Pleas of the Crown
idea · 2 works · 5 mentions · 10 anchored passages
pleas of the Crown · royal pleas · criminal cases · placita coronae · pleas of the Scottish Crown · pleas of the crown
in the texts
Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John
The historic legal category of criminal business reserved to the King's justice, whose changing scope (English and Scottish) is the chapter's central subject.
The present chapter concerns itself only with “pleas of the Crown,” a phrase which had, even in 1215, considerably altered its original meaning.
The central courts extended their activity over all misdeeds, however trivial, until the whole realm of criminal law fell under the description of “pleas of the Crown.
The Kings of Scotland failed to crush their powerful vassals, and pleas of the Scottish Crown, exclusively reserved for the High Court of Justiciary, formed a meagre list—the four heinous crimes of murder, robbery, rape, and arson.
An Essay on the Trial by Jury
Legal category of criminal cases which royal officers are forbidden by Magna Carta to preside over.
” (No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold pleas of our crown.
It is a principle of Magna Carta, and therefore of the trial by jury, (for all parts of Magna Carta must be construed together,) that no judge or other officer appointed by the king, shall preside in jury trials, in criminal cases, or “pleas of the crown.