Retraxit

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Retraxit \Re*trax"it\, n. [L., (he) has withdrawn. See
     {Retract}.] (O. Eng. Law)
     The withdrawing, or open renunciation, of a suit in court by
     the plaintiff, by which he forever lost his right of action.
     --Blackstone.
     [1913 Webster]



From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  RETRAXIT, practice. The act by which a plaintiff withdraws his. suit; it is 
  so called from the fact that this was the principal word used when the law 
  entries were in Latin. 
       2. A retraxit differs from a nonsuit, the former being the act of the 
  plaintiff himself, for it cannot even be entered by attorney; 8 Co. 58; 3 
  Salk.245; 8 P. S. R. 157, 163; and it must be after declaration filed; 3 
  Leon. 47; 8 P. S. R. 163; while the latter occurs in consequence of the 
  neglect merely of the plaintiff. A retraxit also differs from a nolle 
  prosequi. (q.v.) The effect of a retraxit is a bar to all actions of a like 
  or a similar nature; Bac. Ab. Nonsuit, A; a nolle prosequi is not a bar even 
  in a criminal prosecution. 2 Mass. R. 172. Vide 2 Sell. Pr. 338; Bac. Abr. 
  Nonsuit; Com. Dig. Pleader, X 2. Vide article Judgment of retraxit.