Definition
A Law French term meaning "nothing" or, in some constructions, "not." RIENS appears almost exclusively in formal pleading contexts and legal maxims carried over from the period when Law French dominated English and early American court procedure. It does not stand alone as a substantive legal concept but functions as a grammatical building block in compound pleading terms and maxims. Its two principal uses are: (1) as a standalone word meaning "nothing," appearing in maxims such as *riens passe per le fait* (nothing passes by the deed) and *riens per descent* (nothing by descent); and (2) as a negative particle meaning "not," most prominently in *riens culpable* (not guilty).
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
RIENS EN ARRIERE (L. Fr. "nothing in arrear"): A plea in pleading that there is nothing remaining due and unpaid of the plaintiff's demand. A defendant in a debt or rent action would interpose this plea to deny any outstanding balance.
RIENS PASSE PER LE FAIT ("nothing passes by the deed"): A maxim invoked when a deed is shown to convey no interest, typically because the grantor lacked title or the instrument was defective.
RIENS PER DESCENT ("nothing by descent"): A plea or statement that the defendant took nothing by descent from an ancestor — relevant in actions where liability was alleged to attach through inherited property.
RIENS CULPABLE ("not guilty"): The Law French formulation of the general issue plea in criminal and some civil proceedings. Functionally equivalent to the modern "not guilty" plea.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in pre-nineteenth-century pleading records, Year Books, or early American court documents will encounter RIENS and its compounds without translation or gloss. Because Law French persisted in formal pleading long after it ceased to be a spoken language, these terms appear fossilized in writs, plea rolls, and early reports even when surrounding text is in English. Misreading RIENS as a proper noun or as a word with substantive legal content — rather than a grammatical particle — can distort the meaning of a plea or maxim entirely.
The most research-critical compound is RIENS EN ARRIERE, which appears in actions of debt and rent and can be confused with a general denial. It is a specific traverse of the arrears alleged, not a denial of the underlying obligation. Distinguishing it from a general nil debet plea matters when tracing pleading strategy in historical litigation records.
RIENS CULPABLE is worth flagging separately: researchers who encounter it in early criminal records should recognize it as the direct ancestor of the modern not-guilty plea, not as a separate or exotic defense. Its appearance signals standard pleading, not specialty procedure.
Because RIENS compounds were rarely defined in American practice manuals — practitioners were expected to know their Law French — they are underrepresented in nineteenth-century American legal dictionaries and may be absent entirely from secondary sources focused on domestic procedure.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's is the primary source of record for RIENS and its compounds, providing the clearest synthesis: RIENS means "nothing" in most constructions but shifts to "not" in RIENS CULPABLE. Bouvier treats it correctly as a grammatical rather than substantive term and provides the key compounds. Rapalje & Lawrence do not include a dedicated entry for RIENS, which reflects its diminished practical relevance by the late nineteenth century when Law French pleading had largely been displaced by code pleading under the Field reforms.
Neither source provides extended analysis of RIENS PER DESCENT or RIENS PASSE PER LE FAIT beyond brief definitional notes, which is consistent with their treatment as maxims rather than living procedural tools by the time these dictionaries were compiled. Researchers needing fuller treatment of these maxims in their operative context will need to consult older English sources, including Blackstone's Commentaries and the earlier English law dictionaries such as Termes de la Ley or Cowell's Interpreter, where Law French pleading is treated as current practice.
Jurisdictional Note
RIENS and its compounds were inherited by American courts directly from English common law pleading and appear in early federal and state records before code pleading reforms of the mid-nineteenth century. After most states adopted code pleading (beginning with New York in 1848), Law French pleading terms fell out of active use, though they persisted in legal dictionaries and historical commentary. Louisiana, with its civil law heritage, did not draw on this particular Law French pleading vocabulary in the same way.