The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the
county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county[1] until the abolition of the
Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830.[2]
Within the County Palatine (which encompassed
Cheshire, the City of
Chester, and
Flintshire), the Justice enjoyed the jurisdiction possessed in England by the
Court of Common Pleas and the
King's Bench.[3] While the legal reorganisation of Wales and the
Marches under
Henry VIII diminished the authority of the
Earl of Chester (i.e., the
Prince of Wales) in the County Palatine, the authority of the Justice was, in fact, increased. In 1542, the Great Sessions were established in Wales, that country being divided into four circuits of three shires each.
Denbighshire,
Flintshire, and
Montgomeryshire were made part of the Chester circuit, over which the Justice presided. Under
Elizabeth I, a second justice was added to each of the Welsh circuits,[4] after which the senior and junior justice are generally referred to as the Chief Justice of Chester and the Second or Puisne Justice of Chester.
Because the Cheshire justices were free to practise as
barristers in the English courts or sit in
Parliament, the post of Chief Justice was often awarded as a form of
patronage by the Government to aspiring lawyers. The offices of Chief and
Puisne Justice were abolished in 1830, as part of reforms that also brought Wales under the jurisdiction of the courts at Westminster.