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Glite Dictionary
court of assize

court of assize

9.9
A former county court in England and Wales for serious criminal cases
  • noun
  • /kɔːt əv əˈsaɪz/
  • Archaic
translation icon : tribunal de asiduo
  • Historically, judges travelled the country to preside over the court of assize sessions.

Examples

  • The last court of assize in the county was held in 1971 before the system was replaced.

  • Cases of murder and other serious crimes were brought before the court of assize.

  • The court of assize handled serious criminal cases for many years.

  • Many historical records mention the court of assize in England.

  • Cases of murder and other serious crimes were brought before the court of assize.

  • The last court of assize in the county was held in 1971 before it was replaced by the Crown court.

  • Historically, judges travelled the country to preside over the court of assize sessions.

Synonyms

assizes
vscourt of assize
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Regular criminal courts held in English counties before 1971

is the county body that handled serious criminal cases, not periodic sittings
court of assize and nisi prius
vscourt of assize
  • Archaic
9.9

A former county court in England that heard serious criminal and civil trials

focuses only on serious criminal matters rather than also covering civil ones

Surface Forms

court of assize singular
courts of assize plural

Morphology

court + of + assize

The phrase follows a regular compositional pattern 'court of X' and therefore denotes the court associated with 'assize'; if a learner knows 'court' and the meaning of 'assize' they can directly derive the MWE meaning. Although 'assize' is archaic and rare in modern usage, the structure is transparent and the meaning is predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

The term court of assize comes from a time when judges travelled the county to hold special meetings called assizes. The word assize originally meant 'to sit', so the picture of judges sitting in a town to hear the worst crimes explains why the name meant the county court for serious criminal cases.