Pleading in English Act 1362
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | Pleas shall be pleaded in the English tongue, and inrolled in Latin. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 36 Edw. 3 Stat. 1. c. 15 |
| Territorial extent | |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 1362 |
| Commencement | 28 January 1362 |
| Repealed | 10 August 1872 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1863 |
| Repealed by | Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 |
| Relates to | Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Pleading in English Act 1362 (36 Edw. 3 Stat. 1. c. 15), often rendered Statute of Pleading, was an act of the Parliament of England. The act complained that because the Norman French language was largely unknown to the common people of England, they had no knowledge of what was being said for or against them in the courts, which used Law French. The act therefore stipulated that "all Pleas which shall be pleaded in [any] Courts whatsoever, before any of his Justices whatsoever, or in his other Places, or before any of His other Ministers whatsoever, or in the Courts and Places of any other Lords whatsoever within the Realm, shall be pleaded, shewed, defended, answered, debated, and judged in the English language, and that they be entered and inrolled in Latin".