Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) EditionReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) Edition
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Bracton defines the requirements of a valid and effective gift as: "It
must be complete and absolute, free and uncoerced, extorted neither by
fear nor through force. Let money or service play no part, lest it fall
into the category of purchase and sale, for if money is involved there
will then be a sale, and if service, the remuneration for it. If a gift
is to be valid the donor must be of full age, for if a minor makes a
gift it will be ineffective since (if he so wishes) it shall be returned
to him in its entirety when he reaches full age. Also let the donor hold
in his own name and not another's, otherwise his gift may be revoked.
And let him, at the least, be of sound mind and good memory, though an
invalid, ill and on his death bed, for a gift make under such conditions
will be good if all the other [requirements] of a valid gift are met.
For no one, provided he is of good memory, ought to be kept from the
administration or disposition of his own property when affected by
infirmity, since it is only then that he must make provision for his
family, his household and relations, given stipends and settle his
bequests; otherwise such persons might suffer damage without fault. But
since charters are sometimes fraudulently drawn and gifts falsely taken
to be made when they are not, recourse must therefore be had to the
country and the neighborhood so that the truth may be declared."
In Bracton's view, a villein could buy his own freedom and the child of
a mixed marriage was free unless he was born in the tenement of his
villein parent.
- Judicial Procedure -
The Royal Court split up into several courts with different specialties
and became more like departments of state than offices of the King's
household. The justices were career civil servants knowledgeable in the
civil and canon law. The Court of the King's Bench (a marble slab in
Westminster upon which the throne was placed) traveled with the king and
heard criminal cases and pleas of the Crown. Any use of force, however
trivial, was interpreted as breach of the royal peace and could be
brought before the king's bench. Its records were the coram rege rolls.
The title of the Chief Justiciar of England changed to the Chief Justice
of England. The Court of Common Pleas heard civil cases brought by one
subject against another. Pursuant to the Magna Carta, it sat only at one
place, the Great Hall in Westminster. It had concurrent jurisdiction
with the King's Bench over trespass cases. Its records were the de banco
rolls. The Court of the Exchequer with its subsidiary department of the
Treasury was in almost permanent session at Westminster, collecting the
Crown's revenue and enforcing the Crown's rights.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account