Judicature Acts
Judicature Acts, 1873–5. These Acts brought about a much needed reorganization of the courts in England and Wales. Before the Acts there were a number of common law courts, all with overlapping jurisdiction—Common Pleas, King's Bench, and Exchequer. There was also the Court of Chancery, which administered the rules and remedies of equity, separately from the rules of common law, and which had become a scandal through its delays and expense. Finally there were courts administering family and probate matters, which had inherited their jurisdiction from the ecclesiastical courts, and the Court of Admiralty. The Judicature Acts abolished these separate courts and instead set up the Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of a Court of Appeal, to hear appeals on civil matters, and a single High Court, having several divisions corresponding to the previous separate courts; there were now the King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, and Chancery divisions of the High Court, and the remaining jurisdictions were combined in a Division for Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty.
Maureen Mulholland
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Judicature Acts