind of replication is that which denies or traverses the truth of the plea, either in part or in whole. Vide Traverse, and 1 Chit. Pl. 576, note a. 3d. The third kind of replication admits, either in words or in effect, the fact alleged in the plea, and avoids the effect of it by stating new matter. If, for example, infancy be pleaded, the plaintiff may reply that the goods were necessaries, or that the defen-dant, after he came of full age, ratified and confirmed the promise. Vide Confession and Avoidance. 4th. When the plea is such as merely to evade the allegation in the declaration, the plaintiff in his replication may reassign it. Vide New Assignment, and 1 Chit. Pl. 601.

10. - 4. With regard to the conclusion, it is a general rule, that when the replication denies the whole of the defendant's plea, containing matter of fact, it should conclude to the country. There are other conclusions in particular cases, which the reader will find fully stated in 1 Chit. Pl. 615, et seq.; Com. Dig. Pleader, F 5 vide 1 Saund. 103, n.; 2 Caines' R. 60 2 John. R. 428; 1 John. R. 516; Arcb. Civ. Pl. 258; 19 Vin. Ab 29; Bac. Ab. Trespass, I 4; Doct. Pl. 428; Beames' Pl. in Eq. 247, 325, 326.

11. - §3. The qualities of a replication are, 1. That it must answer so much of the defendant's plea as it professes to answer, and that if it be bad in part, it is bad for the whole. Com. Dig. Pleader, F 4, W 2; 1 Saund. 338; 7 Cranch's Rep. 156. 2. It must not depart from the allegations in the declaration in any material matter. Vide Departure, and 2 Saund . 84 a, note 1; Co. Lit. 304 a. See also 3 John. Rep. 367; 10 John. R. 259; 14 John., R. 132; 2 Caines' R. 320. 3. It must be certain. Vide Certainty. 4. It must be single. Vide U. S. Dig. Pleading, XI.; Bouv. Inst. Index, h. t.; Duplicity; Pleadings.

REPORT, legislation. A statement made by a committee to a legislative assembly, of facts of which they were charged to inquire.

REPORT, practice. A certificate to the court made by a master in chancery, commissioner or other person appointed by the court, of the facts or matters to be ascertained by him, or of something of which it is his duty to inform the court.

2. If the parties in the case accede to the report, find no exceptions are filed, it is in due time confirmed; if exceptions are filed to the report, they will, agreeably to the rules of the court, be heard, and the report will either be confirmed, set aside, or referred. back for the correction of some error. 2 Madd. Ch. 505; Blake's Ch. Pr. 230; Vin. Ab. h. t.

REPORTER. A person employed in making out and publishing the history of cases decided by the court.

2. The act of congress of August 26, 1842, sect., 2, enacts, that in the supreme court of the United States, one reporter shall be appointed by the court with the salary of twelve hundred and fifty dollars; provided that he deliver to the secretary of state for distribution, one hundred and fifty copies of each volume of reports that he shall hereafter prepare and publish, immediately after the publication thereof, which publication shall be made annually within four months after the adjournment of the court at which the decisions are made.

3. In some of the states the reporters are appointed by authority of law; in others, they are volunteers.

REPORTS. Law books, containing a statement of the facts and law of each case which has been decided by the courts; they are generally the most certain proof of the judicial decisions of the courts, and contain the most satisfactory evidence, and the most authoritative and precise application of the rules of the common law. Lit. s. 514; Co. Lit. 293 a; 4 Co. Pref.; 1 Bl. Com. 71 Ram. on Judgm. ch. 13.

2. The number of reports has increased to an inconvenient extent, and should they multiply in the same ratio which of late they have done, they will so soon crowd our libraries as to become a serious evil. The indiscriminate re-port of cases of every description is deserving of censure. Cases where first principles are declared to be the law, are reported with as much care as those where the most abstruse questions are decided. But this is not all; sometimes two reporters, with the true spirit of book-making, report the same set of cases, and thereby not only unnecessarily increase the lawyer's already encumbered library, but create confusion by the discrepancies which occasionally appear in the report of the same case.

3. The modern reports are too often very diffuse and inaccurate. They seem too frequently made up for the purpose of profit and sale, much of the matter they contain being either useless or a mere repetition, while they are deficient in stating what is really important.

4. A report ought to contain, 1. The name of the case. 2. The court in which it originated; and, when it has been taken to another by appeal, certiorari, or writ of error, it ought to mention by whom it was so taken, and by what proceeding. 3. The state of the facts, including the pleadings, as far as requisite. 4. The true point before the court. 5. The manner in which that point has been determined, and by whom. 6. The date.

5. The following is believed to be a correct list of the American and English Reports; the former arranged under the heads of the respective states; and the latter in chronological order. It is hoped this list will be useful to the student.