English Judicature Act of 1873

Authors

Willis B. Perkins, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Abstract

It seems to be the general impression that reform in judicial procedure is a new and radical thing in the history of jurisprudence. This is far from the fact. It is as old as jurisprudence itself. From Solon to Justinian, from Justinian to the Magna Charta, from the Magna Charta to Bentham, from Bentham to Field, and in every civilized country, radical changes have taken place from time to time, touching both procedure and substantive law. Court systems have been codified, systematized and rearranged to meet advancing and changing social and industrial conditions. From the religious ceremonies, constituting the methods of legal procedure of the early Romans, to the wager of battle and of law in early English times; from these and other primitive methods to the intricate formalism of the thirteenth to the early part of the nineteenth centuries, and from that period until the present, constant changes have taken place.

Recommended Citation

Willis B. Perkins, English Judicature Act of 1873, 12 Mich. L. Rev. 277 (1914).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol12/iss4/2