Courts of Law

Question 1

3 main common law courts

Answer 1

Court of King’s Bench, Court of Exchequer, Court of Common Pleas

Question 2

Royal court basics

Answer 2

parallel courts, essentially no appeals, limited jurisdiction, centralized in Westminster Hall, professional judiciary. Handled major crimes, large civil disputes, free tenancy issues

Question 3

Court of King’s Bench basics

Answer 3

Originally traveled with the King but settled in Westminster Hall. Initially only overheard very serious offenses but developed extensive civil jurisdiction. Could hear suits to correct errors by the other 2 courts

Question 4

Court of Exchequer Basics

Answer 4

Probably the oldest of the three dating back to 1110. Initially heard issues involving money owed to the crown. Magistrates were Barons and not Judges

Question 5

Court of Common Pleas Basics

Answer 5

Initially civil only and had a monopoly on property actions, including debt and covenant

Question 6

Royal Court Jurisdiction Issues

Answer 6

Judges were often paid by the case and so the courts would fight over jurisdiction and instituted plaintiff-friendly rules to try to bring in more suits

Question 7

Eyre System

Answer 7

Traveling royal judges would take over county courts and heard manners relating to the King as well as local matters. Not well-liked

Question 8

Ecclesiastical Court Summary

Answer 8

Secular and church courts split by William in 1076. Clergy were immune to secular court until 1164. Heard church matters but had lay jurisdiction as well. Survived the split of 1534 but gradually lost jurisdiction and was defunct by the mid-19th century

Question 9

Ecclesiastical Court Jurisdiction

Answer 9

internal matters of the church but also had extensive lay jurisdiction, including wills of personal property and intestate estates, marriage, divorce/annulment, defamation, adultery, fornication, pledges of faith

Question 10

ECourt Relief

Answer 10

Primarily imposed excommunication, exclusion from church services, or extreme excommunication which included ostracization

Question 11

Ecourt vs CL court

Answer 11

CL courts routinely sought to limit the jurisdiction of E Courts and would issue writs of prohibition

Question 12

ECourt Appellate Structure

Answer 12

Each Bishop (one per cathedral) had sitting consistory (trial) courts. Verdicts could be appealed to either the Court of Arches, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Chancery Court of York, led by the Archbishop of York. Before 1534, these verdicts could potentially be appealed to the Pope in Rome

Question 13

Chancery/Court of Equity basics

Answer 13

Based on the idea that rigid application of the law in all instances could lead to results that contradicted the intent of the law. For most of English history equity was separate from CL courts. Cases were decided by the Chancellor. Remedy was discretionary. Gradually accumulated precedent. General desire to avoid Jx conflict with CL courts

Question 14

Chancery Procedural Differences

Answer 14

More informal: presented a bill of equity or oral complaint rather than a formal writ. In personam Jx as to all counties. Greater factfinding powers: Chancellors could question Ds under oath and also had precursors to modern discovery procedures. Could grant specific performance, restitution, or injunctions. Petitions in English rather than Latin

Question 15

Chancery and CL Court interplay

Answer 15

Allowed CL courts to reach decisions that were harsh because the unfair result could be appealed to the Chancery.

Question 16

Chancery Court Development

Answer 16

Ridiculed in Dickens’ Bleak House. Became bogged down to the duties of the Chancellor. Tried to solve with commissioners to take testimony, but left drafting of questions, including cross, to the attorneys. Backlog led to “feign issue” where parties would bet on the outcome of a case in Chancery court and have one of the royal courts decide the winner, forcing them to decide the case and skipping the backlog. Culminated in English Law and Procedure Act and Judicature Act

Question 17

Conciliar Courts

Answer 17

Court of Requests and Star Chamber

Question 18

Court of Requests

Answer 18

Court exclusively for poor people, managed by two Masters of Requests. Could get booted for being too rich. Simple pleadings and equitable remedies based on the common law. Court of common pleas declared it invalid in 1598 but it was not abolished until 1641

Question 19

Star Chamber basics

Answer 19

Named for the stars on the ceiling of the chamber in which it was held. Originated in the 1300s and expanded in the 1500s. Top officials served on its court, primarily used when the defendant was too famous for a jury trial. Later used for political trials. Abolished in 1641 after extensive abuse by Charles I and is now associated with tyranny

Question 20

Areas of law developed by Star Chamber

Answer 20

criminal libel, forgery, fraud, extortion, perjury, subornation of perjury, conspiracy, attempt

Question 21

Star Chamber Procedural Differences for Defendants

Answer 21

Right to counsel 200 years before CL criminal Ds. Right of compulsory process for witnesses. Examination of the parties. Advanced notice of charges

Question 22

Initial Issues with Star Chamber

Answer 22

No jury trial. Could torture to compel information in some circumstances. Primarily issued fines, no power to execute or seize land. Also had the ability to maim ears/nose/hand as punishment

Question 23

Fall of Star Chamber

Answer 23

Became used more as a tool of political repression. This culminated during the reign of Charles I who used Star Chamber to go after members of Parliament. This led Parliament to abolish Star Chamber

Question 24

Admiralty Court basics

Answer 24

Primarily concerned with incidents arising on the high seas, since there could be no jurors in the middle of the ocean and because international laws applied. Civil law with no jury. Primarily heard ship collisions, crew disputes, and libel (bringing action against ship and her owner) and grew in importance along with Britain’s naval dominance. Hated by the CL courts and subject to writs of prohibition

Question 25

Admiralty Courts and the Revolution

Answer 25

Vice Admiralty Courts in the US. Parliament began using them as a way of circumventing jury trials and attempted to expand the jurisdiction of these courts, leading to further resentment.

Question 26

Admiralty Court innovations

Answer 26

System of civil complaints closer to modern pleading. In America, the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture was an admiralty court and the first federal appellate court

Question 27

Court of Constable and Marshal

Answer 27

AKA Court of Chivalry. Initially had jx in matters of war, including prisoner transfer, but became essentially limited to litigating disputes over coats of arms. Was famously invoked in the 1950s for a coat of arms dispute despite being defunct for two centuries.

Question 28

Equity and common law in England vs America

Answer 28

Aside from certain states (such as DE) there was much more fusion between common law and equity in the US and it is fully fused in most areas. On the other hand, centuries of separation in England

Question 29

Civilian Lawyers

Answer 29

Lawyers who practiced laws before civil courts but not common law courts. Required to have a degree in civil law from university

Question 30

Doctors’ Commons

Answer 30

The HQ of civil lawyers in England. Also housed Courts of Admiralty, Chivalry and sometimes Ecc Courts

Question 31

High Court of Justice

Answer 31

The areas encompassed by civil law courts were transferred to the High Court of Justice in 1875