618 



L A W/ 



Law. 



of Knglaml. 



Courts of 



judicature. 



what. 



Court of 

 I'icpoudre. 



Court 



baron. 



Hundred 



Court. 



County 

 Court. 



Court of 

 Common 

 Pleas. 



1 . By the acts of the parties, or, 2. By the operation of 

 law. Redress by the latter of these modes, (of which 

 only we are here to speak) is by suit or action in Uie 

 courts of justice. 



2. A court is a place wherein justice is judicially ad- 

 ministered, by officers delegated by the crown for that 

 purpose ; being either a court of record, or not of re- 

 cortl. A court of record, is where the acts and judicial 

 proceedings are enrolled in parchment : these rolls are 

 called the records of the court, and are of such high 

 and superemlnent authority, that their truth is not to 

 be called in question ; nor shall any plea, or even proof 

 be admitted to the contrary. All courts of record are 

 the king's courts, in right of his crown and royal dig- 

 nity ; and therefore no other court has authority to 

 fine and imprison ; so that the very erection of a new 

 jurisdiction, with the power of fine and imprisonment, 

 makes it instantly a court of record. A court not of 

 record, is the court of a private person ; such as the 

 courts baron, &c. 



3. The Court of Piepoudre, curia pedis putverizali, is 

 the lowest, and at the same time the most expediti- 

 ous court of justice known to the law of England. It 

 is a court of record incident to every market or fair, of 

 which the steward of him who owns or has the toll of 

 the market is the judge ; and its jurisdiction extends 

 to administer justice for all commercial injuries done in 

 that fair or market, and not in any preceding one ; so 

 that the injury complained of, must be done, heard, and 

 determined, before the determination of the fair or 

 market. A writ of error lies in the nature of an appeal 

 to the courts of Westminster, which are bound to issue 

 writs of execution in aid of its process after judgment, 

 where the person or effects of the defendant are not 

 within the limits of this inferior jurisdiction, 



4. A court baron is incident to every manor, is not a 

 court of record, and is holden by the steward within 

 the said manor, and is of two natures ; the one a custo- 

 mary court appertaining to the copy-holders ; the other 

 a court of common law. This may hold a plea of any 

 personal actions where the damages do not amount to 

 forty shillings. Proceeding may be removed from 

 hence into the county court, by a precept from the 

 sheriff, called a toll ; and also into the superior courts, 

 by the king's writ of pone. 



5. An hundred court, is only a larger court baron, 

 being held for all the inhabitants of a particular hun- 

 dred, instead of a manor. It is no court of record ; 

 causes are liable to removal from hence, and may also 

 be reviewed by writ of false judgment. 



6. A county court, is incident to the jurisdiction of 

 the sheriff, and is not a court of record ; it may hold 

 pleas of debt or damage under the value of 40 shillings, 

 but by special writ called a juslicies, the sheriff is em- 

 powered, for the sake of dispatch, to do the same jus- 

 tice in his county court, as might otherwise be had at 

 Westminster. Proceedings may also be removed from 

 hence into the king's superior court, by writ of pone or 

 recordari. 



7. The court of common pleas, or common bench. 

 The judges of this court are at present four in number, 

 one chief, and three puisne justices, created by the 

 king's letters-patent, who 8it every day in the four 

 terms to hear and determine all matters of law arising 

 in civil causes, whether real, personal, or mixed and 

 compounded of both. These it takes cognizance of, as 

 well originally, as upon removal from the inferior 

 courts before mentioned. A writ of error, in the na- 



ture of an appeal, lies from this court into the court of Law 

 King's Bench. . "f Kngh, 



8. The court of King's 13cncft-\s the supreme court of (^ U "~ 

 common law in the kingdom, consisting of a ctlief jus- Kind's 

 tice and three puisne justices, who are by their office Bench; 

 the sovereign conservators of the ptvire, and supreme 

 coroners of the land. Though the king used to sit 

 here, and still is supposed so to do, lie did not, neither 



by law is he empowered to determine any cause or mo- 

 tion by the mouth of his judges. This court may fol- 

 low the king at his pleasure. 



This court keeps all inferior jurisdiction within the its exten*in 

 bounds of their authority, and may either remove their authority, 

 proceedings to be determined there, or prohibit their 

 progress below. It superintends all civil corporations 

 in the kingdom. It commands magistrates and others 

 to do what their duty requires of them, in every case 

 where there is no o'ther specific remedy. It protects 

 the liberty of the subject by speedy and summary in- 

 terposition. It takes cognizance both of criminal and 

 civil causes ; the former, in what is called the crown 

 side, or crown office, the latter in the plea side of the 

 court. But on the plea side, or civil branch, it has an 

 original jurisdiction and cognizance of all actions of 

 trespass, or other injury alleged to be committed " vi 

 et armis ;" of actions for forgery of deeds, maintenance, 

 conspirac}', deceit, and actions on the case, \vhich al- 

 lege any falsity or fraud ; but no action of debt, or de- 

 tinue, or other mere civil action, can, by common law, 

 be prosecuted by any subject in this court by original 

 writ out of chancery ; though an action of debt given 

 by statute, may be brought in the King's Bench as-well 

 as in the Common Pleas. 



This is also a court of appeal, into which may be re- Is also a 

 moved, by writ of error, all determinations of the court uit of op. 

 of Common Pleas, and of all inferior courts of record in P eal - 

 England, and to which also a writ of error lies from 

 the court of King's Bench in Ireland. Yet even this is 

 not the dernier resort of the subject, for if he is not sa- 

 tisfied, he may remove his suit by writ of error into the 

 House of Lords or Court of Exchequer, according to 

 the nature of it. 



9. The Court oj Exchequer is inferior in rank, not Court of 

 only to the court of King's Bench, but to the Common Exchequer 

 Pleas also ; but is an ancient court of record, of law, 



and equity. The preliminary business of this court was 

 to bring actions to recover debts due to the crown ; but 

 as by a fiction almost all sorts of civil actions are now 

 allowed to be brought in the King's Bench, in like 

 manner, by another fiction, all kinds of personal suits 

 may be prosecuted in the Court of Exchequer. 



10. The High Court of Chancery, in which the lord Court of 

 chancellor presides, consists, like the court of exche- Chancery. 

 quer, of two distinct tribunals ; the one ordinary, be- 

 ing a court of common law ; the other extraordinary, 

 being a court of equity. This latter court is now be- 

 come the court of the greatest judicial consequence ; 



and from this court of equity, as from the other supe- 

 rior courts, an appeal lies to the House of Peers. But 

 there are these differences between appeals from a 

 court of equity, and writs of error from a court of law, 

 1. That the former may be brought upon any interlo- 

 cutory matter ; the latter upon nothing but a definitive 

 judgment. 2. That on writs of error, the House of 

 Lords pronounces the judgment ; on appeals it gives 

 direction to the court below to rectify its own decree. 



1 1 . The Court of Exchequer Chamber has no origi- court of 

 nal jurisdiction, but is only a court of appeal to cor- Exchequer 





