Clerk of assize

A clerk of assize was a clerk of the assize courts of England and Wales, a position which existed from at least 1285 to 1971, when the Courts Act 1971 eliminated the assize courts. Originally the judges' private clerks tasked with enrolling pleas, the clerks grew into the heads of administrative departments tasked with keeping each assize running smoothly, and at one point sat as judges in their own right.

The first known reference to clerks of assize was made in 1285 when a procedural rule was created stating that justices on assize should be accompanied by a clerk tasked with enrolling pleas.^[1] The first few sets of assize clerks were the private clerks of the judges themselves, but by 1380 records show that the Western Circuit had a permanent employed clerk, Simon of Lichfield, a barrister of the Old Temple.^[1] From then onwards the position was normally filled by barristers. Although a 1541 statute prohibited a clerk from actively practicing as a barrister while serving, the position offered a chance to make connections with the Westminster judges and of power in local politics, and records show that in 1657 the Oxford Circuit clerkship, for example, changed hands for the then-massive sum of £2,575.^[2]

The clerks' income was initially the fees paid by parties to have a case come before the court, and as a result, their pay depended on the business of the court itself. By the 1650s there were over 100 nisi prius cases on each circuit, worth approximately 10s in fees, along with 50 criminal cases worth between 2s to 16s.^[3] Clerks were expected to pay for the expenses of the judge and the bailiff and Marshall's fees, but despite this still prospered: by the 1660s some were making more money than the assize judges themselves.^[3] The clerk positions eventually ceased to exist in 1971, when the Courts Act 1971 eliminated the assize courts.

Inicialmente, los secretarios solo se encargaban de redactar y aceptar alegatos, pero durante un período comprendido entre finales del siglo XVI y mediados del siglo XVII, trabajaron como jueces de pleno derecho para reducir la carga de trabajo. ^{[ 4 ]} Con el tiempo, dirigieron un departamento completo de administradores para garantizar el buen funcionamiento de los tribunales, y los manuales escritos para los secretarios a finales del siglo XVII dan fe de la complejidad de sus funciones, que solo terminaban cuando todos los alegatos se habían redactado, aceptado y archivado. ^{[ 5 ]} Se sabe poco sobre sus asistentes: casi todos tenían formación jurídica, pero sus funciones e identidades siguen siendo desconocidas. Los asistentes eran nombrados por el secretario, con la aprobación de los jueces. ^{[ 5 ]}

Cuando un abogado se convertía en secretario judicial, quedaba legalmente inhabilitado para ejercer como abogado. ^{[ 6 ]} Ocasionalmente se hacían excepciones: en el Tribunal de Bedford de 1682, John Luke, el secretario judicial, representó a Robert Chambers por un delito no especificado. ^{[ 6 ]}

• Cockburn, JS (1969). "Secretarios de tribunales de lo penal del siglo XVII: algunos miembros anónimos de la profesión jurídica". American Journal of Legal History . 13 (4). Temple University : 315–32 . doi : 10.2307/844182 . ISSN 0002-9319 . JSTOR 844182 .