• This pleading form allowed a public officer to indicate action under a statute. The officer had to write the words “by statute” in the margin along with the year, chapter, and section of the applicable statute, and the defendant could not file any other defense without leave of court. The right to plead “not guilty by statute” was essentially removed by the Public Authorities Protection Act of 1893.
not guilty by statute
Hist. Under certain acts of Parliament, the pleading form for a defendant’s general denial in a civil action.