FORMA PAUPERIS, the phrase usually employed both in England and Scotland to signify the arrangements by which an action may be carried on by one who is too poor to sue in the ordinary way. In England, the statutes 11 Henry VII. c. 12, and 23 Henry VIII. c. 15, provide that such as Will swear themselves not worth £5 except their wear ing apparel and the matter in question in the cause, shall be exempt when plaintiffs, but not when defendants, from the payment of court-fees, and shall be entitled to have counsel and attorney assigned to them by the court without fee. They are further excused from costs when unsuccessful; a privilege which, according to Blackstone. amounted in former times only to the rather uncomfortable alternative of choosing between paying and being whipped. In the event of success, however, a person suing in this form is entitled to his costs, because his counsel and agent, and the officers of court, though they are bound to give their labor gratis to him, are not bound to give it on the same terms to his antagonist, unless he too be a pauper. To prevent the abuse of suing in the superior courts at Westminster in this form in matters of small amount, it is provided (19 and 20 Viet. s. 30), subject to certain exceptions, that
any plaintiff who resorts to one of these, in a case falling within the cognizance of a county court, and more than £20, or in some cases £5, shall have no costs, unless he satisfies the court or a judge that lie had sufficient reason for taking that course. There are some other exceptions to the rule (gee Stephen's Coin. iii. p. 646).
In Scotland, this benevolent arrangement was introduced by statute more than half a century before. the date of the English act we have mentioned. In 1424, the statute (c. 45), which we have already quoted under advocates (q.v.), was passed for the pur pose of securing professional assistance, gratis, to the poor, and for giving to them and those who assisted them their cats in the event of success. The more special, arrangements applicable to litigation in this form in Scotland will be detailed under poor's roll (q.v.).