The criminal court system in England and Wales until 1971.

The criminal court system in England and Wales was divided into several categories of court, in order of hierarchy as follows:

Petty sessions dealt with minor offences and were staffed by non-professional or lay judges, originally known as Justices of the Peace, now known as magistrates.)

Quarter sessions were held four times a year and were also presided over by Justices of the Peace. There were several towns and cities that could pass death sentences at Quarter Sessions. These were Berwick, Bristol, Exeter, King’s Lynn, Lichfield, Oxford, Peterborough and Yarmouth.

Assizes where the more serious criminal trials were heard. They were presided over by professional judges and were generally the only courts that could pass death sentences, although there were exceptions, as stated above. At this time in history judges rode on horseback from one county town to the next, trying all the people bought up before the assizes who had been charged with more serious criminal offences that could not be dealt with my magistrates or the Quarter Sessions.

The Court of King’s Bench was a Royal Court sitting at Westminster with an overriding jurisdiction over the other lower courts. It was dissolved in 1875 and replaced by the King’s Bench Division (or Queen’s Bench Division) of the High Court of Justice.

The assize system dates back to the 12th century and by the middle of the 16th century six assize circuits had developed each under the control of the Clerk of the Assize. The Assizes were normally held twice a year in Lent and Summer. I suspect the reason for this was the difficulty of travel by horseback in the winter. From the mid nineteenth century they could travel by train which was both quicker and safer. In some places, e.g. Lancaster, the Assize was only an annual event and therefore people could spend many months in prison awaiting trial.

In 1956 the assizes and quarter sessions were replaced by Crown Courts in Liverpool and Manchester. The Assize Court and Quarter Sessions system remained otherwise intact until 1971 when it was abolished by the Courts Act of that year and replaced by the present Crown Court system.

Defendants in the City of London and County of Middlesex were dealt with separately at the frequent Sessions of The Old Bailey.

The regions of England and Wales were divided into “circuits”, as the judges progressed from one county to the next by a circular route.

The six English Circuits given in the order of the counties to which the judges travelled were as follows:

The Home Circuit comprised the counties of Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Surrey.
The Lent assizes were held at Hertford, Chelmsford, Rochester alternating with Maidstone, Horsham and Kingston upon Thames, in that order. The summer assizes were held at Maidstone, Lewes and either Croydon or Guildford, generally in that order.

The Western Circuit covered the counties of Southamptonshire (present day Hampshire), Wiltshire, Dorset, Devonshire, Cornwall and Somerset. Assizes were also held in the County of the City of Exeter and the of the towns of Poole and Southampton. Only one trial has been traced for the City of Exeter Assizes.
The Lent assizes were held at Winchester, Salisbury, Dorchester, Exeter, Launceston, Taunton and Bristol, in that order. The summer assizes were held in Winchester, Salisbury, Dorchester, Exeter then Bodmin or Truro, and Wells or Bridgewater, normally in that order

The Norfolk Circuit covering the counties of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, together with the County of the City of Norwich.
The Lent assizes were held at Aylesbury, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford, in that order. The summer assizes were held at Buckingham, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and Norwich, in that order.

Midland Circuit covering the counties of Northamptonshire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire; together with the Counties of the City of Coventry and Lincoln and the Counties of the towns of Leicester and Nottingham.
Both Lent and Summer assizes were held at Northampton, Oakham, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Coventry and Warwick, in that order.

Northern Circuit covering the counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire, County Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland together with the County of the City of York and the Counties of the towns of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Kingston-upon-Hull. The Lent assizes were held at York and Lancaster. The Summer assizes were held at Durham, Newcastle, Carlisle and Appleby.

Oxford Circuit covering the counties of Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire; together with the Cities of Gloucester and Worcester. The Lent assizes were held at Reading, Oxford, Worcester, Stafford, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Monmouth and Gloucester, generally attended in that order. The Summer assizes were the same, except for Berkshire where they were held at Abingdon.

Wales, including Cheshire, had four circuits, known as the Great Sessions until 1830, after 1830 Wales became part of the assizes circuit system. The Circuits were:

The Brecon Circuit comprised the counties of Breconshire, Glamorganshire and Radnorshire.

The Carmarthen Circuit comprising Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

The Chester Circuit comprising Cheshire and Chester, Denbigh, Flintshire and Montgomeryshire.

The North Wales Circuit serving the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire.

Back to Contents Page