The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales.
In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective palātīnus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palātium, "palace". It thus implies the exercise of a quasi-royal prerogative within a county, that is to say, a jurisdiction ruled by an earl, the English equivalent of a count. A duchy palatine is similar but is ruled over by a duke, a nobleman of higher precedence than an earl or count.
The Courts Act 1971 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and Wales, as well as effectively separating the business of the criminal and civil courts.
The County Palatine of Durham was a jurisdiction in the North of England, within which the bishop of Durham had rights usually exclusive to the monarch. It developed from the Liberty of Durham, which emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period. The gradual acquisition of powers by the bishops led to Durham being recognised as a palatinate by the late thirteenth century, one of several such counties in England during the Middle Ages. The county palatine had its own government and institutions, which broadly mirrored those of the monarch and included several judicial courts. From the sixteenth century the palatine rights of the bishops were gradually reduced, and were finally abolished in 1836. The last palatine institution to survive was the court of chancery, which was abolished in 1972.
The Law Terms Act 1830 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made various changes to the court system of England and Wales.
The Short Titles Act 1896 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Short Titles Act 1892.
The Chancery Amendment Act 1858 also known as Lord Cairns' Act after Sir Hugh Cairns, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed the English Court of Chancery, the Irish Chancery and the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster to award damages, in addition to their previous function of awarding injunctions and specific performance. The Act also made several procedural changes to the Chancery courts, most notably allowing them to call a jury, and allowed the Lord Chancellor to amend the practice regulations of the courts. By allowing the Chancery courts to award damages it narrowed the gap between the common law and equity courts and accelerated the passing of the Judicature Act 1873, and for that reason has been described by Ernest Pollock as "prophetic".
The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was a court of chancery that exercised jurisdiction within the County Palatine of Durham until it was merged into the High Court in 1972.
The Durham County Palatine Act 1858 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act 1883 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales statutes relating to civil procedure from 1495 to 1867 which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary. The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of the revised edition of the statutes, then in progress.
The Palatine Court of Durham Act 1889 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Durham County Palatine Acts 1836 to 1889. The Bill for this Act was the Palatine Court of Durham Bill. Lely said that this Act was of practical utility.
The Durham Chancery Act 1869 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Durham County Palatine Acts 1836 to 1889.
The Jurisdiction in Liberties Act 1535 was an Act of the Parliament of England curtailing the independent jurisdiction of liberties and counties palatine, bringing them more in line with the royal government of the shires. It was promoted by Thomas Cromwell. The geographical area of many of the liberties corresponded to monasteries which were to be dissolved. Opposition to the Act was a factor in the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt in Yorkshire in 1536.
The Criminal Procedure Act 1851 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was drafted by Charles Sprengel Greaves. Stephen said that compared to earlier legislation on defects in indictments, the Criminal Procedure Act 1851 "went further in the way of removing technicalities, but it did so by an enumeration of them, so technical and minute, that no one could possibly understand it who had not first acquainted himself with all the technicalities which it was meant to abolish."
The Court of Pleas of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, sometimes called the Court of Pleas or Common Pleas of or at Durham was a court of common pleas that exercised jurisdiction within the County Palatine of Durham until its jurisdiction was transferred to the High Court by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873. Before the transfer of its jurisdiction, this tribunal was next in importance to the Chancery of Durham. The Court of Pleas probably developed from the free court of the Bishop of Durham. The Court of Pleas was clearly visible as a distinct court, separate from the Chancery, in the thirteenth century.
The palatine courts of Durham were a set of courts that exercised jurisdiction within the County Palatine of Durham. The bishop purchased the wapentake of Sadberge in 1189, and Sadberge's initially separate institutions were eventually merged with those of the County Palatine.
Certain former courts of England and Wales have been abolished or merged into or with other courts, and certain other courts of England and Wales have fallen into disuse.
Sadberge was a wapentake in northern England until the 16th century. Named after the village of Sadberge, the wapentake covered land now in County Durham, north of the River Tees as far west as Barnard Castle and as far east as Hartlepool.
