common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

jurisdictions, a bill of particulars is a detailed, formal, written statement of charges or claims by a

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

or the

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

given upon the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

's formal request to the court for more detailed information. A bill of particulars may be used in either

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

or in

civil litigation Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1 ...

Use

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

, defense attorneys may file a motion requesting a bill of particulars from prosecuting attorneys. However, prosecuting attorneys cannot request the same of the defense. This request may be part of an omnibus motion,

motion in limine In U.S. law, a motion ''in limine'' (, "at the start"; literally, "on the threshold") is a motion, discussed outside the presence of the jury, to request that certain testimony be excluded. A motion ''in limine'' can also be used to get a rulin ...

, or similar motion. In a

civil action A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

such as a

tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

case, either attorney or party can request it. It is rarely used in American

small claims Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it ma ...

cases. It is not entirely clear whether this can be done in practice in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

on the

Allocation questionnaire An allocation questionnaire is a form used in English language, English legal practice. After a claim is made, if a defence is filed each party is required to complete and return an allocation questionnaire to the court so that the judge may prope ...

. An insufficient response to a request for a bill of particulars may be grounds for dismissal of the claim, or other sanctions against the responding party. In civil cases, a bill of particulars is a

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of one party's claims or defenses in response to another party's complaint(s) in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define t ...

, which "amplifies" the

complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...

, but can also act as a discovery device or tool.

In U.S. law

The

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure are the procedural rules that govern how federal criminal prosecutions are conducted in United States district courts and the general trial courts of the U.S. government. They are the companion to the F ...

provide in rule 7(f) that "the court may direct the government to file a bill of particulars". In U.S. state law, the bill of particulars was abolished in nearly all court systems in the 1940s and 1950s due to the widespread recognition that much of the information requested could be obtained more efficiently through the

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

process. Today, only a minority of U.S. states, like New York,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(CCP 454), and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, use the bill of particulars, and even there motions for a bill of particulars may be disfavored or disused. In Illinois, for instance, it is more common for defendants to file a motion to dismiss under the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure § 2–615, claiming the pleaded facts to be insufficient to support the causes of action alleged. It has been observed, however, that the motion for a bill of particulars may have strategic advantages over a § 2-615 motion, because the latter, even where successful, usually results in the plaintiff being given an opportunity to refile. A bill of particulars, however, once submitted, confines the pleader to any causes of action or defenses in the bill. The closest modern equivalent, though rarely used, is the motion for more definite statement.

References

American legal terminology Civil procedure Criminal procedure {{US-law-stub

Use

In U.S. law

See also

References