The Court of Exchequer Chamber was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

for

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

civil actions before the reforms of the

Judicature Acts In the history of the courts of England and Wales, the Judicature Acts were a series of Acts of Parliament, beginning in the 1870s, which aimed to fuse the hitherto split system of courts of England and Wales. The first two Acts were the Supr ...

of 1873–1875. It originated in the fourteenth century, established in its final form by a statute of 1585. The court heard references from the King's Bench, the Court of Exchequer and, from 1830, directly rather than indirectly from the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

. It was constituted of four judges belonging to the two courts that had been uninvolved at

first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...

. In cases of exceptional importance such as the ''

Case of Mines The Case of Mines or ''R v Earl of Northumberland'' was decided in 1568. Rather than the usual four judges, a full panel of twelve common law senior judges, on appeal, decided “that by the law all mines of gold and silver within the realm, whe ...

'' (1568) and '' R v Hampden'' (1637) twelve common law judges, four from each division below, sitting in Exchequer Chamber, might be asked to determine a point of law, the matter being referred by the court hearing the case rather than the parties. Though further appeal to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

was possible, this was rare before the nineteenth century. As a rule, a judgment of the Exchequer Chamber was considered the definitive statement of the law. Certain judgments like ''Hampden'' (the case of

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

) caused political controversy. It was superseded by the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{English Exchequer Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales Legal history of England English civil law 14th-century establishments in England Courts and tribunals established in the 14th century 1875 disestablishments in England Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1875