VI. The court of king's bench (ſo called becaue the king ued formerly to ſit there in perſon, the ſtile of the court ſtill being coram ipſo rege) is the ſupreme court of common law in the kingdom; conſiſting of a chief juſtice and three puiſn juftices, who are by their office the ſovereign conſervators of the peace and ſupreme coroners of the land. Yet, though the king himſelf uſed to ſit in this court, and ſtill is ſuppoſed ſo to do; he did not, neither by law is he empowered[1] to, determine any cauſe or motion, but by the mouth of his judges, to whom he hath committed his whole judicial authority[2].
This court (which as we have faid) is the remnant of the aula regia, is not, nor can be, from the very nature and confti- tution of it, fixed to any certain place, but may follow the king's court wherever it goes ; for which reafon all procefs ifluing out of this court in the king's name is returnable " ubicunque fueri- " mus in Anglia." It hath indeed, for fome centuries part, ufually fate at Weftminfter, being an antient palace of the crown ; but might remove' with the king to York or Exeter, if he thought proper to command it. And we find that, after Edward I had conquered Scotland, it actually fate at Roxburgh r . And this moveable quality, as well as it's dignity and power, are fully ex- purled by Bracton, when he fays that the juftices of this court are " capitales, generates, perpetui, et major es a latere regls refi- " denies; qui omnium aliorum corrlgere tenentur injurias et err ores*" And it is moreover efpecially provided in the articuli Juper cartas* that the king's chancellor, and the juftices of his bench mall
o 4 In((ls}}t. 73. t See book I. ch.7. The king uſed to decide cauſes in perſon in the aula regia. "In curia domini regis ipſe in propria perſona jura decernit." (Dial. de Scacch. l. 1. §. 4.) After it's diſſolution, king Edward I frequently ſate in the court of king's bench. (See the records cited 4 Burr. 851.) And, in later times, James I is ſaid to have ſate there in perſon, but was informed by his judges that he could not deliver an opinion. q 4 Inſt. 71. r M. 20, 21 Edw. I. Hale Hiſt. C. L. 200. s l. 3. c. 10. t 28 Edw. I. c. 5.
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