Full, complete. 2. In the courts of admiralty, and in the English ecclesiastical courts, causes or suits in respect of the different course of proceeding in each, are termed plenary or summary. Plenary, or full and formal suits, are those in which the proceedings must be full and formal: the term summary is applied to those causes where the proceedings are more succinct and less formal.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
Full; entire; complete; unabridged. In the ecclesiastical courts, (and in admiralty practice,) causes are divided into plenary and summary. The former are those in whose proceedings the order and solemnity of the law is required to be exactly observed, so that if there is the least departure from that order, or disregard of that solemnity, the whole proceedings are annulled. Summary causes are those In which it is unnecessary to pursue that order and solemnity. Brown. Plenary confession. A full and complete confession. An admission or confesssion. whether in civil or criminal law, is said to be “plenary” when it is, if believed, conclusive against the person making it.