Courts of Justice - Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN Courts of Justice Bedford Magistrates Courts By the nineteenth century, there were three types of courts for criminal to be brought to justice: Magistrates' Courts ( Quarter Sessions and Petty Sessions), Assize Courts, and the Court of King's (or Queen's) Bench. To which court an accused was sent, depended on the crime; although there was overlap and cases could be referred between the courts. Petty Sessions Courts of Petty Sessions were introduced in the 18th century as there was too much work for the Quarter Sessions (which only met four times a year) to handle. Petty Sessions dealt with minor cases such as drunkenness, poaching and vagrancy. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, individual justices of the peace frequently tried summary offences (those not needing to be heard before a jury), in their own home. Many of the country houses of the gentry contained a 'justice room' for this purpose. In 1828, they become established by statute and became increasingly formalised. After the Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1848, all summary trials had to take place at formally constituted Petty Sessions, before at least two magistrates.

Meetings became more regular and laws passed that required the proceedings to be recorded. Each court had jurisdiction over a specific Local Authority area. The courts sat on a regular basis; the frequency would depend on the level of crime in the area. As today, the court had the power to remit more serious crime to a higher court for sentencing or trial. Quarter Sessions The principal court of the magistrates was Quarter Sessions. They were held before a 'bench' of two or more Justices of the Peace (JP's), with a jury. They could also refer capital offences and other serious or difficult cases up to the next Assize Court. Sessions were held four times a year ("quarterly"): at Epiphany (winter), Lent (spring), Summer, and Michaelmas (autumn), in every county. The session could run for several days, depending on the number of cases . Pressure of business could lead to extra or special Quarter Sessions being called. Many boroughs, by their charters, also ran their own Borough Sessions before magistrates appointed by the corporation. For example, Bedford had its own borough court. These borough Quarter Sessions also tried indictable offences.

Until 1889, the Quarter Sessions also administered local government but as the administrative burden increased, their administrative functions were transferred to the newly created County Councils. Assize Courts Before 1971, most serious crimes were tried twice a year before a professional High Court Judge and a Jury. The Judges travelled on a 'circuit', covering a number of counties. They would deal with criminal cases assigned to them by the bench of county or borough justices. The courts were held when the Judges arrived in a county town. Before 1842 the line between Assize and Quarter Sessions cases was rather blurred; an Act of that year consigned all capital offences (those that carried the death penalty) and also cases with sentences of life imprisonment, for the first offence, to the Assizes. Circuit boundaries changed over the years but, during the period under review, the Norfolk Circuit included Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk itself. In Bedford, the Assizes were usually in spring and summer. As the workload increased, by the middle of the 19th century, in some counties the court was sitting three times a year, and each session could last several weeks.

The assizes circuits had their own Clerks of Assizes, who kept all the records of the cases and sentences. London was a special case. In 1834 the Central Criminal Court, popularly called the Old Bailey, was set up for the metropolitan area of Greater London; it was an Assizes Court. King's (Queen's) Bench Originally this was the king's personal court, with a variety of functions connected with protecting the interests of the Crown. Cases could be referred to it where it was believed that a fair hearing in a particular locality was impossible. It was also a court of review for magistrates, who could ask it to rule on points of law. Judges at the Assizes normally consulted their colleagues on points of law but, in 1848, the Court for Crown Cases Reserved was set up for this. During the nineteenth century there was no appeals procedure or court of appeals. A convicted criminal's only hope was the Royal Pardon, in practice delegated to the Home Secretary. Finally, in 1907, the Court of Criminal Appeal was established. How different is it now? The system described above was radically altered in 1971-2.

Now magistrates' courts deal with minor offences summarily. They also make the preliminary inquiry for indictable offences which are then passed on for trial at the Crown Court. This has replaced the old Assizes and cases can be heard either before a High Court judge, if serious, or before circuit judges, either on their own or with magistrates. Please note, this section does not deal with Civil law courts. Also, the system described applies to England and Wales; Scotland had, and still has, a very different legal system. Criminal courts in England and Wales from 1972 - The National Archives sentence or order appeal details – date of appeal and whether grounds for appeal granted or refused A copy indictment is usually attached to the indictment and includes a list of witnesses called to trial, along with repeating much of the information contained within the initial indictment. 4.2 How to search for indictments at The National Archives Many Crown courts have not yet sent any indictment files to The National Archives and their records remain in the custody of HM Courts and Tribunal Service. For information about these records contact the Ministry of Justice . Contact details for the Crown courts can be found from the Courts Service website .

To find out whether we hold the records for a particular Crown court, click on the respective link in the table in section 7. Some indictments are closed for extended periods, for example, indictments that identify minors, and are therefore not accessible. A case number is recorded on each indictment and will take the same format as in this example: ‘721717’. The ’72’ denotes the year, in this case 1972, and the 1717 denotes the 1717th case heard by the Crown court that year. 5. Crown court records: case files 5.1 What are case files and which of them are selected for preservation? Information contained within a case file varies from one file to another but can include: committal proceedings, court logs, police statements, copy indictment, evidence for the prosecution, list of witnesses with their statements and depositions, list of exhibits produced in court, photographs of the crime scene, sentence, and detail of appeal. Not all individual case files are kept permanently.

Those that are kept tend to be files that record more serious crimes, cases that attracted public interest, or were of significance (either legally or historically), or where the accused was eminent or infamous or if the case generated widespread public concern. Files have also been selected to represent the wide variety of cases heard by the Crown courts. 5.2 How to search for case files at The National Archives For many of the Crown courts, The National Archives holds only samples of surviving case files. To find a case file search our catalogue using any combination of the following search terms: name of defendant (surname followed by a comma and then first name), for example, ‘Smith, John’ name of the Crown court (for example, Shrewsbury) the phrase ‘case files’ You can search within the records of a specific court by using the advanced search and selecting the appropriate record series from the table in section 7 as your reference. The naming of a defendant within our catalogue does not imply guilt. 6. Crown court records: transcripts Court stenographers recorded the proceedings in short hand known as computer aided transcription notes. These were filed separately from the case file and not kept permanently.

However, if the defendant lodged an appeal within five years of the conviction then long hand notes were recreated from the original computer aided transcription notes for the appeal and may be found on the criminal appeal case file (see section 8). 7. Table of record series for Crown court records Not all of the documents in the record series below have been transferred to The National Archives because each Crown court transfers documents at a different rate. Click on the links below to view the record series description – the ‘Access conditions’ will indicate whether or not files have been transferred from the Crown Court to The National Archives. Crown Court For further information see the research guide Supreme Court: Appeal cases after 1875 . The highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court and formerly it was the House of Lords. For records of House of Lords cases, contact the Parliamentary Archives . 9. What are magistrates’ courts? Magistrates’ courts deal with the majority of all civil and criminal cases, estimated at 95%, which are the less serious, or ‘summary’ offences, some of which can carry a six month prison sentence (12 months for consecutive sentences). Defendants are tried by a single magistrate or a panel of magistrates rather than a jury.

Examples of the types of cases heard are drunk and disorderly, criminal damage, and common assault. 10. Magistrates’ court records Records of magistrates’ courts are not held by The National Archives. Preserved records of magistrates courts are held at local county and city record offices. Records can include: court registers (including juvenile and youth courts) pardons bail registers To find records held in local archives, search our catalogue , using the name of the court or just the term ‘magistrates’, and refine your results using the filters. Find contact details for archives elsewhere using Find an archive . Contact details for magistrates’ courts can be found from the Courts Service website . 11. Further reading The following recommended publications are available in the The National Archives’ Library .

Richard Beeching, Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions 1966-69: Report (London, 1969) Michael Zander, Cases and materials on the English legal system (London, 10th edition, 2007) Guide reference: Legal Records Information 35 Assize Court - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Assize Court Wikis Assize Court: Wikis Advertisements Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For Assizes in other countries, see Assizes (disambiguation) . The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court .

The Assizes heard the most serious cases, which were committed to it by the Quarter Sessions (local county courts held four times a year), while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by Justices of the Peace in petty sessions (also known as Magistrates' Courts ). The word assize refers to the sittings or sessions ( Old French assises) of the judges, known as "justices of assize", who were judges of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice who travelled across the seven circuits of England and Wales on commissions of " oyer and terminer ", setting up court and summoning juries at the various Assize Towns. Etymology Assize > Middle English assise > Old French assize ("session, legal action" – past participle of asseoir, to seat) > Vulgar Latin *assedēre > Latin assidre, to sit beside, assist in the office of a judge > ad- + sedēre to sit. [1] History Justices of the Court of King's Bench travelled around the country on five commissions, upon which their jurisdiction depended. Their civil commissions were the commission of assize and the commission of nisi prius .

Their criminal commissions were the commission of the peace, the commission of oyer and terminer and the commission of gaol delivery. By the Assize of Clarendon 1166, King Henry II established trial by jury by a grand assize of twelve knights in land disputes, and provided for itinerant justices to set up county courts . [2] Prior to the enactment of Magna Carta 1215, writs of assize had to be tried at Westminster or await trial at the septennial circuit of justices of eyre , but the great charter provided that land disputes should be tried by annual assizes. An Act passed in the reign of King Edward I provided that writs summoning juries to Westminster were to appoint a time and place for hearing the causes with the county of origin. Thus they were known as writs of nisi prius ( Latin "unless before"): the jury would hear the case at Westminster unless the king's justices had assembled a court in the county to deal with the case beforehand. The commission of oyer and terminer, was a general commission to hear and decide cases, while the commission of gaol delivery required the justices to try all prisoners held in the gaols (jails).

Few substantial changes occurred until the nineteenth century. From the 1830s onwards, Wales and the palatine county of Chester , previously served by Court of Grand Session , were merged into the circuit system. The commissions for London and Middlesex were replaced with a Central Criminal Court , serving the whole metropolis, and county courts were established around the country to hear many civil cases previously covered by nisi prius. The Judicature Act 1873, which created the Supreme Court of Judicature , transferred the jurisdiction of the commissions of assize (to take the possessory assizes, that is to say, to hear actions relating to the dispossession of land) to the High Court of Justice , and established District Registries of the High Court across the country, further diminishing the civil jurisdiction of the assizes. In 1956 Crown Courts were set up in Liverpool and Manchester , replacing the Assizes and Quarter Sessions. This was extended nationwide in 1972 following the recommendations of a royal commission . References Advertisements For other uses, see Assizes .

The Court of Assize, or Assizes, refers to an obsolete circuit criminal court in most common-law contexts, but is still in use elsewhere, e.g., Assizes of Jerusalem . Where still in use, it refers to the criminal court with original jurisdiction over the most serious crimes triable in a certain country. In France , Belgium and Italy , the court is still in use and cannot necessarily be appealed. The word assize comes from Old French assises and refers to the court's periodic sessions, which historically, being of an itinerant nature, were never held at a fixed location, as opposed to a court. Judges on an assize court were known as justices of assize. Contents 8 External links Belgium The Assize Court in Belgium (Hof van Assisen in Dutch , Cour d'Assises in French ) is very similar to its counterpart in France described below. There is one Assize Court in each of Belgium's ten provinces and in the Brussels judicial district, or arrondissement . The presiding judge is an appellate judge ex officio and is assisted by two active lower court justices. The jury always consists of 12 people picked from among all eligible voters.

Jurors must be between 30 and 60 years of age and must be able to read and write. The jury delivers a verdict after considering the facts of the case and, with the judge, assigns the sentence. Their verdicts can only be appealed by the Belgian Supreme Court . [1] While the Court of Assize primarily hears murder cases, it is the sole Court constitutionally empowered to see and hear cases of suppression of freedom of the press . In reality, there have been few actual cases of this occurring, relegating most relevant cases to the lower courts. [2] England and Wales The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court . The Assizes heard the most serious cases, which were committed to it by the Quarter Sessions (local county courts held four times a year), while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by Justices of the Peace in petty sessions (also known as Magistrates' Courts ).

The word assize refers to the sittings or sessions ( Old French assises) of the judges, known as "justices of assize", who were judges of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice who travelled across the seven circuits of England and Wales on commissions of " oyer and terminer ", setting up court and summoning juries at the various Assize Towns. History Justices of the Court of King's Bench travelled around the country on five commissions, upon which their jurisdiction depended. Their civil commissions were the commission of assize and the commission of nisi prius . Their criminal commissions were the commission of the peace, the commission of oyer and terminer and the commission of gaol delivery. By the Assize of Clarendon of 1166, King Henry II established trial by jury by a grand assize of sixteen men in land disputes, and provided for itinerant justices to set up county courts. [3] Prior to the enactment of Magna Carta in 1215, writs of assize had to be tried at Westminster or await trial at the septennial circuit of justices of eyre , but the great charter provided that land disputes should be tried by annual assizes.

An Act passed in the reign of King Edward I provided that writs summoning juries to Westminster were to appoint a time and place for hearing the causes with the county of origin. Thus they were known as writs of nisi prius ( Latin "unless before"): the jury would hear the case at Westminster unless the king's justices had assembled a court in the county to deal with the case beforehand. The commission of oyer and terminer, was a general commission to hear and decide cases, while the commission of gaol delivery required the justices to try all prisoners held in the gaols (jails). Few substantial changes occurred until the nineteenth century. From the 1830s onwards, Wales and the palatine county of Chester , previously served by Court of Grand Session, were merged into the circuit system. The commissions for London and Middlesex were replaced with a Central Criminal Court , serving the whole metropolis, and county courts were established around the country to hear many civil cases previously covered by nisi prius.

The Judicature Act of 1873, which created the Supreme Court of Judicature, transferred the jurisdiction of the commissions of assize (to take the possessory assizes, that is to say, to hear actions relating to the dispossession of land) to the High Court of Justice, and established District Registries of the High Court across the country, further diminishing the civil jurisdiction of the assizes. In 1956 Crown Courts were set up in Liverpool and Manchester , replacing the Assizes and Quarter Sessions. This was extended nationwide in 1972 following the recommendations of a royal commission. France Main article: Cour d'assises In France and countries with a similar court system, Assize Courts (Cour d'Assises) use juries to try serious indictable crimes, generally major felonies, such as murder or rape. The Court is presided over by a chief justice referred to as the président of the Court. In France, the Assize Court is a trial court with a Bench of 3 career judges and a jury of 9 jurors on first hearing and 12 on appeal.

A list of eligible jurors is put together using names selected at random from the electoral rolls ; however, both the prosecution and defense have the right to peremptory challenge and may therefore refuse to confirm a juror without stating a reason. When trying cases for certain types of crimes, e.g., large-scale drug trafficking, terrorism, or other major breaches of national security, the Bench may increase to five. Republic of Ireland In the Republic of Ireland the Assizes, modelled on the English system, were replaced in the early years of the Irish Free State by the Circuit Court system in accordance with the Courts of Justice Act, 1924. As in England , they heard only serious cases and were arranged by the counties of Ireland . Italy Main article: Corte d'Assise In Italy the Corte d'Assise is composed of two professional judges, Giudici Togati, and six popular judges, Giudici Popolari. The court has jurisdiction to judge the most serious crimes, such as terrorism, manslaughter and attempts to recreate a Fascist Party . Penalties imposed by the court can include life sentences.

In the Court of Assizes and Court of Assizes of Appeal (Corte d'Assise e nella Corte d'Assise d'Appello) the judicial panel consists only of the stipendiary and popular judges. There is no jury. The Court has jurisdiction to try crimes carrying a maximum penalty of 24 years in prison or life imprisonment, and other major crimes. See also Courts and Tribunals Judiciary | History of the judiciary Courts and Tribunals Judiciary History of the judiciary An ancient system When you see a judge or magistrate sitting in court, you are actually looking at the result of 1,000 years of legal evolution. It’s doubtful that anyone asked to design a justice system would choose to copy the English and Welsh model. It’s contradictory in places, and rather confusing. However, the judiciary is still changing and evolving to meet the needs of our society, and despite its oddities it is widely regarded as one of the best and most independent in the world. A real ordeal Justice for the Anglo-Saxons and even after the Norman invasion of 1066 was a combination of local and royal government. Local courts were presided over by a lord or one of his stewards.

The King’s court – the Curia Regis – was, initially at least, presided over by the King himself. Today, going on trial in an English and Welsh court is not exactly a comfortable experience. But it’s far better than trial by ordeal, used until almost the end of the 12th century to determine guilt or innocence in criminal cases. Under this system, the accused would be forced to pick up a red hot bar of iron, pluck a stone out of a cauldron of boiling water, or something equally painful and dangerous. If their hand had begun to heal after three days they were considered to have God on their side, thus proving their innocence. The number of ‘not guilty’ verdicts recorded by this system is not known. Another, extremely popular ‘ordeal’ involved water; the accused would be tied up and thrown into a lake or other body of water. If innocent, he or she would sink. There were two problems with this method, which was often used to try suspected witches: the accused was tied right thumb to left toe, left thumb to right toe, which made it almost impossible to sink; and opinion is divided as to whether those who did sink were fished out afterwards.

William II (1087-1100) eventually banned trial by ordeal – reportedly because 50 men accused of killing his deer had passed the test – and it was condemned by the Church in 1216. Fighting for freedom? Criminal and civil disputes could also be decided by trial by combat, with a win held to prove either innocence or the right to whatever property was being disputed. Either side could employ their own champions, so the system wasn’t perhaps as fair as it might be. Trial by combat gradually fell into disuse for civil cases, although it wasn’t until someone involved in a dispute in 1818 tried to insist on it that it was realised this was still, technically, an option. Trial by combat was quickly banned, forcing litigants to rely on more conventional routes. The earliest judges During this period judges gradually gained independence from the monarch and the government. The very first judges, back in the 12th century, were court officials who had particular experience in advising the King on the settlement of disputes. From that group evolved the justices in eyre, who possessed a mixed administrative and judicial jurisdiction. The justices in eyre were not, to put it mildly, popular.

In fact, they came to be regarded as instruments of oppression. The seeds of the modern justice system were sown by Henry II (1154-1189), who established a jury of 12 local knights to settle disputes over the ownership of land. When Henry came to the throne, there were just 18 judges in the country – compared to more than 40,000 today. In 1178, Henry II first chose five members of his personal household – two clergy and three lay – “to hear all the complaints of the realm and to do right”. This, supervised by the King and “wise men” of the realm, was the origin of the Court of Common Pleas. Eventually, a new permanent court, the Court of the King’s Bench, evolved, and judicial proceedings before the King came to be seen as separate from proceedings before the King’s Council. Seeds of change In 1166, Henry issued a Declaration at the Assize of Clarendon (an assize was an early form of the King´s Council; the term later became the name for a sitting of a court).

The Assize of Clarendon ordered the remaining non-King’s Bench judges to travel the country – which was divided into different circuits – deciding cases. To do this, they would use the laws made by the judges in Westminster, a change that meant many local customs were replaced by new national laws. These national laws applied to everyone and so were common to all. Even today, we know them as the ‘common law’. The system of judges sitting in London while others travelled round the country became known as the ‘assizes system’. Incredibly, it survived until 1971. Changes evolved slowly; even in the middle of the 14th century, under Edward III, there could be close collaboration between the Court of King’s Bench and the King’s Council. A third common law court of justice, the Court of Exchequer, eventually emerged as the financial business of the Royal Household was split off to a specialist group of officials. The first professional judges and magistrates Martin de Pateshull, Archdeacon of Norfolk and Dean of St Paul’s, became a Justice of the bench in 1217.

By the time he died in 1229 he was known as one of the finest lawyers in England; even 60 years after his death, his judgments were being searched for precedents. Like Martin, many judges of this era were members of the clergy – although this did not necessarily mean they were parish priests, performing services, weddings and christenings. In an era when the church was rich and the King poor, joining the clergy was often just seen as a sensible means of support. By the middle of the 13th century, knights had begun to join clerics on the bench. The first professional judges were appointed from the order of serjents-at-law. These were advocates who practised in the Court of Common Pleas. Lawrence de Brok, a serjeant, became a judge in 1268, starting the tradition, which lasted until 1875, of serjeants being the group from which judges were chosen. This was important, because it meant that the judiciary now had real professional experience of the law before moving on to the bench.

Over the years, serjeants were overtaken in popularity by barristers and solicitors, and even today, these are the groups from which the judiciary is appointed. Growth of independence During this era bribes and payments were common, but even so, in the middle of the 13th century the judiciary was openly accused of corruption. In 1346, judges were obliged to swear that “they would in no way accept gift or reward from any party in litigation before them or give advice to any man, great or small, in any action to which the King was a party himself”. Judicial salaries were also increased, possibly to make them less dependent on other forms of income. This didn’t always help: in 1350 the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, William de Thorpe, was sentenced to death for bribery (he was later pardoned, but demoted). The first magistrates’ courts Meanwhile, a new type of court began to evolve – that which we now recognise as the magistrates’ court.

Magistrates’ courts hark back to the Anglo-Saxon moot court and the manorial court, but their official birth came in 1285, during the reign of Edward I, when ‘good and lawful men’ were commissioned to keep the King’s peace. From that point, and continuing today, Justices of the Peace have undertaken the majority of the judicial work carried out in England and Wales (today, about 95 per cent of criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates). Until the introduction of our modern system of councils in the 19th century, JPs also governed the country at a local level. Problems with politics The 14th century saw members of the judiciary still involved in politics to some extent – for example, for ten years, Edward III’s Chancellors were common-law judges. In 1387, six judges advised Richard II that a parliamentary commission set up to limit his own powers was ‘invalid and traitorous’. They were all impeached, convicted and sentenced to death, although only one was actually executed; the rest were banished to Ireland. Unsurprisingly, for two centuries after this the judiciary kept almost entirely away from politics.

Moving away from politics During the turbulent 15th century – the Wars of the Roses – judges stood apart from both the Houses of Lancaster and York, and were largely unaffected by the changes in government. From 1540 onwards, Henry VIII had no judges in his Privy Council. His son Edward VI and daughter Mary I did include judges on their own Privy Councils, but Elizabeth I excluded them for 40 years. In 1553, Mary I also removed three judges from office, but Elizabeth I made no changes on assuming the throne – although she did remove one later during her reign. The judiciary were becoming separate from the executive. Although it was generally accepted at this time that even the King was subject to the laws of the land, the Reformation added to the sovereign’s powers; the state had taken over the Church’s privilege to define the laws of God, and had removed the influence of the Pope as the ultimate arbiter on Earth. So the King remained principal law-maker, with the judges as interpreters of that law; a potentially uneasy relationship.

Meanwhile, by the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods, assize judges on the six circuits in England were mainly dealing with the most serious crimes not normally handled by the local Quarter Sessions, run by JPs. They also took a role in local administration, although this was much reduced following the English Civil War. A risky business On the face of it, the judiciary was becoming steadily more independent: in 1642, Charles I was forced to agree to the appointment of judges “during good behaviour”, and their salaries were raised from under £200 to £1,000 a year in 1645. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, all judges – and there were just 12 at this point, four in each of the common law courts – remained in office. But in 1668 the system of appointments “during pleasure” was reintroduced, and in the last 11 years of his reign Charles II sacked 11 of his judges. The next king, Charles’s brother James II, sacked 12 in just three years.

This was bound to affect the quality of the judiciary: judges knew very well their jobs were at risk if the sovereign did not like their judgments. A new independence… The day after the House of Commons resolved that James II had abdicated, a parliamentary committee drew up Heads of Grievances to be presented to the new King, William III. This document contained, among other things, items on paying judges’ salaries out of public funds, and preventing judges being removed or suspended from office, “unless by due cause of law”. These grievances eventually appeared in much the same form in the Act of Settlement (1701) and have remained in place ever since. When common law failed Mirroring developments in the role and independence of judges were changes to the avenues of redress open to aggrieved parties. The common law system was an improvement on what had gone before, but it was still slow, highly technical – making procedural mistakes that could ruin a case all too likely – and vulnerable to corruption, especially when juries were used. Fortunately, those who felt they had been failed by the common law system could still petition the King with their grievances. Gradually, these cases were delegated to the King’s council, and eventually to one individual – the Lord Chancellor.

Because of this, the Lord Chancellor came to be known as the ‘King’s conscience’, and began to preside over his own court, the Court of Chancery. This dealt only with civil disputes, for example property and contract cases, and applied the law of equity – even-handedness or fairness. By the time of Henry VIII, the Court of Chancery had become a rival to the common law courts. But as the years went by, the Court of Chancery began to be known for the same problems it had been set up to combat: expense and delay. Also, the Lord Chancellor was free to give whatever ruling he liked in a Chancery court, unbound by the law – which made it almost impossible for lawyers to advise their clients correctly. Changes to the system It was not until 1830 that there was any change to the nearly 300-year-old assize courts. By the Law Terms Act of that year, the Court of Great Sessions was abolished and the Welsh counties and Chester were brought into the general circuit system. Shortly afterwards, the new Central Criminal Court was set up, unifying the administration of justice in London and surrounding areas.

In 1856, judges of the Central Criminal Court were also given the right to hear cases outside the court’s ordinary jurisdiction, to ensure a fair trial where local prejudice existed or when it could offer an early trial and so avoid the delay involved in waiting for the next assizes. County courts, dealing with civil cases, were created under the County Courts Act 1846. The Judicature Act 1873 and after In 1873, Parliament passed the Judicature Act which merged common law and equity. Although one of the Divisions of the High Court is still called Chancery, all courts could now administer both equity and common law – with equity to reign supreme in any dispute. The same Act established the High Court and the Court of Appeal and provided a right of appeal in civil cases to the Court of Appeal. Criminal appeal rights remained limited until the establishment of a Court of Criminal Appeal under the Criminal Appeal Act 1907. The Court of Criminal Appeal sat for nearly 60 years, until its existence as a separate body was ended by the Criminal Appeal Act 1966. Its jurisdiction passed to the Court of Appeal.

The Crown Court is created Crown Courts as we know them today were not actually established until 1956, and then only in Liverpool and Manchester. These courts also took over the quarter sessions work in their cities. The Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions, 1966-1969, led to the abolition of courts of assize and quarter sessions and the establishment of a new Crown Court to deal with business from both, under the terms of the Courts Act 1971. …But still not separate Hundreds of years of evolution may have resulted in an independent judiciary – but that doesn’t mean they were entirely separated from government. Chief Justice Lord Mansfield was in the Cabinet between 1757 and 1765, for example and more recently Lord Cave was Home Secretary for a couple of months at the end of the First World War when he was also a serving Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, or Law Lord. And until 2006, the Lord Chancellor was part of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The Lord Chancellor’s role changed drastically on April 3 2006 as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

This latest major change to affect the judiciary has been described as the most significant since Magna Carta. The Act establishes the Lord Chief Justice as President of the Courts of England and Wales and Head of its Judiciary, a role previously performed by the Lord Chancellor. For the first time an express statutory duty is placed on the Lord Chancellor and other Ministers of the Crown to protect the independence of the judiciary. For the first time in its 1,000-year history, the judiciary is officially recognised as a fully independent branch of the government. Bibliography Geoffrey Rivlin, Understanding the Law, Oxford, 2004 Theodore FT Plucknett, A Concise History of the Common Law, Butterworth & Co, 1956 Judy Hodgson (ed), The English Legal Heritage, Oyez Publishing, 1979 On 26 July 2007 the House of Lords’ Select Committee on the Constitution published a report, Relations between the executive, the judiciary and Parliament . The judiciary’s response was sent to the Committee on 18 October 2007. Did you find what you were looking for?

Yes Assize Records (Crime, Criminals & Courts) Assize Records (Crime, Criminals & Courts) Nature of Source Records of criminal and civil cases tried before professional judges held twice yearly in each county. The Courts Act of 1971 replaced the Assizes with Crown Courts, although in Liverpool and Manchester the Assizes closed down in 1956. Cases heard at the Assizes included serious offences such as treason, riot, murder and burglary with violence which together were referred to as felonies. These more serious crimes requiring an indictment were heard before a jury and judge at the Assizes or at one of the higher courts. Those found guilty of a felony were liable to forfeit their property and personal possessions or could be sentenced to the death penalty or transportation to a penal colony overseas. Less serious or summary cases known as misdemeanours were heard in one of the lower courts such as the Quarter Sessions by a magistrate only. The Criminal Law Act of 1967 covering England and Wales abolished the distinction between a misdemeanour and a felony. Each county formed part of an assize circuit and by the 19th century, England comprised of six circuits: North, Midland, Oxford, West, Norfolk, Home.

Under the Judicature Act of 1875, England and Wales were reorganised into the following circuits: Northern, North-Eastern, Midland, Wales and Chester, Western, South-Eastern. As the records are arranged by Assize circuit and then by type, it is important to know the circuit a county belonged to. The county coverage for the pre-1875 circuits can be found here and for the current circuits, here . The counties of Chester, Durham and Lancaster, collectively known as county palatines, operated under separate jurisdiction. During the 19th century these Palatinate courts were integrated into the established assizes. Before 1834, sessions in London and Middlesex were heard before the Lord Mayor so records can be found at the London Metropolitan Archives which also holds the records formerly held by the Corporation of London Record Office. From 1834 the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey served as the assize court for London. Bristol also operated under separate jurisdiction up to 1832 and these court records can be found at the Bristol Record Office . Thereafter the records are held at The National Archives.

Up to 1830 Assize session papers from the Court of Great Sessions are held at the National Library of Wales and thereafter at The National Archives . The court papers were written in Latin before 1733 with most records surviving from about 1559. Before Assizes, cases were heard at the General Eyre . A County Court is the modern equivalent of an Assize. Begin a search with minute books but also look for indictments, agenda books and depositions (witness statements). Depositions (sometimes referred to as session papers) were pre-trial accounts by witnesses of the facts of details of a matter, sworn on oath or by affirmation. A person giving the statement is known as a deponent. The deposition should provide the deponent's name, address, age and occupation and other personal information. The sheriffs' assize vouchers in series E 389/241 contain calendars of prisoners. Assize vouchers list those sentenced at assizes. Roman Catholics often appear in the records on more serious charges. A small selection of published records of civil and criminal trials can be found in law reports which provide reference points for the legal profession.

The 'All England Law Reports' published commercially by LexisNexis Butterworths contain court reports dating back to 1936 with a further series covering 1861 to 1935. The company also produces the 'All England Law Reports Reprint' which includes key cases from 1558 to 1936. The publication 'All England Law Reports Consolidated Tables and Index 1936-2009' provides a finding aid to individual cases. Another collection of reports can be found in 'The English Reports' containing judgments compiled privately of the English Courts reported between 1220 and 1873. The collections consists of 178 volumes including two volumes of indexes. Along with the print set the reports are available online by specialist legal databases such as Justis , HeinOnline and Westlaw . In 1865 a new body was established called the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting who began publishing The Law Reports which aimed to provide the legal profession with an authoritative record of court cases. These semi-official reports replaced and absorbed the private reports.

Many civil and criminal trials covering courts in the UK and Ireland were recorded as pamphlets and offered for sale to the general public. A collection of these is contained in 'British Trials 1660-1900' (published by Chadwyck-Healey) and indexed by defendant, plaintiff and victim. The microfiche collection is available at The National Archives and some reference libraries.

The court order of precedence, in descending order, for dealing with the majority of cases is as follows: Lower Courts High Court of Justice (Including the King's Bench/Queen's Bench, Chancery Division and the Family Division) Crown Court Those appearing in court included the following groups of people: Plaintiff A plaintiff is the person who brings a legal action and could appear in the following documents: Charge/Summons/Indictment form (the formal accusation against a person that an offence has been committed); Minute Books (sometimes referred to as crown books or gaol books); Calendars of Prisoners & Criminal Registers (only applicable to those tried by jury); Pleadings (statements made by both parties setting out the claim/defence of parties involved in civil proceedings) Defendant/Respondent The defendant is the person being sued, standing trial or appearing for sentence and could appear in the following documents; Charge/summons/indictment form (the formal accusation against a person that an offence has been committed); Pleadings (statements made by both parties setting out the claim/defence of parties involved in civil proceedings); Minute Books (sometimes referred to as crown books or gaol books); Newspaper reports and other printed books and pamphlets, some of which have

 been republished for example by Chadwyck-Healy; Calendars of Prisoners & Criminal Registers (only applicable to those tried by jury); Court orders for imprisonment or transfers from prison to prison; Prison Registers (Records of those incarcerated awaiting trial or sentenced to prison; Registers of Habitual Criminals (Registers compiled by prison authorities naming locals deemed likely to re-offend having been released from prison); Transportation records ; Criminal Petitions (petitions made by convicted persons seeking the revocation or reduction of their sentences); Applications for clemency (mainly relates to those sentenced to death or transportation); Licence Registers/'tickets of leave' (Records of licences issued to criminals in prison released on grounds of good behaviour before the end of sentence) Also see Where Found The National Archives (Series ASSI , Records of Justices of Assize, Gaol Delivery, Oyer and Terminer, and Nisi Prius; DURH , Records of the Palatinate of Durham; CHES , Records of the courts of the Palatinate of Chester, including the county of Flint; PL , Records of the Palatinate of Lancaster; PCOM 1 , HO 16 and CRIM , Records of the Central Criminal Court including Old Bailey records and depositions

) London Metropolitan Archives (London and Middlesex session records before 1834 including copies of TNA series PCOM 1, HO 16 and CRIM) Society of Genealogists (The unique collection of records in the Society of Genealogists’ library holds considerable information about crime in books, records and pamphlets.

The SoG’s regional resources contain records that relate directly to criminal ancestors, such as calendars of prisoners, microfiche copies of summary convictions and other court records) Assize Related Cockburn, James Swanton. A History of English Assizes 1558 -1714: Cambridge University Press, 2008 (Preview available from Google Books ) Cockburn, James Swanton. Calendar of Assize Records (Volumes cover the Home Circuit as well as the Kent, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey and Somerset circuits. Preview of the Kent Indictments available from Google Books . Other digitised Assize records can be found at the Internet Archive ) Johnson, Douglas. Staffordshire Assize Calendars 1842-1843: Staffordshire Record Society , 1992 Jeaffreson, John Cordy (ed). Middlesex County Records. 4 Vols: Greater London Council, 1972 (1886) (Volumes available to download and view at the Internet Archive or at British History Online ) Bard, Robert. Tyburn: The Story of London's Gallows: Amberley Publishing, 2012 Bard, Robert.

Death in London: Places of Execution, Then and Now: Historical Publications, 2007 Bevan, Amanda. Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives: The National Archives, 2006 Brandon, David & Brooke. Alan. London West End 1800-1850 Murders And Misdemeanours: Amberley Publishing, 2009 Brandon, David & Brooke. Alan. Olde London Punishments: The History Press (30 April 2010 Cale, Michelle. Law and Society: An introduction to sources for criminal and legal history from 1800: PRO Publications, 1996 Campbell, Charles. The Intolerable Hulks: British Shipboard Confinement 1776-1857 Fenestra Books, 2001 Decharne, Max. Capital Crimes : Seven Centuries of London Life and Murder: Arrow Books, 2013 Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England: 1750-1900: Routledge, 2010 Emsley, Clive.

Crime and Society in Twentieth Century England: Routledge, 2011 Gilfillan, Ross. Crime and Punishment in Victorian London: A Street-Level View of the City's Underworld: Pen & Sword Books, 2014 Gray, Adrian. Crime and Criminals of Victorian England: The History Press, 2011 Hall, Malcolm. Gloucestershire Murders and Misdemeanours 1820-1829: Amberley Publishing, 2008 Hawkings, David. Criminal Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Criminal Records in England & Wales: The History Press, 2009 Hawkings, David. Bound for Australia: A Guide to the Records of Transported Convicts and Early Settlers: The History Press, 2012 Herber, Mark. Criminal London: A Pictorial History from Medieval Times to 1939: Phillimore & Co, 2002 Higgs, Michelle. Prison Life in Victorian England: The History Press, 2007 Hitchcock, Tim & Shoemaker, Bob.

Tales from the Hanging Court: Hodder Arnold, 2006 Howse, Geoffrey. A History of London's Prisons: Wharncliffe True Crime, 2012 Jack, Elizabeth. A Victorian Prisoners of Gloucester Gaol: A Rogues' Gallery: The History Press, 2009 Knapp, Andrew & Baldwin, William. The Newgate Calendar: London, 1828 (Available from: Google Books ) Marson, Edward. Prison: Five Hundred Years of Life Behind Bars: The National Archives, 2009 May, Trevor. Victorian and Edwardian Prisons: Shire, 2008 Paley, Ruth & Fowler, Simon. Family Skeletons: Exploring The Lives of our Disreputable Ancestors: The National Archives, 2005 Reake, Janet. How to Trace Your Convict Ancestors: Their Lives, Times and Records: Hale & Iremonger, 1999 Stevens, Mark. Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum: Pen and Sword Books, 2013 Storey, Neil.

The Victorian Criminal: Shire Publications, 2011 Wade, Stephen. Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2009 Wade, Stephen. Tyranny and the Lash : Prisoners & Punishment in British History: Robert Hale Publishers, 2011 Watson, Katherine. Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and their Victims: Hambledon Continuum, 2006 Woolf, Alex.

Past In Pictures : A Photographic View of Crime and Punishment: Wayland Publishers, 2013 TNA Research Guides: Websites (TNA Guide: Looking for records of a criminal trial or conviction) (County by county coverage of Assize records held at TNA with series references and date coverage) (TNA Guide: Looking for records of crime and punishment) (TNA Guide: Criminals, bankrupts and litigants) (TNA Guide: Looking for records of crime and punishment) (Society of Genealogists: Guide Seven: Criminal Records: Finding criminal ancestors) (Parliament: Law and Order: The Assizes) (Research Wiki: Assize Court Records) (Guide to the Assizes, Quarter Sessions and Petty Sessions from the Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies) (Assizes entry from Wikipedia) (British Library Learning, Victorians: Crime including Victorian Prisons and Executions and Transportations) (Guide and links relating to records and sources for researching criminal cases) (The Historical Background to the Proceedings of the Old Bailey: Includes a glossary of judicial terms, explanations of types and categories of indictable offences, trial procedures, verdicts, punishments and other topics) (Guildhall Library: Old Bailey Sessions

 Papers and other printed sources for London Criminals) (Guildhall Library: Sources for tracing London criminals) (London Metropolitan Archives: Information Leaflet Number 40: Sessions Records for the City of London and Southwark) (The Glamorgan Constabulary and Assize Duty) (Links to relevant sources and resources) (Victorian Crime and Punishment resources for crime and punishment in the 19th Century) (Free download of the Newgate Calendar based chiefly on the Navarre Society 1926 edition) (Prisons, Prisoners & Convicts in the United Kingdom) (Links to UK, US & Canadian criminal resources) (Crime related essays covering Victorian England) (Information covering UK & Ireland including mugshots & prisoner lists) (Victorian London Public Institutions) (Capital Punishment U.K.) (Research Guide Crime and Criminals) (Descriptions of London places and buildings including prisons) (Lands of the Normans in England, 1204-1244: The historical sources.

Guide to sources in The National Archives including Charter Rolls (C 53), Patent Rolls (C 66), Close Rolls (C 54), Fine rolls (C 60), Pipe rolls (E 372), Duplicate Chancellor's rolls (E 352), records of the General Eyre and commissions of assize and gaol delivery (JUST 1), Final concords or Feet of Fines (CP 21/1) Online Databases Some cases published or indexed at a local level. British History Online (The site consists of a digital library of British historical sources developed by Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust. The site is free to use with a search facility linking users to full transcripts of various sources) Gloucestershire Archives' Genealogical Database (Gloucestershire gaol calendars, 1815-1879) (Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914) TNA Online Collections (Victorian prisoners' photograph albums 1872-1873.

TNA Online Collections is produced by The National Archives and contains online access to indexes, transcriptions and digital images of some of the TNA's most important holdings. Searches are free but a fee is levied for each downloaded item. However downloads are free if used at TNA or the Society of Genealogists) (Old Bailey Proceedings Online: Online edition of the Old Bailey Proceedings containing accounts and calendars of trials held at London's central criminal court, equivalent to the assizes. Expect to find the names, address and occupations of the accused, the victims and witnesses as well as the names of judges and jurors. These are accounts of the trials written by journalists and are not public records. The contents of Old Bailey Online can also be searched at Connected Histories together with a number of other databases) (Court and Criminal Records.

Criminal records covering indictable offences in England and Wales between 1782 and 1892 taken from TNA series HO 27 , Criminal Registers, England and Wales; HO 13 , Criminal Entry Books Lists of pardons; HO 20/13 , Prisons Correspondence and Papers including Bethlehem Hospital; CRIM 1 , Central Criminal Court Depositions) (UK, Police Gazettes, 1812-1902, 1921-1927. This collection contains printed publications used for communication between members of the police force in the United Kingdom between 1812 and 1927, with gaps in coverage. It contains information on wanted criminals, crimes committed, criminals who had been apprehended, and missing persons) (England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935. Were your ancestors in trouble with the law? Follow them through over 3 million records of criminals who passed through the justice system in England and Wales between 1779 and 1935. For updates and other resources see Crime, Prisons and Punishment .

These record sets are produced in association with the National Archives and include: Registers of Convicts in Prison Hulks, Ref: ADM 6 ; After-Trial Calendars of Prisoners, Ref: CRIM 9 ; Convicts, Miscellanea, Ref: HO 7 ; Convict Hulks, Convict Prisons and Criminal Lunatic Asylums: Quarterly Returns of Prisoners 1824-1876, Ref: HO 8 ; Criminal Entry Books 1782-1871, Ref: HO 13 ; Criminal Petitions Series I, Ref: HO 17 ; Criminal Petitions Series II, Ref: HO 18 ; Register of Criminal Petitions, Ref: HO 19 ; Registers of Prisoners from National Prisons lodged in County Prisons 1847-1866, Ref: HO 23 ; Prison Registers and Statistical Returns 1838-1875, Ref: HO 24 ; Judges’ Reports on Criminals 1784-1830, Ref: HO 47 ; Criminal Registers, Middlesex, Ref: HO 26 ; Criminal Registers, England and

 Wales, Ref: HO 27 ; Newgate Prison Calendar 1782-1853, Ref: HO 77 ; Miscellaneous Criminal Books 1798-1831, Ref: HO 130 ; Calendar of Prisoners, Ref: HO 140 ; Habitual Criminals' Registers and Miscellaneous Papers, Ref: MEPO 6 ; Prison Records, Ref: PCOM 2 ; Male Licences 1853-1887, Ref: PCOM 3 ; Female Licences, Ref: PCOM 4 ; Old Captions and Transfer Papers 1843-1871, Ref: PCOM 5 Convict Hulks 1802-1831, T 38/310-338 ; Treasury: Departmental Accounts, Convict Hulks, Ref: T 38 ) (Hue & Cry Index 1797-1810.

Index of published notices of wanted criminals and the offences they committed. This index includes information on many who were sentenced to transportation in the Australian colonies) (London Lives, Culture & Society 1680-1817. London Lives chronicles the lives of Londoners through the exploration of a variety of sources including criminal registers, session papers, ordinary’s accounts from Old Bailey, apprentice records, coroner inquests, workhouse minutes, Register of admissions to workhouse, clerks’ papers, Churchwarden's account books, Vestry minute books/vestry minutes, Register of removal orders, Pauper examination books/examination books, bastardy bonds and much more) (Middlesex, London, Old Bailey Court Records 1674-1913. Explore over 782,000 court records from London's Old Baily/Central Criminal Court, the central criminal court of England & Wales.

The collection is composed of both transcripts and links to images of the original documents) (London Lives: Old Bailey Proceedings, Old Bailey Sessions and other court session papers) (Manchester And Lancashire strays in Millbank Prison) (Prisoner records 1799-1898) (Index to the Gaol Files of the Court of Great Sessions in Wales, 1730-1830. The database contains information on criminals and their crimes and punishments as well as details on the victims. Records from less serious crimes heard at Quarter Sessions are held at county record offices and can be searched at Archives Wales . Monmouthshire formed part of the Oxford circuit and are available from The National Archives at Kew) (Wales, Court and Miscellaneous Records, 1542-1911. This collection contains browsable images of Court Records and Marriage Bonds from the National Library of Wales.

Records include Consistory Court papers, Court records-Crown Books, Court records-gaol files, Marriage bonds and Memoranda of the Great Sessions) (Family History Indexes: Criminal Register Index) (Middlesex Quarter Session transcripts, edited by William Le Hardy and John Jeaffreson) (Online Hackney Petty Sessions Book 1730-1753, with index) (Online prisoner & execution lists) (Online access to catalogued and indexed criminal trials held in the High Court of Justiciary, 1800-1930) (Calendars of Prisoners at Staffordshire Quarter Sessions, 1779-1880) (Database of almost 5000 convicted criminals imprisoned York Castle Prison 1700s.

Includes transported criminals, Criminals executed and debtors who pleaded insolvency) (An index of prisoners brought to trial at York Assizes, 1785-1851) (City of Exeter Police Charge Book, Sep 1847-21 Feb 1849; transcribed by Brian Brassett) (John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera: The collection provides access to scanned items from the Bodleian Library's holdings documenting various aspects of everyday life in Britain from the 18th to the early 20th century including posters and handbills for theatrical and non-theatrical entertainments, broadsides relating to murders and executions, book and journal prospectuses, popular topographical prints.

The contents of John Johnson Collection can also be searched at Connected Histories together with a number of other databases) (National Library of Scotland Digital Gallery: The Word On The Street: Online collection of nearly 1,800 Scottish broadsides between 1650 and 1910) (Online collection of more than 500 broadsides) (Online collection of 30,000 broadside ballads) (Dorset Records: Jury Lists, 1825-1921)

Question: What type of law court has replaced the Assize Court?
Answer: CROWN COURT