1. Hist. An act of Parliament passed annually to protect officeholders who unwittingly fail to take a required oath from liability for acts done in an official capacity. • A more general statute, the Promissory Oaths Act, replaced the bill of indemnity in 1868.
2. A law protecting a public official from liability for official acts. [Cases: Officers and Public Employees 114. C.J.S. Officers and Public Employees §§ 247–248, 251–258.]
3. An initial pleading by which a plaintiff seeks to require another (often an insurance company) to discharge the plaintiff’s liability to a third person.
