CONCLUSION (Lat. con claudere, to shut together). The close; the end.
In Pleading. IN DECLARATIONS. That part which follows the statement of the cause of action. In personal or mixed actions, where the object is to recover damages, the conclusion is, properly, to the damage of the plaintiff, etc. Comyns, Dig. Pleader, c. 84 ; 10 Coke, 1156. And see 1 Maulc & S. 236 ; DAM AGES.
The form was anciently, in the King's Bench, "To the damage of the said A B, and thereupon he brings suit ;" in the Exchequer, "To the damage," etc., "whereby he is the less able to satisfy our said lord the king the debts which he owes his said majesty at his Exchequer, and therefore he brings his suit." 1 Chitty, Plead. 356-358. It is said to be mere matter of form, and not demurra ble. 7 Ack. 282.
In Pleas. The conclusion is either to the country,—which must be the case when an issue is tendered, that is, whenever the plaintiff's material statements are contra dicted,—or by verification, which must be the case when new matter is introduced.
See VERIFICATION. Every plea in bar, it is said, must have its proper conclusion. All the formal parts of pleadings have been much modified by statute in the various states and in England within the last few years.
In Practice. Making the last argument or address to the court or jury. The party on whom the onus probandi is cast, in gene ral, has the conclusion.
In Remedies. An estoppel ; a bar; the act of a man by which he has confessed a mat ter or thing which he can no longer deny. For example, the sheriff is concluded by his re turn to a writ ; and, therefore, if upon a capias he return cepi corpus, he cannot afterwards show that he did not arrest the defendant, but is concluded by his return. See Plowd. 276 b; 3 Thomas, Coke, Litt. 600.