Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DILATORY DEFENCE, n. comb. Sc. law: “a plea offered by a defender for eliding the conclusions of the action, without entering on the merits of the cause” (Sc. 1890 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 325; 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 29).Sc. 1903 J. Erskine Princ. Law Scot. iv. i. 39:
Defences . . . are either dilatory, which do not enter into the cause itself, and so can only procure an absolvitor from the lis pendens; or peremptory, which entirely cut off the pursuer's right of action.
