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11 Bell Yard: J.L. Soc'y Sch. L. 3 (1933)
The History of the Court of King's Bench

handle is hein.journals/belyrd11 and id is 7 raw text is: THE BELL YARD 3 The History of the Court of King's Bench. By Sm GEORGE A. BONNER. Tim word Court, or Curia Regis, signifies the King's Palace, and has always been generally understood as the place where justice is administered. Justice is the virtue by which we give to every man what is his due. The word justice also signifies an officer deputed by the Sovereign to do right by way of judgment, the Sovereign being considered as the fountain of justice, and general conservator of the peace of the kingdom. The position of a Sovereign as the fountain and source of justice seems to be co-existent with the establishment of monarchy itself. Both under the Saxons and under the Normans he summoned his subjects, within the territorial limits of his power, to attend his presence and submit to his justice. Although we all are aware of the supreme legislative authority of Parliament at this date, and that the King's claim to reign depends upon and is the result of Statute, His Majesty is still the Chief Magistrate of the nation, all others acting by commission from and in due subordination to him. The King's Court or Curia Regis was the early court or judgment seat where the Kings of England sat to administer justice. From time to time the Sovereign presided over the Court in person, but in the usual course justice was administered by his representative. The early Norman Kings held their Courts wherever their residence and household might be, and thus we find that Courts were held at Salisbury, Winchester, Gloucester and Westminster, among other places. The chief officer of this King's Court under the Normans was termed Justiciarius Regis or High Justiciar, and he presided in the Court in the absence of the King. During the absence of the King overseas in Normandy, or other possessions in France, the Chief Justiciar in fact acted as the King's Viceroy in England, thus combining administrative duties with judicial duties. Under the Norman Kings, as previously under the Saxon Kings, there were a number of inferior tribunals such as Sheriffs' Courts and the Courts Baron. As, however, in these tribunals there were many irregularities, it was found convenient to appoint a number of Itinerant Justices to go on circuits throughout the Kingdom to hear and determine pleas, both civil and criminal. Ultimately six circuits, with three Judges on each circuit, were established in the reign of Henry II by the Council of Northampton. In many ways these circuits may be said to be similar to the assizes held at the present day. A few years later King Henry II appointed five Justices, composed of two clerks and three laymen to hear all the

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