1.
Baillif
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Baillif is a commune of Guadeloupe, an overseas region and department of France located in the Lesser Antilles. Baillif is a suburb of Basse-Terre, the prefecture and second largest urban area of Guadeloupe located on Basse-Terre Island. In 1637, Governor De L’Olive conceded a parcel of land to the Dominican monks, from the Fathers’ river to that of Baillif, under the leadership of Father Labat, several fortresses were built in Baillif to protect the region from English invasion. The Dominicans came to preach the news of Jesus. The commune is named after an inhabitant, Robert Baillif. Baillif traded in the area from 1650 to about 1700, today, Baillif is often considered to be a suburb of the prefecture of Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre, and with its small regional airfield, it acts as a gateway to the islands in the south. Marie-Lucile Breslau was elected mayor of Baillif, Baillif is situated on the south-west coast of Basse-Terre Island and it covers an area of 24.3 km2. The town is west of Basse-Terres mountain range, the capital of Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre, is south of Baillif, and Vieux-Habitants, a village, is located north. La riviere de Père flows halfway between Baillif and Basse-Terre, like any other Eastern Caribbean settlement, Baillif experiences quite evenly spread rainfall during the year, with a wetter season between July and November which coincides with hurricane season. Guadeloupe has been struck by hurricanes which have caused devastation. The town receives below 1500 mm of rainfall, tropical heat is the norm, bringing constant highs of around 32 °C that drop to 20 °C at night. Trade winds, called alizés, blow from the northeast and often temper the climate, Baillif has mainly an agricultural sector a. Mixed crops such as bananas, cocoa and coffee are grown and they are shipped to the port or the airport to be transported. Today, an industrial and commercial zone is under development, supplementing the Jarry zone, with its small regional airfield, it acts as a gateway to the islands in the south. At the entry to the town, there is a 4 m tower as evidence of this historical past called the “Père Labat Tower”. Further while going towards Vieux-Habitants, is the “engraved rocks” of Plessis, La Parc national de la Guadeloupe is a magnificent tropical forest of almost 66 square miles, which has been a designated National Park since 1989. It has lots of well marked hiking trails of varying degrees of difficulty and its lush vegetation provides shelter for an exotic wildlife, free from poisonous animals. With its waterfalls, cascades, basins, parks and different plantations…it reveals all its natural charm and it is located in the mountain range from Belle Hotesse to La Soufriere
2.
Middle English
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This stage of the development of the English language roughly followed the High to the Late Middle Ages. Middle English developed out of Late Old English, seeing many dramatic changes in its grammar, pronunciation and this largely forms the basis for Modern English spelling, although pronunciation has changed considerably since that time. Middle English was succeeded in England by the era of Early Modern English, by that time, a variant of the Northumbrian dialect was developing into the Scots language. During the Middle English period many Old English grammatical features were simplified or disappeared, noun, adjective and verb inflections were simplified, a process that included the reduction of most grammatical case distinctions. Middle English also saw an adoption of Norman French vocabulary, especially in areas such as politics, law. Everyday English vocabulary remained mostly Germanic, with Old Norse influence becoming apparent, significant changes in pronunciation took place, especially for long vowels and diphthongs, which in the later Middle English period began to undergo the Great Vowel Shift. Little survives of early Middle English literature, most likely due to the Norman domination, poets wrote both in the vernacular and courtly English. It is popularly believed that William Shakespeare wrote in Middle English, the latter part of the 11th century was a period of transition from Late Old English to Early Middle English. The influence of Old Norse certainly helped move English from a synthetic language towards a more analytic or isolating word order and it was, after all, a salutary influence. The gain was greater than the loss, there was a gain in directness, in clarity, and in strength. The change to Old English from Old Norse was substantive, pervasive and it is most important to recognise that in many words the English and Scandinavian language differed chiefly in their inflectional elements. The body of the word was so nearly the same in the two languages only the endings would put obstacles in the way of mutual understanding. In the mixed population which existed in the Danelaw these endings must have led to confusion, tending gradually to become obscured. This blending of peoples and languages resulted in simplifying English grammar. There are also many Norman-derived terms relating to the cultures that arose in the 12th century. Sometimes, and particularly later, words were taken from Latin, giving such sets as kingly, later French borrowings came from standard rather than Norman French, this leads to such cognate pairs as warden, guardian. The end of Anglo-Saxon rule did not, of course, change the language immediately, the general population would have spoken the same dialects as before the Conquest, these changed slowly until written records of them became available for study, which varies in different regions. Once the writing of Old English came to an end, Middle English had no standard language, Early Middle English has a largely Anglo-Saxon vocabulary, but a greatly simplified inflectional system
3.
Old French
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Old French was the Gallo-Romance dialect continuum spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century. In the 14th century, these came to be collectively known as the langues doïl. The mid-14th century is taken as the period to Middle French. The areal of Old French in contemporary terms corresponded to the parts of the Kingdom of France, Upper Burgundy. As part of the emerging Gallo-Romance dialect continuum, the langues doïl were contrasted with the langue doc, in these examples, we notice a clear consequence of bilingualism, that sometimes even changed the first syllable of the Latin words. Pope estimated that perhaps still 15% of the vocabulary of modern French derives from Germanic sources, at the third Council of Tours in 813, priests were ordered to preach in the vernacular language, since the common people could no longer understand formal Latin. The second-oldest document in Old French is the Eulalia sequence, which is important for reconstruction of Old French pronunciation due to its consistent spelling. The Capetians langue doïl, the forerunner of modern standard French, did not begin to become the common speech of all of France, however, until after the French Revolution. In the Late Middle Ages, the Old French dialects diverged into a number of distinct langues doïl, during the Early Modern period, French now becomes established as the official language of the Kingdom of France throughout the realm, also including the langue doc-speaking territories in the south. Old French gives way to Middle French in the mid-14th century, the earliest extant French literary texts date from the ninth century, but very few texts before the 11th century have survived. The first literary works written in Old French were saints lives, the Canticle of Saint Eulalie, written in the second half of the 9th century, is generally accepted as the first such text. The first of these is the area of the chansons de geste. More than one hundred chansons de geste have survived in three hundred manuscripts. The oldest and most celebrated of the chansons de geste is The Song of Roland, a fourth grouping, not listed by Bertrand, is the Crusade cycle, dealing with the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath. Jean Bodels other two categories—the Matter of Rome and the Matter of Britain—concern the French romance or roman, around a hundred verse romances survive from the period 1150–1220. From around 1200 on, the tendency was increasingly to write the romances in prose, the most important romance of the 13th century is the Romance of the Rose which breaks considerably from the conventions of the chivalric adventure story. The Occitan or Provençal poets were called troubadours, from the word trobar to find, lyric poets in Old French are called trouvères. By the late 13th century, the tradition in France had begun to develop in ways that differed significantly from the troubadour poets
4.
Vogt
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The territory or area of responsibility of a Vogt is called a Vogtei. The term also denotes a mayor of a village, the range of social status and degrees of responsibility of persons so titled varied greatly, from the humble—the equivalents of the English reeve or bailiff—to the very elevated. The concept of the Vogt was related to the Old German idea of the Munt, or guardian, such representatives had been assigned to the church since late antiquity, as it was not supposed to act for itself in worldly affairs. Beyond that, he administered the high justice instead of the count from the Vogt court, in the German-ruled Holy Roman Empire, the term Vogt can refer to two different offices, church vogt or imperial vogt. Imperial vogts are further subdivided into land vogts and city vogts, in addition, the term vogt was used for administrative officers of territorial rulers, such as bailiffs. In private and family monasteries the proprietor himself often also held the office of Vogt, in Austria, the teaching of the Church that, according to canon law individuals were prohibited from exercising authority over Church property, was only with reluctance accepted by the nobles. An imperial Vogt was an officer of the king, who served as administrator and judge of a subdivision of royal property, the seat of an imperial Vogt was often at an imperial city. When the imperial cities gained more independence, the office was split into city Vogt for the cities, the offices of city volts were usually bought by the imperial cities by the late Middle Ages, which led to the independence of the cities. Most land Vogt offices became meaningless as the amount of property was reduced more and more in favor of territorial rulers. The land Vogt office of the Alsace, consisting of the ten cities of the Décapole, was ceded to the king of France in 1648. However, the cities were soon annexed by France. Several small land votes continued to exist until the end of the Empire in 1806, the title of Landvogt appears in the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1415. A Landvogt ruled a Landvogtei, either representing a sovereign canton, or acting on behalf of the Confederacy, or a subset thereof, in the case of condominiums, the cantons took turns in appointing a Landvogt for a period of two years. In exceptional cases, the population of the Landvogtei was allowed to elect their own Landvogt and this concerned Oberhasli in particular, which was nominally a subject territory of Berne, but enjoyed a special status as a military ally. The office of Landvogt was abolished in 1798, with the foundation of the Helvetic Republic, the monarchs reigning in Madrid and Vienna controlled these through governors known variously as landvoogd or gouverneur-generaal. The status of protective lordship, however, in relation to ecclesiastical estates as held, there is no single equivalent in English history. The office of reeve was much the same at a village or peasant level, in France, the office of vidame, the temporal administrator for certain bishoprics, showed some connection. The most frequent translations in that connection are either advocate or lord protector, in medieval Poland the title of Wójt was used to denote hereditary heads of towns
5.
Vogt (Switzerland)
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A Vogt was a title in the Old Swiss Confederacy, inherited from the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, corresponding to the English reeve. The German term Vogtei is ultimately a loan from Latin vocatia and they were represented by local lieutenants. The second type of Vogtei was a Landvogtei where the Landvogt resided permanently, usually in a castle within the Landvogtei known as Landvogteischloss, there are several buildings still so identified, e. t. in Baden and in Willisau. A Landvogt was an official acting on behalf of the Confederacy or a one or several cantons, ruling a condominium of several cantons, the title first appears in 1415. The cantons took turns in appointing a Landvogt for a period of two years, in exceptional cases, the population of the Landvogtei was allowed to elect their own Landvogt. This concerned Oberhasli in particular, which was nominally a subject territory of Bern, the office of Landvogt was abolished in 1798, with the foundation of the Helvetic Republic. The notion of fremde Vögte is central to Swiss national mythology, the foreign Vögte were replaced by native Ammänner called into office by the Landsgemeinde. The term fremde Vögte is still in use polemically in Swiss politics, particularly by conservatives, in the context of Switzerland, gemeine Herrschaften Talschaft Reichsvogt Zwing und Bann Landammann Vogt in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
6.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
7.
Amtmann
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The Amtmann or Ammann was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most senior retainer of an Amt, the office of a territorial lord created to manage the estates of manors. The estates were both administrative as well as juridical districts, the Amtmann was usually a member of the nobility or a cleric. In towns, he was often a member of the wealthy classes amongst the citizenship. He resided in an Amthaus or Amtshaus and collected taxes from the district, administered justice and maintained law and order with a small, later, the word Beamter superseded the older word Amtmann and has come to mean official or civil servant. The word Amtmann is derived from ambet-ambachtos - one sent round, Celtic, Latin ambactus envoy, herold, servant, French, ambassadeur, ambassador. By contrast, the Icelandic word ambátt, female slave and the Norwegian ambått room maid, maiden, in Holstein during the Danish era the Amtmann was the senior official of a sovereign department. As head of the administration he was subordinate from 1546 to the ministry in Copenhagen, the Amtmann was also a secular judge of the trial court and, together with the Propst or provost, made up the ecclesiastical court or consistory. In a literary testimony to the office, Detlev von Liliencron wrote a ballad called Pidder Lüng in which there is an Amtmann of Tønder, called Henning Pogwisch. In Switzerland the Ammann was an office, since the Middle Ages, elected by the citizens who was the leader of the executive of a canton, a town or a parish. Today in Germany, an Amtmann is the title for an official of pay band A11 in the upper service level of the German Civil Service. In the Austrian state of Burgenland, Amtmann is the title of a municipal official, the feminine form, Amtfrau has become widely accepted. For a time the word Amtmännin was also used instead of Amtfrau and this term was formerly the norm in several German states and the federal administration. It has however largely disappeared, albeit in the Federal Customs Administration the title Zollamtmännin has been chosen, in Switzerland, a female Landammann is usually titled and referred to as Frau Landammann. Amman Ammann Bezirksamtmann Hans-Cord Sarnighausen, Die alten Amtschreiber und Amtmänner, in, Zeitschrift für Niederdeutsche Familienkunde, Issue 4/2000, pp. 147-152
8.
Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
9.
Saxons
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The Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes first mentioned as living near the North Sea coast of what is now Germany, in the late Roman empire. They were soon mentioned as raiding and settling in many North Sea areas, as well as pushing south inland towards the Franks. Significant numbers settled in parts of Great Britain in the early Middle Ages. Many Saxons however remained in Germania, where they resisted the expanding Frankish Empire through the leadership of the semi-legendary Saxon hero, the Saxons earliest area of settlement is believed to have been Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein. This general area also included the probable homeland of the Angles, Saxons, along with the Angles and other continental Germanic tribes, participated in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain during and after the 5th century. The British-Celtic inhabitants of the isles tended to refer to all of these collectively as Saxons. It is unknown how many Saxons migrated from the Continent to Britain, the Saxons may have derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known. The seax has a symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word Saxon. The Elizabethan era play Edmund Ironside suggests the Saxon name derives from the Latin saxa, Their names discover what their natures are, More hard than stones, in the Celtic languages, the words designating English nationality derive from the Latin word Saxones. The most prominent example, a loanword in English, is the Scottish Gaelic Sassenach and it derives from the Scottish Gaelic Sasunnach meaning, originally, Saxon, from the Latin Saxones. Scots- or Scottish English-speakers in the 21st century usually use it as a term for an English person. The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1771 as the date of the earliest written use of the word in English. Sasanach, the Irish word for an Englishman, has the same derivation, as do the words used in Welsh to describe the English people, Cornish terms the English Sawsnek, from the same derivation. In the 16th century Cornish-speakers used the phrase Meea navidna cowza sawzneck to feign ignorance of the English language, England in Scottish Gaelic is Sasainn. Other examples include the Welsh Saesneg, Irish Sasana, Breton saoz, and Cornish Sowson, Sowsnek, the label Saxons was also applied to German settlers who migrated during the 13th century to southeastern Transylvania. From Transylvania, some Saxons migrated to neighbouring Moldavia, as the name of the town, Sas-cut, sascut is located in the part of Moldavia that is today part of Romania. The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the term Saxony over the centuries to denote now the country of Germany
10.
England in the High Middle Ages
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A disputed succession and victory at the Battle of Hastings led to the conquest of England by William of Normandy in 1066. This linked the crown of England with possessions in France and brought a new aristocracy to the country that dominated landholding, government and they brought with them the French language and maintained their rule through a system of castles and the introduction of a feudal system of landholding. By the time of Williams death in 1087, England formed the largest part of an Anglo-Norman empire, ruled by nobles with landholdings across England, Normandy, Williams sons disputed succession to his lands, with William II emerging as ruler of England and much of Normandy. On his death in 1100 his younger brother claimed the throne as Henry I and defeated his brother Robert to reunite England and Normandy. Henry was a ruthless yet effective king, but after the death of his male heir in the White Ship tragedy. When Henry died in 1135 her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself proclaimed king, leading to a war known as The Anarchy. Eventually Stephen recognised Matildas son Henry as his heir and when Stephen died in 1154, Henry, considered the first Angevin king of England, had extensive holdings in France and asserted his authority over Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He clashed with his appointee to the Archbishopric of Canterbury Thomas Becket, resulting in Beckets murder, the later part of his reign was dominated by rebellions involving his sons and Philip II of France that forced him to accept his son Richard as sole heir. Richard acceded to the Angevin inheritance on Henrys death in 1189, on his return journey he was taken hostage in Germany and a huge ransom was paid in order to secure his release in 1194. He spent the remainder of his reign restoring his lands in France and his younger brother John succeeded in England, and fought a successful war against Richards nephew Arthur for control of the French possession. Johns behaviour led to rebellions by the Norman and Angevin barons that broke his control of the continental possessions and his attempt to retake Normandy and Anjou was defeated at the Battle of Bouvines. This weakened his position in England, eventually resulting in the treaty called Magna Carta, which limited power. His death in 1216 is considered by historians to mark the end of the Angevin period. The Normans adopted many Anglo-Saxon governmental institutions, but the system concentrated more power in the hands of the king. The rights and roles of women became more sharply defined, noblewomen remained significant cultural and religious patrons and played an important part in political and military events. During the twelfth century divisions between conquerors and the English began to dissolve and they began to consider superior to their Celtic neighbours. The conquest brought Norman and French churchmen to power, new reformed religious and military orders were introduced into England. By the early thirteenth century the church had won its argument for independence from the state
11.
High sheriff
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The office existed in what is now the Republic of Ireland but was abolished there in 1926. In England and Wales, the term High Sheriff arose to distinguish sheriffs of counties proper from sheriffs of cities and boroughs designated counties-of-themselves but not counties properly speaking. These cities and boroughs no longer have sheriffs except for the City of London, in England and Wales the offices civil enforcement powers exist but are not exercised by convention. The office was termed that of sheriff until 1 April 1974, except in the City of London and their jurisdictions, the shrieval counties, are no longer co-terminous with administrative areas, representing a mix between the ancient counties and more recent local authority areas. The post contrasts with that of sheriff in Scotland, who is a sitting in a sheriff court. The word sheriff is a contraction of the shire reeve. The term, from the Old English scīrgerefa, designated an official responsible for keeping the peace throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king. The term was preserved in England notwithstanding the Norman Conquest, the office of sheriff had its origins in the 10th century, the office reached the height of its power under the Norman kings. While the sheriffs originally had been men of standing at court. The Provisions of Oxford established a yearly tenure of office, the appointments and duties of the sheriffs in England and Wales were redefined by the Sheriffs Act 1887. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 the office previously known as sheriff was retitled high sheriff, the serving high sheriff submits a list of names of possible future high sheriffs to a tribunal which chooses three names to put to the Sovereign. The nomination is made on 12 November every year and the term of office runs from 25 March, no person may be appointed twice in three years, unless there is no other suitable person in the county. These officers nominate three candidates for each county in England and Wales, which are enrolled on a parchment by the Queens Remembrancer, the practice of pricking is an ancient custom used to appoint the high sheriffs of England and Wales. In February or March of each year, two parchments prepared the previous November are presented to the Sovereign at a meeting of the Privy Council, a further parchment is drawn up in November for Cornwall and presented to the Duke of Cornwall. Certain eligible persons nominate candidates for each county shrievalty, one of whom is chosen for each by the Sovereign. In practice, the first name on the list is always the one chosen. The Sovereign signifies assent by pricking the document with a silver bodkin by the relevant name for each county, the parchment for the Duchy of Lancaster is known as the Lites, and the ceremony of selection known as Pricking the Lites. The term lites, meaning list, was reserved for Yorkshire
12.
Hundred (county division)
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It is still used in other places, including South Australia. Other terms for the hundred in English and other languages include wapentake, herred, herad, hérað, härad or hundare, Harde, Satakunta or kihlakunta, kihelkond and cantref. In Ireland, a subdivision of counties is referred to as a barony. The name hundred may be derived from the number 100, it may once have referred to an area liable to provide 100 men under arms and it was a traditional Germanic system described as early as AD98 by Tacitus. Similar systems were used in the traditional administrative regimes of China, the term hundred is first recorded in the laws of Edmund I as a measure of land and the area served by a hundred court. The Hundred Ordinance, which dates to the middle of the century, provides that the court is to meet monthly, the name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place. During Norman times, the hundred would pay geld based on the number of hides. To assess how much everyone had to pay, a clerk and a knight were sent by the king to each county, they sat with the shire-reeve, of the county, there would be two knights from each hundred. After it was determined what geld had to be paid, the bailiff and knights of the hundred were responsible for getting the money to the sheriff, above the hundred was the shire, under the control of a sheriff. Hundred boundaries were independent of both parish and county boundaries, although often aligned, meaning that a hundred could be split between counties, or a parish could be split between hundreds. Exceptionally, in the counties of Kent and Sussex, there was a sub-division between that of the hundred and the shire, several hundreds were grouped together to form lathes in Kent and rapes in Sussex. At the time of the Norman conquest of England, Kent was divided into seven lathes, the system of hundreds was not as stable as the system of counties being established at the time, and lists frequently differ on how many hundreds a county had. In many parts of the country, the Domesday Book contained a different set of hundreds from that which later became established. The numbers of hundreds in each county varied wildly, Leicestershire had six, whereas Devon, nearly three times the size, had 32. Over time, the functions of the hundred became the administration of law. By the 12th century, the court was held twelve times a year. This was later increased to fortnightly, although an ordinance of 1234 reduced the frequency to every three weeks. In some hundreds, courts were held at a place, while in others
13.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
14.
Channel Islands
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The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, and although they are not part of the United Kingdom, it is responsible for the defence, the Crown dependencies are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations nor of the European Union. They have a population of about 168,000. The total area of the islands is 198 km2, the two bailiwicks have been administered separately since the late 13th century, each has its own independent laws, elections, and representative bodies. Any institution common to both is the rather than the rule. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is divided into three jurisdictions – Guernsey, Alderney and Sark – each with its own legislature, the term Channel Islands began to be used around 1830, possibly first by the Royal Navy as a collective name for the islands. The permanently inhabited islands of the Channel Islands are, Jersey Guernsey Alderney Sark Herm Jethou Brecqhou There are also several uninhabited islets and they are an incorporated part of the commune of Granville. While they are popular with visitors from France, Channel Islanders rarely visit them as there are no transport links from the other islands. Chausey is referred to as an Île normande, Îles Normandes and Archipel Normand have also, historically, been used in Channel Island French to refer to the islands as a whole. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean, the earliest evidence of human occupation of the Channel Islands has been dated to 250,000 years ago when they were attached to the landmass of continental Europe. The islands became detached by rising sea levels in the Neolithic period, hoards of Armorican coins have been excavated, providing evidence of trade and contact in the Iron Age period. Evidence for Roman settlement is sparse, although evidently the islands were visited by Roman officials, the Roman name for the Channel Islands was I. Lenuri and is included in the Peutinger Table The traditional Latin names used for the islands derive from the Antonine Itinerary, gallo-Roman culture was adopted to an unknown extent in the islands. In the sixth century, Christian missionaries visited the islands, samson of Dol, Helier, Marculf and Magloire are among saints associated with the islands. In the sixth century, they were included in the diocese of Coutances where they remained until reformation. The islands were inhabited by Britons, who also inhabited Wales, south west England, from the beginning of the ninth century, Norse raiders appeared on the coasts. Norse settlement succeeded initial attacks, and it is from this period that many names of Norse origin appear. In 933, the islands were granted to William I Longsword by Raoul King of Western Francia, in 1066, William II of Normandy invaded and conquered England, becoming William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror
15.
Palace of Westminster
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The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster. The palace is owned by the monarch in right of the Crown and for ceremonial purposes, the building is managed by committees appointed by both houses, which report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker. The first royal palace was built on the site in the 11th century, part of the New Palaces area of 3.24 hectares was reclaimed from the Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300-metre long façade, called the River Front. Barry was assisted by Augustus Pugin, an authority on Gothic architecture and style. The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom, Westminster has become a metonym for the UK Parliament, the Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The Palace of Westminster site was important during the Middle Ages. Known in medieval times as Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster. Neither the buildings used by the Anglo-Saxons nor those used by William I survive, the oldest existing part of the Palace dates from the reign of William Is successor, King William II. The Palace of Westminster was the principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis, met in Westminster Hall, simon de Montforts parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265. The Model Parliament, the first official Parliament of England, met there in 1295, in 1512, during the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residential area of the palace. In 1534, Henry VIII acquired York Place from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and by the various law courts. Because it was originally a residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies were held in the Painted Chamber which had originally built in the 13th century as the main bedchamber for King Henry III. The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, the Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in St Stephens Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward VI
16.
Dover Castle
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Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent. It was founded in the 11th century and has described as the Key to England due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England, the site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD43. This is suggested on the basis of the pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of the castle, there have also been excavations on the mound which the church and Roman Pharos are situated on, which has been discovered to be a Bronze Age mound. On the site is a classic montrol where the Normans landed after their victorious conquest, after the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William the Conqueror and his forces marched to Westminster Abbey for his coronation. They took a route via Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey. From the Cinque Ports foundation in 1050, Dover has always been a chief member—it may also have been this that first attracted Williams attention, in the words of William of Poitiers, Then he marched to Dover, which had been reported impregnable and held by a large force. The English, stricken with fear at his approach had confidence neither in their ramparts nor in the numbers of their troops. While the inhabitants were preparing to surrender unconditionally, greedy for money, set the castle on fire, having taken possession of the castle, the Duke spent eight days adding new fortifications to it. The Castle was first built, entirely out of clay and it collapsed to the ground and the clay was then used as the flooring for many of the ground-floor rooms. It was during the reign of Henry II that the castle began to take recognisable shape, the inner and outer baileys and the great keep belong to this time. Maurice the Engineer was responsible for building the keep, one of the last rectangular keeps ever built, in 1216, a group of rebel barons invited the future Louis VIII of France to come and take the English crown. He had some success breaching the walls, but was ultimately to take the castle. During the siege, the English defenders tunnelled outwards and attacked the French and this can still be seen in the medieval works. During the time of Stephen de Pencester, a windmill was erected on Tower 22, by the Tudor age, the defences themselves had been superseded by gunpowder. They were improved by Henry VIII, who made a personal visit, during the English Civil War it was held for the king but then taken by a Parliamentarian trick without a shot being fired in 1642. This work was overseen by General William Roy, the other English viewpoint used to make measurements across to Cap Blanc Nez in France was at Fairlight, East Sussex
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County court
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Since 2014, England and Wales have had what is officially described as a single civil court named the County Court, with unlimited financial jurisdiction. However it should be understood there are County Court buildings and courtrooms throughout England and Wales. It is a civil court in the sense of a single centrally organised and administered court system. County court districts did not have the boundaries as counties. Today the court sits in many County Court centres, currently corresponding to the old county courts. County Court matters can be lodged at a court in person, cases are normally heard at the court having jurisdiction over the area where the claimant lives. Most matters are decided by a judge or circuit judge sitting alone. Civil matters in England do not have juries, judges in the County Court are either former barristers or former solicitors, whereas in the High Court they are more likely to have formerly been a barrister. Civil claims with an amount in controversy under £10,000 are dealt with in the County Court under the small claims track. Claims between £5,000 and £25,000 that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the fast track and claims over £25,000 to the multi track. These tracks are labels for the use of the court system - the actual cases will be heard in the County Court or the High Court depending on their value, for personal injury, defamation, and some landlord-tenant dispute cases the thresholds for each track have different values. Appeals are to a judge, the High Court of Justice or to the Court of Appeal. In debt cases, the aim of a claimant taking County Court action against a defendant is to secure a County Court judgment and this is a legal order to pay the full amount of the debt. County Court judgments are recorded in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and this information is used in consumer credit scores, making it difficult or more expensive for the defendant to obtain credit. In order to avoid the record being kept for years in the register, if the debt was not fully paid within the statutory period, the entry will remain for six full years. County court is the given to the intermediate court in some Australian states. They hear indictable criminal offences except for treason, murder, in some states the same level of court is called a district court. Below them are the magistrates courts, above them are the state supreme courts
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Lord Chancellor
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The Lord Chancellor, formally the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. They are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking after only the Lord High Steward. Prior to the Union there were separate Lords Chancellor for England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet and, by law, is responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts. In 2007 there were a number of changes to the legal system, the current Lord Chancellor is Elizabeth Truss, who is also Secretary of State for Justice. One of the Lord Chancellors responsibilities is to act as the custodian of the Great Seal of the Realm, a Lord Keeper of the Great Seal may be appointed instead of a Lord Chancellor. The two offices entail exactly the same duties, the distinction is in the mode of appointment. The seal is then said to be in commission, since the 19th century, however, only Lord Chancellors have been appointed, the other offices having fallen into disuse. The office of Lord Chancellor of England may trace its origins to the Carolingian monarchy, in England, the office dates at least as far back as the Norman Conquest, and possibly earlier. Some give the first Chancellor of England as Angmendus, in 605, other sources suggest that the first to appoint a Chancellor was Edward the Confessor, who is said to have adopted the practice of sealing documents instead of personally signing them. A clerk of Edwards, Regenbald, was named chancellor in some documents from Edwards reign, in any event, the office has been continuously occupied since the Norman Conquest. The chancellor headed the office or chancery. Formerly, the Lord Chancellor was almost always a churchman, as during the Middle Ages the clergy were amongst the few men of the realm. The Lord Chancellor performed multiple functions—he was the Keeper of the Great Seal, the royal chaplain. Thus, the position emerged as one of the most important ones in government and he was only outranked in government by the Justiciar. As one of the Kings ministers, the Lord Chancellor attended the curia regis or Royal Court, if a bishop, the Lord Chancellor received a writ of summons, if an ecclesiastic of a lower degree or, if a layman, he attended without any summons. The curia regis would later evolve into Parliament, the Lord Chancellor becoming the prolocutor of its upper house, as was confirmed by a statute passed during the reign of Henry VIII, a Lord Chancellor could preside over the House of Lords even if not a Lord himself. The Lord Chancellors judicial duties also evolved through his role in the curia regis, petitions for justice were normally addressed to the King and the curia, but in 1280, Edward I instructed his justices to examine and deal with petitions themselves as the Court of Kings Bench. Important petitions were to be sent to the Lord Chancellor for his decision, by the reign of Edward III, this chancellery function developed into a separate tribunal for the Lord Chancellor
19.
Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
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High Bailiff
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The High Bailiff is a legal position held within the Isle of Man. The High Bailiff is the head stipendiary magistrate, the current High Bailiff is His Worship John Needham, who took office on 30 January 2010 on the retirement of Mr Michael Moyle. Mr Needham was previously Clerk to the Justices, the current Deputy High Bailiff is Her Worship Jayne Hughes. The High Bailiff and his deputy are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, the High Bailiff and Deputy High Bailiff are ex officio Judicial Officers of the High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man and Coroners of Inquests. Originally there was a High Bailiff of each of the four towns of the Island, Castletown, Ramsey, Peel, in 1911 the offices of High Bailiff of Castletown and Douglas, and the offices of High Bailiff of Peel and Ramsey, were merged. Those offices were merged in turn in 1933 to form a single office of High Bailiff of the Isle of Man
21.
The Crown
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The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their sub-divisions, although the term is not only a metonym for the State. The Crown is a sole that represents the legal embodiment of executive, legislative. These monarchies are united by the union of their monarch. The concept of the Crown developed first in the Kingdom of England as a separation of the crown and property of the nation state from the person. The concept spread through English and later British colonisation and is now rooted in the lexicon of the other 15 independent realms. In this context it should not be confused with any physical crown, the concept of the Crown took form under the feudal system. Though not used this way in all countries that had this system, in England, all rights, land, for instance, was granted by the Crown to lords in exchange for feudal services and they, in turn, granted the land to lesser lords. One exception to this was common socage—owners of land held as socage held it only to the Crown. The Crown as ultimate owner of all property also owns any property which has become bona vacantia, the monarch is the living embodiment of the Crown and, as such, is regarded as the personification of the state. He office cannot exist without the office-holder, the Crown also represents the legal embodiment of executive, legislative, and judicial governance. While the Crowns legal personality is usually regarded as a sole, it can, at least for some purposes. Historically, the Crown was considered to be indivisible, two judgments—Ex parte Indian Association of Alberta and Ex parte Quark —challenged that view. The Crown in each of the Commonwealth realms is a similar, because both Canada and Australia are federations, there are also crowns in right of each Canadian province and each Australian state. The Succession to the Crown Law 2013 defined the Crown, for the purposes of implementing the Perth Agreement in Jersey law, as the Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Legislation in the Isle of Man also defines the Crown in right of the Isle of Man as being separate from the Crown in right of the United Kingdom and this constitutional concept is also worded as the Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The reserve powers of the Crown for each territory are no longer considered to be exercisable on the advice of the UK government, often cases are brought by the Crown according to the complaint of a claimant. The title of the case follows the pattern of R v Y. Thus R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, where Miller is Gina Miller, in Scotland, criminal prosecutions are undertaken by the Lord Advocate in the name of the Crown
22.
Jurat
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In Guernsey and Jersey, the Jurats, as lay people, are judges of fact rather than law, though they preside over land conveyances and liquor licensing. In Alderney, however, the Jurats are judges of fact and law in both civil and criminal matters. Under the ancien régime in France, in towns, of the south-west, such as La Rochelle and Bordeaux. The title was borne by officials, corresponding to aldermen, in the Cinque Ports. There are two bodies, consisting each of twelve jurats, for the Bailiwicks of Jersey and of Guernsey respectively and they form, with the Bailiff as presiding judge, the Royal Court in each Bailiwick. In Guernsey and Jersey, the Jurats, as lay people, are judges of fact rather than law, though they preside over land conveyances, in Alderney, however, the Jurats are judges of both fact and law in both civil and criminal matters. Although no longer a political post, the office of Jurat is still considered the highest elected position to which a citizen can aspire, however, in Alderney, Jurats are appointed by the Crown, following a recommendation from the President of Alderney. In Jersey, the power to raise excise duties was exercised by the Assembly of Governor, Bailiff, in 1948 the jurats were replaced in the legislature by directly-elected senators. Jurats now serve until retirement as non-professional judges of fact and they also determine sentences in criminal matters and assess damages in civil matters. There are twelve Jurats at any one time, who are elected by an electoral college constituted of States Members and members of the legal profession. The robes of jurats are red with black trim, the Royal Court sits either as the Inferior Number or the Superior Number. Only the Superior Number can impose sentences of imprisonment of more than four years, the Superior Number also acts as a court of first appeal in respect of sentences handed down by the Inferior Number. Otherwise, Appeals from the Inferior Number and the Superior Number are heard by the Jersey Court of Appeal, thereafter, any appeal would be heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sitting in London. Jurats also sit on the Islands Licensing Assembly and customarily serve as autorisés to oversee polling at public elections, in 2009, a report raised concerns about potential conflicts of interests, and recommended that membership of the board should include independent members of the public. In Guernsey, the Jurats are still elected by the States of Election, made up of the Islands judiciary, Law Officers, the Royal Court of Guernsey sits either as the Ordinary Court or the Full Court. The robes of jurats are purple, the court of Alderney consists of six Jurats and the Judge of Alderney. Juror Lay judge Capitoul, the equivalent office in Toulouse This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. How to become a Jurat in Jersey
23.
England and Wales
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The devolved National Assembly for Wales was created in 1999 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and provides a degree of self-government in Wales. The powers of the Assembly were expanded by the Government of Wales Act 2006, which allows it to pass its own laws, there is no equivalent body for England, which is directly governed by the Parliament and the government of the United Kingdom. During the Roman occupation of Britain, the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit, at that time, most of the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages, and were all regarded as Britons, divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit and this aimed to replace Welsh criminal law with English law. Welsh law continued to be used for civil cases until the annexation of Wales to England in the 16th century, the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 then consolidated the administration of all the Welsh territories and incorporated them fully into the legal system of the Kingdom of England. Prior to 1746 it was not clear whether a reference to England in legislation included Wales and this specified that in all prior and future laws, references to England would by default include Wales. The Wales and Berwick Act was repealed in 1967, although the definition of England it created is preserved for acts passed prior to its repeal. Since the Acts repeal what was referred to as England is now England and Wales, while references to England, England and Wales are treated as a single unit, for most purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of Scots law was guaranteed under the 1706 Treaty of Union that led to the Acts of Union 1707, thus, most laws applicable to England also applied to Wales. However, Parliament now passes laws applicable to Wales and not to England, examples are the Welsh Language Acts 1967 and 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998. Measures and Acts of the National Assembly for Wales passed since the Government of Wales Act 2006 also apply in Wales, following the Government of Wales Act, effective since May 2007, the National Assembly for Wales can legislate on matters devolved to it. Following a referendum on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law-making powers and this was the first time in almost 500 years that Wales had its own powers to legislate. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an Act of the Assembly, outside of the legal system the position is mixed. Some organisations combine as England and Wales, others are separate, some religious denominations organise on the basis of England and Wales, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, but also small denominations, e. g. the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Prior to the disestablishment of the Church in Wales in 1920, the Electoral Commission maintains a register of political parties, organised according to where the party operates. The order of precedence in England and Wales is distinct from those of Northern Ireland and Scotland, the national parks of England and Wales have a distinctive legislative framework and history. Courts of England and Wales Judiciary of England and Wales Cultural relationship between the Welsh and the English Geography of Wales Geography of England British Isles
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Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service
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Her Majestys Courts and Tribunals Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 by the merger of Her Majestys Courts Service and it works from about 600 locations across the United Kingdom. The courts over which it has responsibility are the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the courts. The Chief Executive is responsible for the operations and administration of the agency. Her Majestys Courts and Tribunals Service is an agency, in contrast with the Scottish Court Service which is not subject to the control of a Minister in any way. However, it is unique in being such an agency and having constitutional accountability to judges as well as the Lord Chancellor, the framework document says that the agency is accountable to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and the Senior President of Tribunals. This provides a unique partnership between all three in relation to the governance, financing and operation of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. For example, where the Board cannot reach agreement, its Chair will refer the issue in question to the Lord Chancellor, any amendment of the framework document must be agreed between all parties, and laid before Parliament. Furthermore, the Lord Chief Justice is entitled to terminate the partnership if either concludes that it is no longer compatible with his position or the independence of the judiciary. Incumbent Her Majestys Courts and Tribunals Service website Her Majestys Courts and Tribunals Service Guidance website Judiciary of England and Wales website Crime and justice
25.
Arrest warrant
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An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individuals property. Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code, czech courts may issue an arrest warrant when it is not achievable to summon or bring in for questioning a charged person and at the same time there is a reason for detention. Following the arrest, the police must within 24 hours either hand the arrested person over to the nearest court or release the person, the court must immediately interview the arrested person, who has the right to have an attorney present, unless the attorney is not within reach. The court has 24 hours from the moment of receiving the person from the police to either order remand or to release him, reaching the maximum time is always reason for immediate release. Interventions into the freedom of a person are only allowed through the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany under certain conditions, in article 104 the fundamental law determines that a freedom confinement which exceeds a maximum of 48 hours can only be ordered by a Haftrichter. The former is called vorläufige Festnahme, the latter is named Haftbefehl, the procedure for issuing arrest warrants differs in each of the three legal jurisdictions. In England & Wales, arrest warrants can be issued for both suspects and witnesses, in Scotland, a Warrant to Apprehend may be issued if a defendant has failed to appear in court. In Northern Ireland arrest warrants are issued by a magistrate. For the police to make a lawful arrest, the officer must have either probable cause to arrest. Federal statute and most jurisdictions mandate the issuance of an arrest warrant for the arrest of individuals for misdemeanors that were not committed within the view of a police officer. However, as long as police have the probable cause, a warrant is usually not needed to arrest someone suspected of a felony in a public place. In a non-emergency situation, an arrest of an individual in their home requires an arrest warrant. Probable cause will be founded on direct observations by the police officer, or on hearsay information provided by others to the police. ”The individual issuing the arrest warrant need not be a judge or an attorney. While arrest warrants are issued by courts, they may also be issued by one of the chambers of the United States Congress or other legislatures. The arrest warrant must, to comply with the Fourth Amendment, if the arrest warrant does not contain such a description, it is invalid—even if the affidavit submitted by the police or the warrant application contained this requisite information. An example of the usage of word is as follows. Minutes of the Commissioners for detecting and defeating Conspiracies in the State of New York, Albany County Sessions, vol.1, Page 90 In police jargon, these writs are sometimes referred to as a writ of capias, defined as orders to take a person or assets. Capias writs are issued when a suspect fails to appear for a scheduled adjudication, hearing
26.
Distraint
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Distraint or distress is the seizure of someone’s property in order to obtain payment of rent or other money owed, especially in common law countries. Distraint typically involves the seizure of goods belonging to the tenant by the landlord to sell the goods for the payment of the rent, in the past, distress was often carried out without court approval. Article 61 of the Magna Carta extended the law of distraint to the monarchs properties, in England in 1267 the Statute of Marlborough was passed making distraint unlawful without a court order. Chapter 1 of the Statute of Marlborough 1267 provided that, all persons as well of high as of low estate were to receive justice in the Kings court. No individual was to be entitled to seek revenge or distress of his own authority against his neighbour for any damage or injury suffered without first obtaining an award from the court. Distress in this context was a summary remedy designed to secure performance of an obligation or settlement of an outstanding debt, first, it was the bedrock of the notion that all citizens, irrespective of rank, were entitled to seek civil justice through the Kings court or courts. Secondly, it laid down a prohibition on taking the law into their own hands. That prohibition was reinforced with criminal penalties, the goods are held for a given amount of time, and if the rent is not paid, they may be sold. Certain goods are protected against distraint – these are called privileged goods and this permits forced entry to the debtors premises by the HMRC distraint officer. Any additional costs incurred from obtaining the warrant are passed onto the debtor, also in the UK, forced entry is also permitted if the distress warrant is for amounts of a criminal nature, court fines for instance. The use of forced entry for these purposes is covered in the Domestic Violence, Crime, in the United Kingdom, there have been proposals to reform the remedy of distraint. The Lord Chancellors Department in May 2001 issued the consultation paper Enforcement Review Consultation Paper No and it was thought that distraint would be abolished in the UK when the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, s. In the case of distraint by the government for collection of taxes. In Sweden, distraint is performed by the Swedish Enforcement Authority, bank assets and similar are taken first, but if needed the Enforcement Authority can visit peoples homes, assisted by the police. Goods needed for a standard of living are protected, like clothes, TV-sets. Protected items that are expensive can be replaced with cheaper, goods found in the home, but belonging to others, e. g. to the girlfriend, can also be taken unless it is proven who it belongs to. Homes can be sold, and everyone living there might be evicted. Attachment collection agency conversion Quia Emptores self-help sequestration tax levies foreclosure warrant sale theft Media related to Distraint at Wikimedia Commons
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Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
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The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. The department is responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law. The ministry was formed in May 2007 when some functions of the Home Secretary were combined with the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the latter had replaced the Lord Chancellors Department in 2003. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system. Responsibility for devolution was then transferred to the position of Deputy Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice have joint responsibility for a commission on a British bill of rights, the vast majority of the Ministry of Justices work takes place in England and Wales. The ministry has no responsibility for devolved criminal justice policy, courts, the ministry is therefore responsible for all aspects of the criminal law, including the scope and content of criminal offences. The prison population in England and Wales has risen because politicians of both parties wanted to show they were tough on criminals and this led to overcrowding and increase in other problems like violence, self-harm and suicide. The Ministry of Justice is the department that facilitates communication between the Crown dependencies i. e. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and the UK Government. These are self-governing possessions of the British monarch, through her titles as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and it processes legislation for Royal Assent passed by the insular legislative assemblies and consults with the Islands on extending UK legislation to them. It also ensures that relevant UK legislation is extended to the islands smoothly, the Ministry has outlined its aims for the 2011–15 Parliament in its structural reform plan, which commits the department to,1. Develop court reforms to improve the resolution of disputes, maximise efficiency and improve services and work with others to make delivery of justice more effective. Assure better law Assure that law-making is transparent and accountable, safeguarding civil liberties, Reform how the ministry delivers its services Reform the way the Ministry of Justice works. Reassess its ways of working to develop more efficient shared services, match its provision ever more closely to demand, reduce duplication, the departmental board has overall responsibility for delivery of the structural reform plan. It publishes progress against the plan on the 10 Downing Street website, official website Ministry of Justice resources for legal professionals Ministry of Justice organogram from data. gov. uk
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Tipstaff
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The Tipstaff is an officer of a court or, in some countries, a law clerk to a judge. The duties of the position vary from country to country and it is also the name of the rod of authority of such a person or police officer. The emblem of two crossed tipstaffs is used to denote the rank of assistant chief constable or commander in the UK police service, the office of the Tipstaff is thought to have been created in the 14th century. One of the earliest records of the Tipstaff was mentioned in 1570 and it is a position of both law enforcement and ceremonial duties. This is also quoted in the book Five English Reformers by J. C, ryle The name originates from the early law enforcement officers who would apprehend a person intended for arrest by enforcing their duty, if necessary, with a tipped staff or stave. The staff was made of wood or metal or both, topped with a crown, the crown, which unscrewed, could be removed to reveal inside the hollow staff a warrant appointing the holder to his position of authority. Some staffs were definitely a means of protection and this is where the present day policemans baton originates, examples remain at the Royal Courts of Justice and the Metropolitan Police museum in London and vary depending on the type and rank of officer. These tipstaves were first carried in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when detectives were first authorised the tipstaves issued to plain clothes officers from 1867 were re-issued in 1870 engraved Metropolitan Police officer in plain clothes. The staff kept at the Royal Courts of Justice is now used on ceremonial occasions. It is 12 inches in length and made of ebony decorated with a silver crown, around the middle is inscribed AMOS HAWKINS, TIPSTAFF COURTS OF CHANCERY and around the bottom is inscribed Appointed 14th January,1884, by the Rt. The Earl of Selborne, L. C. ” with another coats of Royal Arms, the date was that on which this staff was first used, soon after the Law Courts were opened. Prior to 1884, each Tipstaff had his own staff, which he retained when he retired, in Australia, a tipstaff is roughly equivalent to a law clerk in the United States. The term is used principally in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and it is the latter to which this section refers. They are authorised to force if necessary and will have a police officer present to prevent breach of the peace. The relevant territorial police force are informed of arrests, sometimes a local bailiff or police will detain a person in custody until the Tipstaff arrives to collect him and take him to court or prison. Pentonville Prison is obliged to take into custody‚ no matter the situation‚ any people taken there by the Tipstaff, Tipstaff may make the same demands of the custody suite within the RCJ itself, and they are obliged to take into custody any individual brought to them by him. The Tipstaff heads the Lord Chancellor and judges in a procession at the start of the new legal year‚ preceding them with his staff as a symbol of authority, the black uniform‚ only worn on ceremonial occasions‚ is based on that of a Victorian police inspector. They wear a hat with gold braid trimmings and jacket with silver buttons‚ a wing collar with a white bow tie
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Environment Agency
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The Environment Agencys stated purpose is, to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole so as to promote the objective of achieving sustainable development. Protection of the environment relates to such as flood and pollution. The vision of the Agency is of a rich, healthy and diverse environment for present and it is organised into eight directorates that report to the chief executive. There are two policy and process directorates, one deals with Flood and Coastal Risk Management and the other with Environment and Business. These are backed up by the Evidence directorate, the fourth directorate is a single Operations delivery unit, responsible for national services, and line management of all the Regional and Area staff. The remaining directorates are central shared service groups for Finance, Legal Services, Resources, in support of its aims, the Agency acts as an operating authority, a regulatory authority and a licence authority. The agency is funded in part from the UK government Department for Environment, Food, funding for asset management and improvement and acquisition of flood risk management assets has traditionally come from local authorities via Flood Defence Committees. This was then effectively repaid by central Government in later years as part of the Formula Spending Share, in 2005 this was simplified by making a direct transfer from Treasury to the Environment Agency in the form of Flood Defence Grant in Aid. The Environment Agencys total funding in 2007–08 was £1,025 million, of that total, £628 million was provided in the form of flood defence grant-in-aid from government. In addition, £347 million was raised through statutory charging schemes and flood defence levies, in 2007–08 had an operational budget of £1.025 billion, of which £628m was grant from the Agencys sponsoring Government Departments. Approximately half the Agencys expenditure is on flood risk management, of the remainder, 12% goes to water resources, and 6% to other water functions including navigation and wildlife. Its chief executive is Sir James Bevan, Sir Philip Dilley resigned as chairman on 11 January 2016, with Emma Howard Boyd becoming acting chair. The Environment Agency was created by the Environment Act 1995, and it had responsibility for the whole of England and Wales but with specifically designated border arrangements with Scotland covering the catchment of the River Tweed. All of the bodies were disbanded and the local authorities relinquished their waste regulatory role. At the same time, the Agency took responsibility for issuing warnings to the public. On 1 April 2013, that part of the Environment Agency covering Wales was merged into Natural Resources Wales, the Environment Agency is the principal flood risk management operating authority. It has the power to flood risk from designated main rivers. These functions in relation to other rivers in England are undertaken by Local Authorities or internal drainage boards, the Environment Agency is also responsible for increasing public awareness of flood risk, flood forecasting and warning and has a general supervisory duty for flood risk management
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Constable
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A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions, a constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other persons may be granted powers of a constable without holding the title of constable, historically, the title comes from the Latin comes stabuli and originated from the Roman Empire, originally, the constable was the officer responsible for keeping the horses of a lord or monarch. The title was imported to the monarchies of medieval Europe, and in many developed into a high military rank. However, in the Channel Islands a constable is an elected office-holder at the parish level, historically, a constable could also refer to a castellan, the officer charged with the defense of a castle. Even today, there is a Constable of the Tower of London, an equivalent position is that of Marshal, which derives from Old High German marah horse and schalh servant, and originally meant stable keeper, which has a similar etymology. The position of constable originated from the Roman Empire, by the 5th century AD the Count of the Stable was responsible for the keeping of horses at the imperial court. The West European term constable itself was adopted, via the Normans, as konostaulos in the Komnenian and Palaiologan periods, in most medieval nations, the constable was the highest-ranking officer of the army, and was responsible for the overseeing of martial law. The Constable of France, under the French monarchy, was the First Officer of the Crown of France and was responsible for commanding the army. His symbol of office was a held by a hand issuing out of a cloud. Some constables were prominent military commanders in the period, such as Bertrand du Guesclin who served from 1370 to 1380. Some authorities place the origins of constables in England earlier, attributing the creation of the office during the reign of King Alfred, the term was also used at the local level within the feudal system however, describing an officer appointed to keep order. He has record as to matters of fact, not matters of judgment, in Bractons time, anyone seeing a misdeed was empowered to make an arrest. The role of the constable in Bractons description was as the eyes and ears of the court, finding evidence, by extension, the constable was also the strong arm of the court, marking the basic role of the constable that continues into the present-day. In 1285, King Edward I of England passed the Statute of Winchester, together these led to all counties having various constabularies of full-time professionals. The lowest rank of the forces and constabularies is constable. Specific legislation for the Royal Parks of London continued the office of Parks Constable. However, the Royal Parks Constabulary was disbanded in 2001, the Kew Constabulary are sworn in under the same legislation and remain as the holders of the office of Parks Constable
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bailiff". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 218.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the 