David J Cox - Crime in England 1688-1815

During the period covered by this book criminal cases were first brought before one or more justices of the peace (JP) or magistrates the terms are interchangeable at Petty Sessions courts, which were held as and when the need arose and which were usually convened at a local community venue such as a public house, or occasionally at a magistrates home. For more serious cases, magistrates (who were all male women were not allowed to sit as magistrates until 1919) could send the case up to Quarter Sessions, which, as their name implies, were held every quarter (January, April, July and October), usually in the county town. These were presided over by county magistrates and further differed from Petty Sessions in that presented cases were heard first before a Grand Jury (a body of influential propertied men who decided if a case should proceed to trial a system that also applied to the higher court of Assizes and which was not abolished until 1933), and then before a jury of twelve selected men (it was not until 1919 that women were given limited rights to sit on juries).1 In cases where the magistrates felt that they were unqualified to deal with the complex or serious nature of a crime (such as murder) defendants could be imprisoned for an often considerable period to await trial at the next County Assizes, which were presided over by State-appointed judges and which normally took place twice a year, usually in the county town, at Lent (March/April) and Trinity or Summer (July/August). Londons equivalent to the Assizes was the Old Bailey. A third Assize court the Winter Assizes could also be held if warranted by pressure of number of cases waiting to be tried in any particular year. The system of Petty Sessions, Quarter Sessions and Assizes was finally swept away by the passing of the Courts Act 1971 (19 & 20 Eliz. II c.23), which replaced the old system with Magistrates Courts (which deal with petty offences) and the Crown Court (which hears more serious criminal cases).