England Overview of Assize Courts (National Institute)

Criminal Courts
Criminal laws are for the prevention of conduct contrary to and unacceptable by the community, and transgression leads to retribution. Civil Law is concerned with solving disputes between individuals by means of courts or tribunals. In some societies over time and in different countries there has been little distinction between the two. In England there has been a gradual evolution and different offences have been tried in various courts at various times.

Chart: Classes of Crime

Quarter Sessions handled summary offences and misdemeanours, but sometimes heard felonies. The Assizes were supposed to hear only serious criminal cases, but in practice some minor ones are found in their records. The reasons are no doubt complex but some may be related to the convenience of the court, and to the expenses of arrest, detention in gaol, and proceedings. The county paid the bill for the quarter sessions whilst the central government paid for the assizes. In order to reduce the burden on county funds local magistrates might commit as many prisoners to the assize as they thought reasonable.

Assize Courts
Assize courts handled felonies, the more serious criminal offences, from the 13th century when pairs of judges from King’s Bench started going on circuits twice a year to administer unbiased justice, usually before juries. The circuits were based on groups of counties and remained in existence until 1971 when they became crown courts.

Chart: Assize Circuits and Special Jurisdictions

Many calendars of assize records have been published, often with lengthy introductions explaining the system. As an example, the Home Circuits for Elizabeth I and James I have been published by Cockburn who has nine chapters describing the workings of the courts, but most of the book consists of:


 * Kent gaol delivery roll 1596-1604.
 * Prison deaths on the Home Circuit 1559-1625.
 * Number of Trial Juries sworn and Prisoners arraigned 1559-1623.
 * Jury verdicts 1559-1624.
 * Disposition of male and female suspect felons 1559-1624.
 * Pardons on the Home Circuit 1559-1603.
 * Then there are illustrations, transcripts, translations and indexes of persons, places and subjects.

Hilton (The Assizes Come to Town. Bygone Kent Vol 19 #2, page 107-111.) describes the ceremony and tradition associated with the arrival of the assizes in town.

The General Eyre
The General Eyre (from the Latin itinere, meaning on journey), established by William I, was a precursor of the assizes. Representatives of the crown, the Justices (or Judges) in Eyre inspected local administration, audited royal revenues and heard civil cases in local courts but rather infrequently. The General Eyre was suspended in 1294, and completely abandoned in the late 14th century, by which time the assize system of circuit judges from King’s Bench was established. Friar has a succinct summary of these events and TNA research guide L20 describes the records from 1194-1294.

Examples of published material, each with useful introductions to the Eyres, include the roll for Derbyshire in 1281 (Hopkinson) and Devon for 1238 (Summerson).

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