Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
INSTANCE, n. Sc. Law: the pleading and procedure followed in court during the hearing of a legal action.Sc. 1838 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 300:
The indictment, or the criminal letters, must be called on the precise day to which the accused is cited . . . otherwise the instance perishes, and a new libel must be raised. . . . Where the prosecutor is absent, the Court may desert the diet, and thus the instance will be lost, and no farther proceedings can take place on that libel.
