9. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAW MERCHANT AND ITS COURTS ^ By William Seakle Holdsworth ^ IN this chapter we shall consider certain courts which ad- minister a body of law outside the jurisdiction of the Courts of Common Law and the Courts of Equity. These courts fall into four groups: — (1) The Courts which ad- minister the Law Merchant ; (2) The Court of the Constable and the Marshal ; (3) The Courts of the Forest; (4) The Ecclesiastical Courts. Some of these courts, and some of the bodies of law which they have created, still continue to be outside the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts of law and equity. Others have practically ceased to exist. Others have been absorbed into their system. At an early stage of their history the Council and the Chancery had an intimate relation with many of these courts. This connection with the Council has been maintained, and even strengthened. It was to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that appeals were, and in some cases still are brought from such of those courts of a special jurisdiction which still remain. (1) The Courts which administer the Law Merchant. The Law Merchant of primitive times comprised both the maritime and the commercial law of modern codes. From the earliest period in their history an intimate relationship has subsisted between them. Both applied peculiarly to the
- This passage is extracted from " A History of English Law," 1903,
volume I, c. vii, pp. 300-337 (London: Methuen & Co.). With this Essay compare those in Volume II under Commercial Law.
- Lecturer in Law at St. John's, Wadham, and Hertford Colleges, Ox-
ford. B. A. Oxford, 1893; M. A., B. C. L. 1897; D. C. L. 1904; Bar- rister of IJncoln's Inn; Lecturer at New College, 1895; Vice-President of St. John's College, 1902-1903; Professor of Constitutional Law in University College, London, 1903. Other Publications: Law of Succession, 1899.
