g. false charters or false
measures or false money) were punishable by death or loss of limb.
All murders were now punished alike because the applicability of
the murdrum couldn't be determined since it was impossible to
prove that the slain man had been English.
Trespass was a serious and forcible breach of the peace onto land
that developed from the criminal law of felony. One found guilty
of it could be fined and imprisoned as well as amerced.
House-breaking, harboring outlaws, and interference with the royal
perquisites of shipwreck and the beasts of the sea which were
stranded on the coast [such as whales and sturgeon] were also
punishable in the Royal Court.
The Royal Court had grown substantially and was not always
presided over by the King. To avoid court agents from having too
much discretionary power, there was a systematic procedure for
bringing cases to the Royal Court. First, a plaintiff had to apply
to the King's Chancery for a standardized writ into which the
cause had to fit. The plaintiff had to pay a fee and provide a
surety that the plea was brought in good faith. The progress of
the suit was controlled at crucial points by precisely formulated
writs to the sheriff, instructing him for instance, to put the
disputed property under royal protection pending a decision, to
impanel an assize and have it view the property in advance of the
justices' arrival, to ascertain a point of fact material to the
plea, or to summon a 'warrantor' to support a claim by the
defendant.
Pages:
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237