Dr. Bonham's Case - Case

Case

The case was heard in the Court of Common Pleas by Warburton J, Daniel J, Foster J, Walmisley J and the Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke, with a decision finally reached in the winter of 1610. The college's lawyers had argued that the two Acts of Parliament and the royal charter "intends, that none shall practise here but those who are most learned and expert, more than ordinary". As such, the college was free to punish for both practising without a licence and for malpractice, with the 1553 Act giving them the authority to imprison those they judged. Bonham's lawyers replied by arguing that the Acts and charter were intended to prevent malpractice, not practising without a licence. Moreover, Bonham's study " is practise ", and that to become a doctor means to have been considered capable of teaching: "when a man brings with him the ensign of doctrine, there is no reason that he should be examined again, for then if thou will not allow of him, he shall not be allowed, though he is a learned and grave man, and it is not the intent of the King to make a monopoly of this practise". As such, the Act "doth not inhibit a doctor to practice, but punisheth him for ill using, exercising, and making "; it covered malpractice, not for illicit practice.

Walmisley and Foster sided with the college, with Walmisley delivering the joint opinion. He said that since the statute clearly said "no person" could practise without the college's licence, only one verdict was acceptable, because the college had a valid licensing authority. The royal charter was to be interpreted as granting the college a duty on behalf of the King:

It is the office of a King to survey his subjects, and he is a physician to cure their maladies, and to remove leprosies amongst them, and also to remove all fumes and smells, which may offend or be prejudicial to their health...and so if a man be not right in his wits, the King is to have the protection and government of him, lest he being infirm, waste or consume his lands or goods; and it is not sufficient for him that his subjects live, but that they should live happily; and discharges not his office, if his subjects live a life, but if they live and flourish; and he hath cure as well of their bodies as of their lands and goods for health for the body is as necessary as virtue to the mind.

As such, in Walmisley's mind, the King had a duty to protect the health of his subjects, which he had delegated to the college. In addition, Bonham had given "an absurd and contemptuous answer" when he claimed that he would not submit to the college, and "it should be a vain law if it did not provide punishment for them that offend against that". The monarch had delegated part of his prerogative powers to the college, for the purposes of punishment and imprisonment, and as such it had the right to sit as a court. Coke delivered the majority opinion in favour of Bonham, with Daniel and Warburton assenting. He undertook a closer reading of the college's charter and associated Acts, and divided the relevant passage into two clauses. The first gave it the power to fine practitioners without licences. The second specified that they could imprison a practitioner for "not well doing, using or practicing physic". He argued that these constituted separate powers and issues; the first dealt with authorisation to punish for illicit practise, while the second covered punishment for malpractice. Simply practising without a licence did not constitute malpractice. As such, the college did not have the power to imprison Bonham, who was accused of practising without a licence, not practising dangerously. Coke also went further, arguing against the validity of the charter and its associated Acts. The Acts gave the college the right to act as both judge and a party to a case, which "provided for an absurdity". Therefore:

One cannot be Judge and attorney for any of the parties... And it appears in our books, that in many cases, the common law will control Acts of Parliament, and sometimes adjudge them to be utterly void; for when an act of Parliament is against common right and reason, or repugnant, or impossible to be performed, the common law will control it, and adjudge such an Act to be void; and, therefore in … Thomas Tregor’s case…Herle saith, some statutes are made against law and right, which those who made them perceiving would not put them in execution.

Because of this and four other reasons given by Coke, the college was to cease trying to supervise medical practise, and to cease arbitrating and acting as a court. In support of his judgment, Coke cited not only Tregor's Case, but also two anonymous cases given the academic names of Cessavit 42 and Annuitie 11 respectively.