COUNTY COURT, in England, a local court of civil juris diction. The county court, it has been said, is at once the most ancient and the most modern of English civil tribunals. The Saxon Curia Comitatus, maintained after the Norman Conquest, was a local court and a small debts court. It was instituted by Alfred the Great, its jurisdiction embracing civil, and, until the reign of William I., ecclesiastical matters. The officers of the court con sisted of the earldorman, the bishop and the sheriff. The court was held once in every four weeks, being presided over by the earl, or, in his absence, the sheriff. The suitors of the court, i.e., the freeholders, were the judges, the sheriff being simply a presiding officer, pronouncing and afterwards executing the judgment of the court. The court was not one of record. The appointment of judges of assize in the reign of Henry II., as well as the expensive and dilatory procedure of the court, brought about its gradual disuse. Accordingly, with the view of making justice cheaper and more accessible the County Courts Act 1846 was passed. This act had the modest title of "An Act for the Recovery of Small Debts and Demands in England." The original limit of the jurisdiction of the new courts was f 2o, extended in 185o to f 50 in actions of debt, and in 1903 (by an act which came into force in 1905) to f 1 oo. Thirteen amending acts were passed, which were consolidated with some amendments in the year 1888. This is now the code or charter of the county courts.
The grain of mustard-seed sown in 1846 has grown into a goodly tree, with branches extending over the whole of England and Wales; and they embrace within their ambit a more multifarious jurisdiction than is possessed by any other courts in the king dom. England and Wales were mapped out into S9 circuits (not including the city of London).
Circuits are divided into districts, in each of which there is a court, with a registrar and bailiffs. The City of London court, though not strictly a county court, has the same jurisdiction (County Courts Act 1867 and §185 of the act of 1888) and con stitutes the county court for the City of London. It was amal gamated with the mayor's court by the Mayor's and City of London Court Act 192o.
The ordinary jurisdiction of the county courts may be thus tabulated :— The above table is not by any means an exhaustive statement of the jurisdiction of the county courts. For many years it has been the practice of parliament to throw on the county court judges the duty of acting as judges or arbitrators for the purpose of new legislation relating to social subjects. A list of all the acts will be found in the Yearly County Courts Practice. A county court judge may determine all matters of fact as well as law, but either party may as a rule apply to have his case tried by jury. The number of jurymen is eight. There is an appeal from the county courts on matters of law to a divisional court of the High Court (see APPEAL). The County Courts Act of 1888 was amended by the Acts of 1903, 1919 and In all of the States in the United States, there is a county court, which however, in some jurisdictions, such as Pennsylvania, is called the district court. Generally it is known as the county court. In many cases it is a court of general original jurisdiction, but in others it is limited as to the amount in civil cases, and to misdemeanours in criminal cases. The judge ordinarily is elected by the voters of the county.