Assizes

{{Short description|Periodic courts held around England and Wales until replaced by the Crown Court in 1972}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use British English|date=March 2026}}

[[File:Former Assizes, Northgate Street, Devizes - geograph.org.uk - 382929.jpg|thumb|alt=Former Assizes, Northgate Street, Devizes|[[Devizes Assize Court]], Northgate Street, [[Devizes]], [[Wiltshire]], England]] The '''assizes''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|s|aɪ|z|ɪ|z}}), or '''courts of assize''', were periodic courts held around England (and Wales after 1832) until 1972, when together with the [[quarter session]]s they were abolished by the [[Courts Act 1971]] and replaced by a single permanent [[Crown Court]]. The assizes exercised both [[Civil law (common law)|civil]] and [[English criminal law|criminal]] jurisdiction, though most of their work was on the criminal side.<ref>O Hood Phillips. ''[[A First Book of English Law]]''. Fourth Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1960. pp 54 & 55.</ref> The assizes heard the most serious cases, most notably those subject to [[capital punishment]] or, later, [[life imprisonment]]. Other serious cases were dealt with by the quarter sessions (local county courts held four times per year), while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by [[justice of the peace|justices of the peace]] in petty sessions (also known as [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]]s).

The word ''assize'' refers to the sittings or sessions ([[Old French]] ''assises'') of the judges, known as "justices of assize", who were judges 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== The courts of assize were the English equivalent of the still-existing French {{lang|la|Cours d'assise}}. The term is derived by [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|assise}} < [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|assise}} ("session, legal action" – past participle of {{lang|fro|asseoir}}, "to seat") < [[Vulgar Latin]] *''assedēre'' < [[Latin]] {{lang|la|assidēre}} ("to sit beside, aside, elsewhere") < {{lang|la|ad}} + {{lang|la|sedēre}} ("to sit").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assize |title=assize |work=Dictionary.com Unabridged |publisher=[[Reference.com|Dictionary.com]] |access-date=13 August 2011}}</ref>

== History == [[File:Diagram of common-law courts in England and Wales before the Judicature Acts.svg|thumb|alt=Diagram of common-law courts in England and Wales before the Judicature Acts|Diagram of common-law courts in England and Wales before the Judicature Acts]] With the [[Assize of Clarendon]] of 1166 [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]] established [[jury trial|trial by jury]] by a grand assize of twelve knights in land disputes, and itinerant justices to set up [[county court]]s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Henry II |last= Warren |first=W. L. |year=1973 |publisher=University of California Press |location= Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif. |isbn=0-520-02282-3 |pages=281–283 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8KrkVOxaT0C&q=%22Assize+of+Clarendon%22&pg=PA281 |oclc=724021 |access-date=13 August 2011}}</ref> Before [[Magna Carta]] was passed (enacted) in 1215, writs of assize had to be tried at [[Westminster]] or await trial at the septennial circuit of [[Justice in eyre|justices in eyre]]. The great charter provided for land disputes to be tried by annual assizes at more convenient places. This work soon expanded, becoming five commissions. In 1293, a statute was enacted which formally defined four assize circuits.<ref name="Cockburn_Page_17">{{cite book |last1=Cockburn |first1=J.S. |title=A History of English Assizes, 1558–1714 |date=1972 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521084499 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBU9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17}}</ref>

For centuries, many justices of the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of King's Bench]], those of the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]], and barons of the [[Exchequer of Pleas]] in some seasons of the year travelled around the country contributing to five commissions: their civil commissions were those of assize and of ''[[nisi prius]]''; their criminal law commissions were those of the peace, of [[oyer and terminer]] and for jail delivery (meaning clearing out of prisoners).

The second commission heard cases which plaintiffs sought to receive priority. From an Act passed in the reign of [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]] plaintiffs (claimants) could file pleadings at Westminster for the court to issue a writ to summon a jury to Westminster to appoint a time and place for hearing the causes there, stating the county of origin. Such writs used the words and form of ''nisi prius'' (Latin: "unless before"). The writ called the parties to Westminster (on a longstop date) 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. The commission of jail delivery required the justices to try all prisoners not yet tried by judges held in the jails.

Historically, all justices who visited [[Cornwall]] were also permanent members of the Prince's Council, which oversees the [[Duchy of Cornwall|Duchy]] and advises the Duke.<ref>Pearse, Richard. Aspects of Cornwall's Past, Dyllansow Truran, Redruth, 1983, p. 52.</ref> Before the creation of the Duchy, the Earls of Cornwall had control over the assizes. In the 13th century [[Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall]], feted as 'King of the Romans', moved the assizes to the new administrative [[Lostwithiel Stannary Palace|palace complex in Lostwithiel]] but they later returned to [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]].<ref>[[John MacLean (historian)]], Parochial History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor, vol 1, 1872</ref>

===19th and 20th centuries=== Few substantial changes occurred until the 19th century. From 1832 onwards, [[Wales]] and the [[County palatine|palatine county]] of [[Cheshire|Chester]], served by the [[Court of Great Sessions in Wales|Court of Great Sessions]], were merged into the circuit system. The commissions for (the City of) [[London]] and [[Middlesex]] were replaced with a [[Old Bailey|Central Criminal Court]], serving London's broadened metropolis, and county courts were established widely to hear many civil cases which had taken the writ-action form of ''nisi prius''.

The [[Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873]], which merged judges of equity and common law competing systems into the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales|Supreme Court of Judicature]], transferred the jurisdiction of the commissions of assize (e.g. the possessory assizes that heard actions relating to the dispossession of land) to the [[High Court of Justice]], and established district registries of the High Court across the country, leaving a minimal civil jurisdiction to the (travelling) assizes.

In 1956, crown courts<!-- separate crown courts before the single entity was created --> 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]].

==Circuits== {{For|Wales and Cheshire|Court of Great Sessions in Wales}} {{For|London and Middlesex|Old Bailey}} From 1293, sets of judges toured across four [[Circuit court|circuits]]; from 1328, six circuits which changed in content until an extra was added in 1876.<ref>Baker, J H. ''An Introduction to English Legal History''. Third Edition. Butterworths. 1990. p. 25.</ref> As at 1831 they were: * The Home Circuit: the [[Home Counties]] of [[Hertfordshire]], [[Essex]], [[Kent]], [[Sussex]] and [[Surrey]]. The Lent assizes were held at [[Hertford]], [[Chelmsford]], [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] (alternately with [[Maidstone]]), [[Horsham]] and [[Kingston upon Thames]], generally attended in that order. The summer assizes were held at Maidstone, [[Lewes]] and either [[Croydon]] or [[Guildford]], generally attended in that order. * The Midland Circuit: [[Northamptonshire]], [[Rutland]], [[Lincolnshire]], [[Nottinghamshire]], [[Derbyshire]], [[Leicestershire]], and [[Warwickshire]]. The assizes were held at [[Northampton]], [[Oakham]], [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]], [[Nottingham]], [[Derby]], [[Leicester]], Coventry and Warwick, generally attended in that order. * The Norfolk Circuit: [[Buckinghamshire]], [[Bedfordshire]], [[Huntingdonshire]], [[Cambridgeshire]], [[Suffolk]] and [[Norfolk]]. The Lent assizes were held at [[Aylesbury]], [[Bedford]], [[Huntingdon]], [[Cambridge]], [[Bury St Edmunds]] and [[Thetford]], generally attended in that order. The summer assizes were held at [[Buckingham]], the middle four aforesaid and [[Norwich]], generally attended in that order. * The [[Northern Circuit]]: [[Yorkshire]], [[Lancashire]], [[County Durham]], [[Northumberland]], [[Cumberland]] and [[Westmorland]]. The Lent assizes were held at [[York]] and [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], generally attended in that order. The summer assizes were held at York, [[Durham, England|Durham]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] and [[Appleby-in-Westmorland|Appleby]], generally attended in that order. * The Oxford Circuit: [[Berkshire]], [[Oxfordshire]], [[Worcestershire]], [[Staffordshire]], [[Shropshire]], [[Herefordshire]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]] and [[Gloucestershire]]. The Lent assizes were held at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], [[Oxford]], [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], [[Stafford]], [[Shrewsbury]], [[Hereford]], [[Monmouth]] and [[Gloucester]], generally attended in that order. The summer assizes were almost the same, substituting [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]] for Reading. * The Western Circuit: [[Hampshire]], [[Wiltshire]], [[Dorset]], [[Devon]], [[Cornwall]] and [[Somerset]]. The Lent assizes were held at [[Winchester]], [[Salisbury]], [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]], [[Exeter]], [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]], [[Taunton]] and [[Bristol]], generally attended in that order. The summer assizes were held at the first four aforesaid then [[Bodmin]] or [[Truro]], and then [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]] or [[Bridgwater]], generally attended in that order.<ref>[[Edward Mogg|Mogg, Edward]]. "Circuits of the judges" in ''[[Paterson's Roads]]''. Eighteenth Edition. London. 1831. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cxvNImjh8T0C&pg=PA712 p. 712].</ref>

Yorkshire was for a time removed from the Northern Circuit and placed on the Midland Circuit.

The North-eastern Circuit was formed in 1876 and contained Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland.<ref>"The Northern Circuit" (1915) 138 The Law Times [https://books.google.com/books?id=KHIvAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA301 301]</ref> By 1960 these seven circuits saw no longer a Home nor a Norfolk Circuit, instead a [[South-eastern Circuit]] and a Wales and Chester Circuit.<ref>O Hood Phillips. ''A First Book of English Law''. Fourth Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1960. p. 54.</ref> In 1972, the Midland Circuit and the Oxford Circuit were combined and became the [[Midland and Oxford Circuit]].<ref>Christopher Hibbert and Edward Hibbert. ''The History of Oxford''. MacMillan. 1988. p. 109. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wIBnAAAAMAAJ Google Books].</ref><ref>Lord Chancellor's Dept. ''Review of the criminal courts of England and Wales: Report''. The Stationery Office. 2001. p. 285. [https://books.google.com/books?id=d7RKAQAAIAAJ Google Books].</ref>

Each had its own [[call to the bar|bar]] and mess (also called a circuit mess or bar mess). The mess was a society of those jurists practising on the circuit. The bar was its barristers' subset.<ref>The Earl of Halsbury. [[Halsbury's Laws of England|The Laws of England]]. First Edition. Butterworth. 1908. [[S:Halsbury's Laws of England (First Edition)/Volume 2|Volume 2]]. p. 367.</ref><ref>(1966) 76 The Listener 380 [https://books.google.com/books?id=t25BAQAAIAAJ Google Books]</ref><ref>"Circuit and Bar Messes" (1970) 56 ABA Journal [https://books.google.com/books?id=OjP-pFq2PBQC&pg=PA239 239]</ref><ref>[[Richard Meredith Jackson]]. Jackson's Machinery of Justice. Eighth Edition. Cambridge University Press. 1989. {{ISBN|978-0521317672}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=v6MbUW6XyLUC&pg=PA458 p. 458].</ref><ref>Allyson Nancy May. The Bar and the Old Bailey, 1750–1850. UNC Press. 2003. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ePFVub--l7AC&pg=PA134 p. 134].</ref>

[[Circuits of England and Wales|Circuits continue today]] with similar functions as [[professional association]]s for barristers and administrative divisions for judges.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Other organisations |url=https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/about/about-the-bar/other-organisations.html |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=www.barcouncil.org.uk}}</ref>

== Assize records == [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] holds most of the surviving historical records of the assizes.<ref>The National Archives research guide: [https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/criminal-trials-assize-courts-1559-1971/ Criminal trials in the assize courts 1559-1971]</ref>

==See also== * {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Assize|volume=2}} * Cockburn, J S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=VBU9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR5 ''A History of English Assizes, 1558–1714'']. Cambridge University Press. 1972.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary|assize|position=left}}

{{Judiciary of England and Wales|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:Legal history of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales]] [[Category:Judiciary of Sri Lanka]] [[Category:1972 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1972]]