Demise is anAnglo-Norman legal term (fromFrenchdémettre, fromLatindimittere, to send away) for the transfer of anestate, especially bylease. It has an operative effect in a lease, implying a covenant "for quiet enjoyment".^[1]

The phrase "demise of the Crown" is used in English law to signify the immediate transfer of the sovereignty, with all its attributes and prerogatives, to the successor without anyinterregnum in accordance with the maxim "the Crown never dies". Atcommon law the death of the sovereigneo facto dissolved Parliament, but this was abolished by theRepresentation of the People Act 1867. Similarly the common law doctrine that all offices held under the Crown were terminated at its demise has been abolished by theDemise of the Crown Act 1901.^[1]

The English word "demise" comes from the Latin word "demissio" (see, e.g.,ex demissione), which comes from Latin "demittere", which is a compound of de + mittere, meaning "to send from".^[1][2]

• Burrill, Alexander Mansfield (1850).A new law dictionary and glossary: containing full definitions of the principal terms of the common and civil law. Vol. Part 1. New York: John S. Voorhies. p. 361.

Attribution

•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Demise".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.