Right To Begin - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition right-to-begin

Definition :

Right to begin. If the affirmative of the issue is on the plaintiff, he, in general, has a right to begin. If in replevin the defendant avow for rent in arrear, and the plaintiff reply reins in arrear, the plaintiff must begin. In any action where the plaintiff seeks to recover damages of an unascertained amount, he is entitled to begin, though the affirmative be with the defendant.

In considering, however, which party ought to begin, it is not so much the form of the issue which is to be considered as the substance and effect of it, and the judge will consider what is the substantial fact to be made out, and on whom it lies to make it out. And it seems that, as a general rule, the party entitled to begin is he who would have a verdict against him if no evidence were given on either side.

In the Court of Appeal, and in all other civil appeals, the appellant's counsel begins.

On an appeal to quarter sessions from the petty sessions, the person who appears in support of the order of the magistrate begins. Consult Best on Evidence, ss. 636-630.