Legal Definitions - ne dona pas

Ne Dona Pas

Ne dona pas is a historical legal term derived from Law French, meaning "did not give." It served as a specific type of defense, or "plea of the general issue," used by a defendant in a legal action known as a formedon.

A formedon action was a lawsuit brought by a plaintiff to recover land, asserting their right to it based on a "gift of tail" (also known as an entail). A gift of tail was a specialized form of land ownership that restricted inheritance to a specific line of descendants, ensuring the land remained within a particular family lineage for generations.

When a defendant used the plea of ne dona pas, they were fundamentally denying the plaintiff's central claim. The defendant argued that the land in question was never granted as a gift of tail, or that the specific conditions of such a gift, as alleged by the plaintiff, simply "did not give" the plaintiff the rights they were claiming. It was a direct challenge to the very foundation of the plaintiff's asserted title to the land.

• Example 1: Disputed Ancestral Grant

  Imagine a plaintiff, Eleanor, brings a formedon action, claiming a large estate was entailed to her family line by her great-great-grandfather, Lord Blackwood, three centuries prior. The current occupant, Sir Reginald, denies this. Sir Reginald's legal team would enter a plea of ne dona pas, asserting that Lord Blackwood "did not give" the land as a gift of tail to Eleanor's ancestor, thereby challenging the very existence of the foundational grant upon which Eleanor's claim rests.

• Example 2: Allegation of Invalid Entailment

  Consider a scenario where a plaintiff, Thomas, presents a document he claims is a deed of entail from his distant uncle, granting land to Thomas's specific branch of the family. The defendant, Lady Margaret, who currently possesses the land, argues that while the uncle may have transferred the land, the document was never legally executed as a valid "gift of tail" under the law of the time, or that it was merely a simple transfer of ownership without the specific restrictions of an entail. Lady Margaret's plea of ne dona pas would assert that the uncle "did not give" the land with the specific legal characteristics of an entail that Thomas is claiming.

• Example 3: Contesting the Nature of the Grant

  Suppose a plaintiff, Arthur, claims a parcel of land was granted to his ancestor as a gift of tail, meaning it should have passed down through his family line. The defendant, Baroness Clara, admits that the land was indeed transferred to Arthur's ancestor, but argues it was a simple "fee simple" grant (unrestricted ownership), not a gift of tail. In this case, Baroness Clara's plea of ne dona pas would contend that the original grantor "did not give" the land with the specific, restricted inheritance conditions of a gift of tail, thus invalidating Arthur's claim to inherit under such an entailment.