The court leet is a court of record, which has jurisdiction of such crimes as subject the offenders to punishment at common law. As criminal jurisdiction belongs ex clusively to the kingly office, all criminal prosecutions are called pleas of the crown, and the courts in which such pleas are held are the king's courts, although granted to a subject ; for such grant operates merely as an authority to the grantee to preside judicially by himself or his steward, and to take the profits of the court to his own use. The authority so exercised under the king's grant is called a lordship, and the grantee is said to be the lotd of the leet. It may be claimed either by a modern grant or by prescrip tion, that is, long established user, from which an ancient grant is presumed. The lord of the leet is commonly the lord of a manor, and the leet is usually coexten sive either with the actual limits of the manor or with its boundary at some former period. There may, however, be several leets in one manor, and a leet may be appendant to a town or to a single house. It is not necessary that the lord of the leet should have a manor, or in deed that he should have any interest in the land or houses over which the leet jurisdiction extends. The crown may grant to A a leet over the lands of B, and the grantee of a leet in his own land may convey the land and retain the leet. The ' lord may be required by writ of manda mus to hold the court. Upon non-user of a leet, the grant is liable to be seised into the hands of the crown, either abso lutely as for a forfeiture, or quousque, that is, until the defect be amended: the same consequence ensues upon neglect to ap point an able steward and other necessary officers, or to provide instruments of pu nishment.
Private leets are commonly held, as pub lic leets must be, twice in the year, within a month after Easter, and within a month after Michaelmas, and even the former can not, unless warranted by ancient usage, be held at any other time except by adjourn ment. The court appears to have been formerly held in the open air. It should be held at its accustomed place, though, if sufficient notice be given, it may be held anywhere within the district. All persons above the age of twelve years and under sixty (except peers and clergy men, who are exempted by statute, and women and aliens), resiant within the precinct for a year and a day, whether masters or servants, owe suit to (i.e. per sonal attendance at) this court, and here they ought to take the oath of allegiance. The snit to the court-leet is said to be real (i.e. regal or due to the king), be- 1 cause every one bound to do suit to such court as a resiant, is also bound to take the oath of allegiance, unless he has taken it before. But where a non-resiant is bound by tenure to join with the resiants in making presentments at the court-leet, the duty is not suit-real, for he shall not be sworn to his allegiance, &c. at this leet. It is merely suit-service, i.e. a suit forming one of the services due from the tenant to his lord in respect of the tenure.
For the non-performance of such suit the remedy is by distress, as in case of other suits-service or rents-service. A man who has a house and family in two leets, so as in law to be conversant or commo rant in both, must do his suit to the lest where his person is commnrant, that is, I where his bed lies, but if he occasionally reside in both, he is bound to do suit to each.
The Anglo-Saxon Hundred Court ay pears to have had jurisdiction in at, causes, civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical ; and also to have had the cognizance and oversight of all the communities of frank pledges within the hundred the members of these communities being bound for that purpose to attend at the Hundred Court by themselves or their elected re presentatives. The jurisdiction of the Hundred Court in ecclesiastical matters was taken away by an ordinance of William the Conqueror, which forbade the attendance of the bishop.
It was the province of the court-leet, as well the public leet of the hundred , as the private leet, to repress all offences against the public peace, and to enforce the removal of all public nuisances. The leet jury may make by-laws. The leet jury elect their chief magistrates, the reeve or constable, &c. of the private leet, and, as it w 3,ild seem, the high constable (sometimes called the alderman) of the hundred.
Before the Norman conquest, and pro bably for some time after, this court of the leet was, if not the sole, at least the ordinary tribunal for the administration of criminal justice in the kingdom. Until the reign of Henry I., when, with re spect to certain heinous offences, the punishment of death was substituted for pecuniary compositions, no crime ap pears to have been punished by death except that called in the laws of that prince " Openthifte," a theft where the offender was taken with de thing stolen upon him. Of this crime, as requiring no trial or presentment, the leet had no cog nizance. Other offences, of however se rious a nature, subjected the party to a mulct, or pecuniary fine, the amount of which was in many cases determinate and fixed.
Offences to be merely inquired of in leets are arson, burglary, escape, larceny, manslaughter, murder, rape, rescue, sacri lege, and treason, and every offence which was felony at common law. These of fences being presented by the leet jury as indictors, and the indictment being certified to the justices of gaol delivery, the indictees may be arraigned; but they cannot be arraigned upon the mere pro duction of the court-roll containing the presentments. Formerly all offences in quirable in leets were also punishable there by amercement ; but the power of adjudicating finally upon crimes in courts leet, whether public or private, is now limited to such minor offences as are still left under the old system of pecuniary compensation. No matters are cognizable in the leet unless they have arisen or have had continuance since the last preceding court.