Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: civil litigation

A demurrer is a motion that says the complaint (or, occasionally, the answer) has not alleged sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action. In other words, it says that, even if the plaintiff can prove everything he has alleged, he will not be entitled to judgment because he will not have proven any claim on which such a judgment could be based.

A demurrer can be directed to an entire complaint or merely to certain causes of action. If it sustains the demurrer, the court can (and usually will) give the plaintiff an opportunity to amend the complaint.

Sometimes a complaint not only fails to allege a proper cause of action but actually proves that no such cause could be proven (as, for example, when it demonstrates that the statute of limitations has expired). In these situations the court should deny leave to amend.