This article belongs to the lore of Astyria.

Judiciary of Great Nortend: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(7 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The '''Judiciary of Great Nortend''' is the branch of the [[Government of Great Nortend|government of Great Nortend]] that is responsible for resolving disputes between subjects as well as between the [[Government of Great Nortend#The Crown|Crown]] and subjects by maintaining and upholding the law of the land. The judicial system is split into the sessions courts and the Royal courts. The former are presided over mostly by lay-men, usually either appointed wardens of the peace or local officials. Whereas wardens of the peace and certain judicial officials can be removed by the Sheriff of the county, the stewards of the manorial sessions may only be removed by the respective Lord of the Manor. Royally appointed justices and commissioners sit on the Royal courts by writ, and can be only removed by the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]].
[[File:Gordon_Hewart_LCJ_by_John_Lander.jpg|thumb|200px|The Lord Justice of King's Chamber, Lord Blackett.]]
The '''judiciary of Great Nortend''' is the branch of the Erbonian [[Government of Great Nortend|government]] that is responsible for applying the law of [[Great Nortend]]. It is administered through His Majesty's Chancery, the Lord High Chancellour.


==The Law==
The Erbonian legal system is constitutionally based in the concept of “natural right”, which is manifested in the customs, precedents and statutes of the nation. The [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]] as the highest authority in the land, is font of right. The law is applied in the hierarchy of courts which dispense the King's justice.
 
==Law==
{{Main|Law of Great Nortend}}
{{Main|Law of Great Nortend}}
The Erbonian legal system is a mix of customary, regular, civil and statute law, based mostly on an adversarial system. There are five traditional categories of 'law'. These categories are: 1. Criminal law; 2. Civil law; 3. Admiralty law; 4. Martial law; 5. Canon law. The first two of these, criminal law and civil law, are known as chamber law. This is a broad term which refers to the mix of customary and regular law espoused in chamber precedents, i. e. precedents in judgments inrolled on the court rolls of the King's Chamber or Common Chamber, which give rise to the various traditional crimes and causes.
The intangible “natural right” is the foundation of Erbonian law. All customs, precedents and statutes are seen as the nation's expression of the “natural right” as applicable from time to time. Practically speaking, therefore, there are three main categories of law :— civil law, criminal law and canon law. These are traditionally considered to involve disputes of “Subject against Subject”, “Crown against Subject” and “God against Subject”.  
 
All of these specialised branches of law, such as military law, admiralty law, forest law, mining law, &c., fall into one of these three main categories.


There are different courts which apply these different categories of law. The courts can roughly be divided into the sessions, the chamber courts, and the official courts.  
==Courts==
[[File:Beverley_Guildhall_Courtroom.jpg|thumb|200px|The main court room in Gibbingham.]]
All Erbonian courts exercise the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign's]] prerogative, as the font of right, to “do right” to his subjects. There are two types of court :— the sessions courts and the royal courts. The former dispense “low justice” and deal with misdemeanours and civil quarrels between fellow vassals. The latter dispense “high justice” with the sole right to pass a sentence of death. They also deal with disputes between subjects under the jurisdiction of no single sessions court. There is a system of appeal from the lowest sessions court to the highest royal court.


The sessions are local courts based around the manor and county. They are not official courts of record, and have juries of suitours. They are presided over by non-professional judges, mainly recorders, stewards and wardens of the roll. While they apply chamber law, they have no power to create precedents by single judgment. Rather, new customary rules can be established over time, although this is quite rare nowadays. Most of the ancient law originates in the sessions.  
The sessions courts are local courts consisting of the manor sessions, the petty sessions and the general sesssions, which try with disputes within a manor, a hundred and the county at large respectively. They are presided over by lay judges, mainly recorders and yeomen of right. While they apply chamber law, they have no power to create precedents by their judgment. New customary rules can be established over time, although this is quite rare nowadays.


The chamber courts are filled with judges appointed by the Crown. They apply chamber law and statute law, and can create chamber precedents binding on other courts. The term also often includes the Courts of Eyre, though at law there is no such thing as a 'Court of Eyre'. Rather, individual judges of the two chambers are commissioned by the Crown by various writs of commission to go on circuit and dispense justice. The collection of officials in these writs of commission are also collectively known as the 'Eyre', although this term properly refers to the circuits which the Eyre goes on. An Eyre is unable to create chamber precedent itself; however, once the judgments of the Eyre are inrolled in the chamber rolls at the termination of the Eyre, they become at law chamber precedents.
The main Royal courts are the Court of Chancery Chamber, the Court of King's Chamber and the Court of Common Chamber, collectively known as the chamber courts, which deal with mostly canonical, criminal and civil matters respectively. The two secular courts are staffed by trained judges appointed under the Great Seal of the Realm to serve at the Sovereign's pleasure. Their judgments form the body of chamber law which is binding to an extent on themselves and lower courts upon inrolment on their respective chamber rolls. Furthermore, their justices periodically go on Eyre around the kingdom sitting as Courts of Eyre.  


The official courts are special courts which deal with Admiralty law, martial law and most importantly, canon law. They rely on statutes as well as "common conscience" to decide cases, rather than the precedents recorded on the court rolls. Canon law importantly provides a means of softening the rigour of the chamber courts. An important plea is that of ''mens corrupta'', which if successfully pleaded in chamber court criminal causes, can move the case into the canon law courts where there is no penalty of death though the burden of proof for the Crown is much lower.
Appeals from the chamber courts lie to the Court of Counsellours responding to petitions to the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]] himself. In fact, the court is a sitting of [[Parliament of Great Nortend|Parliament]], presenting its verdicts as “billae” to the Crown for assent. There are also specialised courts of Admiralty, of the Marischal and Constable, of Verders, &c. which exercise principally specialised delegated jurisdiction.


==Judges==
==Judges==
[[File:GNJudges.png|thumb|200px|Court dress of the justices of the Chamber Courts.]]
====Lords Justices====
The Lords Justices are the justices, or rather suitours, of the [[Courts_of_Great_Nortend#High_Court_of_Great_Council|Court of Counsellours]], where they are known as Law Counsellours. Lords Justices are appointed typically from senior chamber justices and are members of the [[Parliament of Great Nortend|House of Lords]], being created a [[Peerage of Great Nortend#Knight banneret|knight banneret]] by the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]]. Though they have full voting rights, by custom this is not exercised except in matters of law. The Lord Justice of Common Chamber and Lord Chief Justice are Lords Justices; however, they do not usually sit in the Court of Counsellours.
====Chamber Justices====
The Chamber Courts, being the [[Courts of Great Nortend#Court of King's Chamber|Court of King's Chamber]] and the [[Courts of Great Nortend#Court of Common Chamber|Court of Common Chamber]], have a total of thirteen justices. This includes two lords justices—the Lord Justice of Common Chamber and the Lord Chief Justice—as well as five and six puisne justices in the Common Chamber and King's Chamber respectively. All of the puisne justices are titled the Hon. Mr Justice A. B. whereas the lords justices are titled the Rt Hon. Lord Justice A. B.
All chamber justices are Serjeants at Law (''servientes ad legem''), and are customarily knighted as Knights Companion of the Order of the Mantle and Tippet, the tippet being a term used to refer to the liripipe of a hood. They are also made Doctors of Chamber Law, not to be confused with Doctors of Civil Law, for practitioners of canon law.


The dress of a chamber justice, as they are known, is shewn on the right. On festal occasions and red-letter days, all justices wear scarlet robes (row 1), lined in fur. The fur for the lords justices are of ermine, whereas miniver is used for puisne justices. With the scarlet robe is worn the scarf, hood and mantle. A black silk girdle is worn around the waist. A detachable wing collar is worn with white bands as well as a powdered full-bottomed wig. Gloves and lace cuffs are also worn and the black cap is carried. Court dress is worn underneath the robes.
===Lords Justices===
The Lord Justices are the main justices, or rather suitours, of the Court of Counsellours where they are known as Law Counsellours. Lord Justices are appointed typically from senior chamber justices and are members of the [[Parliament of Great Nortend|House of Lords]], being created [[Peerage of Great Nortend#Knight banneret|knights banneret]] by the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]]. Though they have full voting rights in the House, by custom this is not exercised except in matters of law. The Lord Justice of Common Chamber and Lord Justice of King's Chamber are Lord Justices. The Lord High Chancellour and Lord High Steuard preside over proceedings, but nowadays do not usually vote.


For normal sitting days, the justices wear scarlet robes lined in silk in summer and dark violet robes in the winter. The silk is silk velvet for the Lords Justices and silk taffeta for puisne justices. Traditionally it is of a mid-grey colour; however, lighter grey is increasingly popular, an innovation credited to Mr. Justice Rewhard.  
===Chamber Justices===
The secular chamber courts have a total of twenty-four justices appointed from the ranks of Serjeants at Law (''servientes ad legem''). There are two Lord Justices—the Lord Justice of Common Chamber and the Lord Justice of King's Chamber—as well as eleven puisne justices each. The Court of Chancery Chamber is presided over by the Lord High Chancellour with six puisne justices.


In 1983 the festal robes replaced the violet robes in winter for purposes of economy; however, in 2003 the return to historical practice was recommended to all justices by both the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellour, as it was found that wearing the scarlet robes all year wore them out quicker.
===Dress===
[[File:GNJudges.png|thumb|200px|Court dress of the royal justices.]]
On festal occasions and red-letter days, all justices wear scarlet robes lined in fur. The fur of all Lord Justices is ermine, whereas miniver is used for Chancery Chamber puisne justices, grys for the King's Chamber and black sable for the Common Chamber. A hood and mantle is worn with the robe with a black silk girdle around the waist. A detachable collar is worn with white bands or jabot as well as a powdered full-bottomed wig. Gloves and lace cuffs are also worn and the black cap is carried. Court dress is worn underneath the robes.


=====Court of Eyre=====
On normal sitting days, the justices wear scarlet robes in summer and crimson in the winter faced in white, grey or black silk, whether Chancery Chamber, King's Chamber or Common Chamber. This is worn with a casting-hood instead of the full hood. The casting-hood is a hood thrown by the liripipe behind the body, giving the effect of a sash. Justices wear with this 'undress' a short bench wig. Court dress is still worn underneath the robes.
{{See also|Courts of Great Nortend#Court of Eyre}}
The puisne justices when on circuit or eyre wear for normal sittings days a simplified or more informal version of the robes worn (row 3). The same robes are worn with a casting-hood instead of the full hood. The casting-hood is a hood thrown by the liripipe behind the body, giving the effect of a sash. Justices wear with this 'undress' a short bench wig. Court dress is worn underneath the robes.


===Addressing judges===
Sessions yeomen justices mostly wear plain black gowns over court dress. General sessions justices, sheriffs, and certain local or county dignitaries wear violet robes trimmed in some sort of silk or fur.
{{Main|Forms of address in Great Nortend#Judiciary}}


{{GNC}}
{{GNC}}

Latest revision as of 12:16, 28 January 2021

The Lord Justice of King's Chamber, Lord Blackett.

The judiciary of Great Nortend is the branch of the Erbonian government that is responsible for applying the law of Great Nortend. It is administered through His Majesty's Chancery, the Lord High Chancellour.

The Erbonian legal system is constitutionally based in the concept of “natural right”, which is manifested in the customs, precedents and statutes of the nation. The Sovereign as the highest authority in the land, is font of right. The law is applied in the hierarchy of courts which dispense the King's justice.

Law

Main article: Law of Great Nortend

The intangible “natural right” is the foundation of Erbonian law. All customs, precedents and statutes are seen as the nation's expression of the “natural right” as applicable from time to time. Practically speaking, therefore, there are three main categories of law :— civil law, criminal law and canon law. These are traditionally considered to involve disputes of “Subject against Subject”, “Crown against Subject” and “God against Subject”.

All of these specialised branches of law, such as military law, admiralty law, forest law, mining law, &c., fall into one of these three main categories.

Courts

The main court room in Gibbingham.

All Erbonian courts exercise the Sovereign's prerogative, as the font of right, to “do right” to his subjects. There are two types of court :— the sessions courts and the royal courts. The former dispense “low justice” and deal with misdemeanours and civil quarrels between fellow vassals. The latter dispense “high justice” with the sole right to pass a sentence of death. They also deal with disputes between subjects under the jurisdiction of no single sessions court. There is a system of appeal from the lowest sessions court to the highest royal court.

The sessions courts are local courts consisting of the manor sessions, the petty sessions and the general sesssions, which try with disputes within a manor, a hundred and the county at large respectively. They are presided over by lay judges, mainly recorders and yeomen of right. While they apply chamber law, they have no power to create precedents by their judgment. New customary rules can be established over time, although this is quite rare nowadays.

The main Royal courts are the Court of Chancery Chamber, the Court of King's Chamber and the Court of Common Chamber, collectively known as the chamber courts, which deal with mostly canonical, criminal and civil matters respectively. The two secular courts are staffed by trained judges appointed under the Great Seal of the Realm to serve at the Sovereign's pleasure. Their judgments form the body of chamber law which is binding to an extent on themselves and lower courts upon inrolment on their respective chamber rolls. Furthermore, their justices periodically go on Eyre around the kingdom sitting as Courts of Eyre.

Appeals from the chamber courts lie to the Court of Counsellours responding to petitions to the Sovereign himself. In fact, the court is a sitting of Parliament, presenting its verdicts as “billae” to the Crown for assent. There are also specialised courts of Admiralty, of the Marischal and Constable, of Verders, &c. which exercise principally specialised delegated jurisdiction.

Judges

Lords Justices

The Lord Justices are the main justices, or rather suitours, of the Court of Counsellours where they are known as Law Counsellours. Lord Justices are appointed typically from senior chamber justices and are members of the House of Lords, being created knights banneret by the Sovereign. Though they have full voting rights in the House, by custom this is not exercised except in matters of law. The Lord Justice of Common Chamber and Lord Justice of King's Chamber are Lord Justices. The Lord High Chancellour and Lord High Steuard preside over proceedings, but nowadays do not usually vote.

Chamber Justices

The secular chamber courts have a total of twenty-four justices appointed from the ranks of Serjeants at Law (servientes ad legem). There are two Lord Justices—the Lord Justice of Common Chamber and the Lord Justice of King's Chamber—as well as eleven puisne justices each. The Court of Chancery Chamber is presided over by the Lord High Chancellour with six puisne justices.

Dress

Court dress of the royal justices.

On festal occasions and red-letter days, all justices wear scarlet robes lined in fur. The fur of all Lord Justices is ermine, whereas miniver is used for Chancery Chamber puisne justices, grys for the King's Chamber and black sable for the Common Chamber. A hood and mantle is worn with the robe with a black silk girdle around the waist. A detachable collar is worn with white bands or jabot as well as a powdered full-bottomed wig. Gloves and lace cuffs are also worn and the black cap is carried. Court dress is worn underneath the robes.

On normal sitting days, the justices wear scarlet robes in summer and crimson in the winter faced in white, grey or black silk, whether Chancery Chamber, King's Chamber or Common Chamber. This is worn with a casting-hood instead of the full hood. The casting-hood is a hood thrown by the liripipe behind the body, giving the effect of a sash. Justices wear with this 'undress' a short bench wig. Court dress is still worn underneath the robes.

Sessions yeomen justices mostly wear plain black gowns over court dress. General sessions justices, sheriffs, and certain local or county dignitaries wear violet robes trimmed in some sort of silk or fur.

Retrieved from "https://iiwiki.us/mediawiki/index.php?title=Judiciary_of_Great_Nortend&oldid=304554"