Officials
The head of the court was the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, a position established by 1268. From the 14th century onwards, the Chief Justice was appointed by a writ, in Latin until 1727 and in English from then on. The Chief Justice was the most senior judge in the superior courts, having superiority over the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and from 1612 the Master of the Rolls. Unlike other Chief Justices, who were appointed to serve "during the King's Pleasure", the appointment as Chief Justice of the King's Bench "did not usually specify any particular tenure". This practice ended in 1689, when all of the Chief Justices became appointed to serve "during good behaviour". The initial salary was £40 a year, with an additional £66 in 1372 and an increase to a total of £160 in 1389. An ordinance of 1646 set a fixed salary of £1,000, increased to £2,000 in 1714, £4,000 in 1733, and finally peaked at £10,000 a year in 1825. Pension arrangements were first made in 1799, peaking at £4,000 a year in 1825. The position remains to this day; after the dissolution of the Court of King's Bench, the Chief Justice has instead been the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, now the head of the Judiciary of England and Wales.
A Chief Justice of the King's Bench was assisted in his work by a number of Justices of the King's Bench. Occasionally appointed before 1272, the number fluctuated considerably between 1 and 4; from 1522, the number was fixed at 3. Provisions for a fourth were established in 1830, and a fifth in 1868. Following the dissolution of the Court of King's Bench, the remaining Justices because Justices of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. Justices were originally paid £26 a year, increasing to £66 in 1361, and £100 in 1389. An ordinance of 1645 increased this to £1,000, with the salary peaking at £5,500 in 1825. As with the Chief Justice, pension arrangements were formally organised in 1799, starting at £2,000 a year and peaking at £3,500 in 1825.
Read more about this topic: Court Of King's Bench (England)
Famous quotes containing the word officials:
“To name oneself is the first act of both the poet and the revolutionary. When we take away the right to an individual name, we symbolically take away the right to be an individual. Immigration officials did this to refugees; husbands routinely do it to wives.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)
“The conflict between the men who make and the men who report the news is as old as time. News may be true, but it is not truth, and reporters and officials seldom see it the same way.... In the old days, the reporters or couriers of bad news were often put to the gallows; now they are given the Pulitzer Prize, but the conflict goes on.”
—James Reston (b. 1909)
“The ordinary man is an anarchist. He wants to do as he likes. He may want his neighbour to be governed, but he himself doesn’t want to be governed. He is mortally afraid of government officials and policemen.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)