Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1st ed, 1768, vol III).djvu/53

Ch. 4. court of king's bench (o called becaue the king ued formerly to it there in peron, the tile of the court till being coram ipo rege) is the upreme court of common law in the kingdom; coniting of a chief jutice and three puin juftices, who are by their office the overeign conervators of the peace and upreme coroners of the land. Yet, though the king himelf ued to it in this court, and till is uppoed o to do; he did not, neither by law is he empowered to, determine any caue or motion, but by the mouth of his judges, to whom he hath committed his whole judicial authority.

court (which as we have faid) is the remnant of the aula regia, is not, nor can be, from the very nature and confti- tution of it, fixed to any certain place, but may follow the king's court wherever it goes ; for which reafon all procefs ifluing out of this court in the king's name is returnable " ubicunque fueri- " mus in Anglia." It hath indeed, for fome centuries part, ufually fate at Weftminfter, being an antient palace of the crown ; but might remove' with the king to York or Exeter, if he thought proper to command it. And we find that, after Edward I had conquered Scotland, it actually fate at Roxburgh r . And this moveable quality, as well as it's dignity and power, are fully ex- purled by Bracton, when he fays that the juftices of this court are " capitales, generates, perpetui, et major es a latere regls refi- " denies; qui omnium aliorum corrlgere tenentur injurias et err ores*" And it is moreover efpecially provided in the articuli Juper cartas* that the king's chancellor, and the juftices of his bench mall

o 4 In((ls}}t. 73. t See book I. ch.7. The king ued to decide caues in peron in the aula regia. "In curia domini regis ipe in propria perona jura decernit." (Dial. de Scacch. l. 1. §. 4.) After it's diolution, king Edward I frequently ate in the court of king's bench. (See the records cited 4 Burr. 851.) And, in later times, James I is aid to have ate there in peron, but was informed by his judges that he could not deliver an opinion. q 4 Int. 71. r M. 20, 21 Edw. I. Hale Hit. C. L. 200. s l. 3. c. 10. t 28 Edw. I. c. 5. {{rh|{{Sc|Vol. III}}|F|{{sc|follow}}