In what Courts Fines may be levied, and before whom acknowledged. 1. Fines originally levied in all Courts. 4. Court of Common Pleas. 8. Of the County of Lancaster. 10. Of the County of Chester. 11. Of the City of Chester. 12. Of the County of Durham. 13. Of Great Sessions in Wales. 14. Of the Isle of Ely. 15. Of Ancient Demesne. 18. Of Cities and Towns Corporate. 20. Who may take the Acknow- 21. Ch. Just. of the Common 22. Justices of Wales. 23. Commissioners under Writs of 35. How the Acknowledgement is 46. Rules of Court on this Sub- SECTION 1. FINE being a composition of a suit commenced Fines origifor the recovery of real property, it might origi- in all Courts. nally have been levied in any court which had juris-. diction to hold pleas of land. Accordingly, it appears, that in the early ages of the law, when courts were more numerous, and their jurisdiction more extensive, than at present, fines were frequently levied in the lord's court, the hundred court, and the county Gilb. Ten. court. And in Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, 92, there is a record of a fine which was levied in the county court of Nottingham, in the reign of King John. 100. Hale's Hist. 151. 3 Rep. Pref. Dugd. Orig. 2. Fines were also levied in all the courts at WestJur. 50-92. minster, and even before the King himself, as appears Madox Form. Angl. N°364. from a great number of records which have been published in Spelman's Glossary, and by Dugdale and Madox. 3. From the time of the appointment of justices in eyre, by King Henry II., fines were usually levied before them, on account of the pre-eminence of their Form Angl. courts over the county courts: and Madox has preserved several concords of fines which are exRoll. Ab. Tit. pressed to have been levied coram Abbate de Evesham, Johanne de Munmul, &c. Justiciariis itinerantibus. N° 365. 6. 7. 9. Fine, C. Court of 4 Inst. 99. 2 Inst. 510. 515. Co. Read. 8. Idem. 4. In consequence of the fixed residence of the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster by magna charta, fines were thenceforth usually levied in that court; because therein only could real actions be commenced. However, if a record was removed by writ of error from the Court of Common Pleas into the Court of King's Bench, a composition of the suit might take place there; by which means a fine might be levied in that court. 5. It is enacted by the statute de modo levandi fines, that fines shall be levied in the Court of Common Pleas, or before justices in eyre, and not elsewhere; and that a fine must be levied at the least before four justices in the bench, or in eyre, and not otherwise. But Lord Coke says, that the latter part of this statute was repealed by the stat. 4 Hen. VII.; so that now a fine levied in the Court of Common Pleas, before two justices, is considered to be equally valid as if all the Judges were present. 6. An opinion is advanced by Lord Coke, that a fine cannot now be levied, so as to have the force of a final concord, in any court but the Court of Common Pleas; and therefore that the King cannot now, in contradiction to this negative statute, grant a power to hold pleas for the purpose of levying fines. He seems also to have been of opinion, that, since this statute, fines cannot be levied in any inferior court, unless the privilege of holding such court has been confirmed by act of parliament. But this is certainly a mistake; for fines may still be levied in inferior courts; as will be shown in a subsequent part of this chapter. 7. The counties palatine of Lancaster, Chester, and Durham, having courts of their own, the King's ordinary writs do not run there; so that fines could not be levied in the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, of lands situated in those counties; but fines may now be levied in the courts of those counties, under the authority of the following statutes. 8. By the statute 37 Hen. VIII. c. 19. it is enacted, that all fines levied before the justices of the county palatine of Lancaster, commonly called justices of assize at Lancaster, or before one of them, of any lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, lying or being within the said county palatine of Lancaster, which shall be openly read and proclaimed three several days in open sessions, in the presence of the justices of assize at Lancaster, or one of them, for the time being, and also that shall be openly proclaimed, in the same manner, at the two next general sessions that shall be holden in the said county palatine of Lancaster, at three several days in either of the said two sessions, after such manner and form as is commonly used in the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, shall be of like force, strength, and effect in law, to all intents, effects, constructions, and purposes, as fines levied in the Court of Common Pleas. Of the Coun ty of Lan caster. 1 Wils. R. 275. 9. If a fine is found by verdict to have been levied before the justices of the county palatine of Lancaster, without finding who those justices were, and whether they had power to take fines or not, the Court will presume them to be such justices as have power by statute to take fines in the county palatine of Lancaster, if the contrary does not appear. Of the Coun10. By the statute 2 & 3 Edw. VI. c. 28. it is ty of Chester. enacted, that all fines levied or acknowledged before the high justice of the county palatine of Chester, or before the deputy or lieutenant justice there, of any lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, lying or being within the said county palatine of Chester, which shall be openly read and proclaimed three several days in the open sessions, in the presence of the justice of the said county palatine of Chester, or before the deputy or lieutenant justice there, at the same sessions that the same fine shall be engrossed, and also that shall be openly read and proclaimed in the same manner at the two next general sessions that shall be holden in the said county palatine of Chester, next after the levying and engrossing such fine, at three several days in either of the said two sessions, after such manner and form as is commonly used in the King's Courts of Common Pleas at Westminster, shall be of like force, strength, and effect in law, to all intents and purposes, as fines duly levied with proclamations before the King's justices of his Of the City of Chester. Common Pleas. 11. By the statute 43 Eliz. c. 15. § 3. it is enacted, that it shall and may be lawful to and for all persons, upon any original writ or writs of covenant, or any other original writ or writs, whereupon fines have been usually levied, to be purchased out of the Court of Exchequer within the county palatine of Chester, returnable before the mayor of the city of Chester in the Portmoot Court, to be holden within the said city, to levy any fine or fines of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, lying or being within the county of the city of Chester, before the mayor of the said city, in the said Portmoot Court, in such manner and form as fines may be levied before the high justice of the county palatine of Chester; and that the mayor of the said city shall have full power and authority to receive and record all and every such fine and fines; and that all and every such fine and fines which shall be so levied, and which shall be openly read and proclaimed before the mayor of the said city, in the said Portmoot Court, once at the same court day that the said fine shall be engrossed, and once at every of the nine next court days of Portmoot next after the levying and engrossing of such fine, shall be of like force, strength, and effect in law, to all intents, constructions, and purposes, as fines duly levied with proclamations before the said high justice of Chester. ham. 12. By the statute 5 Eliz. c. 27. it is enacted, that Of the Coun all fines levied before the justice or justices of the ty of Durcounty palatine of Durham, for the time being, authorized for that purpose, of any lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, lying or being within the said county palatine of Durham, which shall be openly read and proclaimed two several days in the open sessions, in the presence of the justices of assize at Durham, or one of them, at the same sessions that the same fine shall be engrossed, and also that shall be openly read and proclaimed in the same manner at the two next general sessions that shall be holden in the county palatine of Durham next after the levying or engrossing of such fine, shall be of the |