COMMON PLEAS, COURT OF

Common Pleas, Court of: translation

Established by Henry II in 1178, it comprised five members of his own council (the *curia regis) specifically to hear pleas - civil suits not involving the crown. However, this court was not wholly independent until *Magna Carta determined the need for a specific place for civil cases, i.e. in Westminster Hall. By 1272 it had acquired a chief justice. -

Cf. Certiorari