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The Charter and its Guardian, Parliamen
Edward I and the Law; Part 4

Edward I and the Law; Part 4

An account of Edward I and Parliament is incomplete without some notice of his great legislative measures. In a sense he was the maker of English law as he was the maker of the English Parliament, since his is the earliest reign to which our law looks back. Statutes and decisions of his time are still "good law", unless they have since been set aside. And his reign was marked by great legislative and judicial activity. Apart from a mass of rules, dividing the work more definitely among the various justices in the various courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, the business of keeping the peace throughout the country was entrusted to a new body of officers known as Conservators of the Peace. In the reign of Edward III these officers, with enlarged powers, had their name changed to the familiar term of Justices of the Peace, and have since then continued to discharge all kinds of local justice. Two points about these "J.P.'s" are worth special notice. They have never been paid, and they have no special legal training. This follows on the same idea which appears in the jury (The ordinary juryman is indeed paid, but the sum is so small that it cannot be described as a recompense for his loss of time) system and in Parliament, and in all our county and district councils, namely, that an English citizen has to do his duty to the state without any reward save that of honour; it has helped to keep the law closely in touch with everyday life; and it has saved us from the growth of a huge class of officials who, besides being very costly, are always inclined to magnify their own importance at the expense of the good of the public. The history of the paid jurymen at Athens, and paid deputies and local functionaries in France and Germany seems to show that, by paying, the state is sometimes worse served, since pay may attract a lower class of men, who may be tempted to take bribes, or use their place to do favours. Certainly, to serve for pay is a lower motive than to serve for duty; yet it must be remembered that men of small means cannot afford to serve the state for nothing, and good service merits a reward.

Three great statutes of Edward I's deserve special mention - namely, the statute of Mortmain, the Second Westminster (De Donis Conditionalibus); and the Third Westminster (Quia Emptores). All three are concerned with land. To understand them we have to think once more of feudalism.

Edward I and the Law; Part 4

Chronology