“The general issue, or general plea, is what traverses, thwarts, and denies at once the whole declaration; without offering any special matter whereby to evade it …. [I]n real actions, nul tort, no wrong done; nul disseisin, no disseisin; and in a writ of right, that the tenant has more right to hold than the demandant has to demand. These pleas are called the general issue, because, by importing an absolute and general denial of what is alleged in the declaration, they amount at once to an issue; by which we mean a fact affirmed on one side and denied on the other.” 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 305 (1768).
nul tort
nul tort (n[schwa]l tort), n. [Law French “no wrong”] Hist. A type of general denial in an action to recover lands and tenements, by which the defendant claims that no wrong was done. See NUL DISSEISIN.
