ABSTRACT
The principal business of the Court was to declare and enforce the ancient customs of the Manor, which, whether relating to the incidents of land tenure, or to the use of the common fields or waste, were legally binding on both the Lord and his tenants. Moreover, the Court was said to have a vaguely defined power to enact By-laws, binding on all the tenants of the Manor, at least in matters, such as the use of the waste, in which they had a common interest. The Court Leet was, in fact, a local criminal court—as the lawyers said, the King’s Court holden by the Lord,—but the King did not interfere either by appointing judges or other officers, or by reviewing or controlling its proceedings. The Court Leet differed, however, markedly from a modern criminal court both in its procedure and in the practical range of its jurisdiction.
