The Court of Requests was a minor
equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
* Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the dif ...
court in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
. It was instituted by King
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
elements under
Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor and from servants of the King. It quickly became popular for its low cost of bringing a case and rapid processing time, earning the disapproval of the common law judges. Two formal judges, the "Masters of Requests Ordinary", were appointed towards the end of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's reign, with an additional two "Masters of Requests Extraordinary" appointed under
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
to allow two judges to accompany her on her travels around England (Latin: ''Regiae Majestati a Supplicum Libellis Magister''). Two more ordinary masters were appointed under
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...
, with the increasing volume of cases bringing a wave of complaints as the court's business and backlog grew.
The court became embroiled in a dispute with the common law courts during the late 16th century, who were angry at the amount of business deserting them for the Court of Requests. During the 1590s they went on the offensive, overwriting many decisions made by the Requests and preventing them from imprisoning anyone. It is commonly accepted that this was a death-blow for the court, which, dependent on the
Privy Seal
A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official documents of a much more personal nature. This is in contrast with that of a great seal, which is used for documents of greater impor ...
for authority, died when the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
made the seal invalid.
History
The precise origins of the Court of Requests are unknown.
Spence traces it back to the reign of
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
,
Leadam, rejecting Spence's case, claims there is no official record of the court's existence before 1493,
Pollard writes (based on documents discovered after Leadam's work) that it was in existence from at least 1465, while Alexander writes that it first appeared during the reign of the
House of York
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, ...
, and Kleineke states that it was created in 1485 by
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
. Whatever its origin, the court was created as part of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, following an order by the
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
that complaints and cases brought to the council by the poor should be expedited. This was as part of the Privy Council; it first became an independent tribunal with some Privy Council elements under
Henry VII, with jurisdiction mainly over matters of
equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
* Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the dif ...
. The court became increasingly popular due to the lack of cost in bringing a case to it and the speed at which it processed them, in contrast with the slow and expensive common law courts, arousing the ire of common law lawyers and judges.
The court originally followed the monarch on his travels around England, visiting
Sheen
Sheen may refer to:
Places
* Sheen or West Sheen, an alternative name for Richmond, London, England
** East Sheen
** North Sheen
** Sheen Priory
* Sheen, Staffordshire, a village and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands, England
* Sheenb ...
,
Langley Langley may refer to:
People
* Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name
* Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer
* Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
and
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
in 1494. Under
Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...
the court became fixed in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, hearing cases from poor people and from the servants of the king. It met at the
White Hall
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
of the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
and was often referred to as the Court of White Hall. Towards the end of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's reign, the court assumed a more professional status with the appointment of two "
Masters of Requests Ordinary" to serve as its judges, where the
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
alone had previously heard and delivered judgements. Two additional "Masters of Requests Extraordinary" were appointed under
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
to accompany her on her progresses around England. Under
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
two further Ordinary Masters were appointed, but despite this the court was criticised for the backlog arising from its increasing business.
When the court formally became an independent body in the 16th century, free of Privy Council control, it immediately became vulnerable to attack by the common-law courts, which asserted that it had no formal jurisdiction and that the
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
was an appropriate equitable body for cases. It was technically true that the court, as it was no longer part of the Privy Council, could not claim jurisdiction based on tradition, but in 1597
Sir Julius Caesar
Sir Julius Caesar (1557/155818 April 1636) was an English lawyer, judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1622. He was also known as Julius Adelmare.
Early life and education
Caesar was born near ...
(then a Master of Requests Ordinary) gave examples of times when the common law courts had recognised the Court of Requests' jurisdiction as recently as 1585. The common law courts change of heart was undoubtedly due to the large amount of business deserting them for the Court of Requests, and in 1590 they went on the offensive; writs of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' were issued for people imprisoned for contempt of court in the Requests, judgments were issued in cases the Court of Requests were dealing with and it was decided that jailing an individual based on a writ from the Court of Requests constituted false imprisonment. Most academics accept that the court never recovered from these blows, and when the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
made the privy seal inoperative, the court "died a natural death". The post of
Master of Requests was abolished in 1685.
Other courts of requests
Another court of requests was by act of the Common Council of the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
on 1 February 1518. It had jurisdiction over small debts under 40
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s between citizens and tradesmen of the City of London. The judges of the court were two
aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
and four ancient discreet commoners. It was also called the Court of Conscience in the
Guild Hall
A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...
, where it met. Under James I Acts of Parliament were passed regulating its procedure 1 James I ch.14 and 3 James I ch. 15. These were the first Acts of Parliament that gave validity to a court of requests.
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century small claims courts were established in various parts of England called "court of requests". The first of these was found in Southwark by 22 George II ch.47.
[Leadam (1898) p. liv] They were abolished by the
County Courts Act
County Courts Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and Victoria relating to county courts.
The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known as a County Courts Bill during its pass ...
1846.
See also
*
List of Masters of Requests
The Master of Requests was a Great Officer of State in the kingdoms of England and Scotland.
Masters of Requests (England)
In England the office was created in the 15th century and abolished in 1685. For main article, see Master of Requests (Eng ...
– Chronological list of Masters of Requests
*
Court of equity
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Spence, first=George, title=The Equitable Jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery. Volume 1 , place=London , publisher=V. and R. Stevens and G. S. Norton , date=1846 , url=https://archive.org/details/equitablejurisd01spenuoft/page/350/mode/1up
Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales
Courts of equity
1480s establishments in England
1640s disestablishments in England
Courts and tribunals established in the 1480s
Courts and tribunals disestablished in the 1640s
Palace of Westminster