Court.L

Fr. From time whereof memory runneth not; time out of memory of man. Litt. §§ 143, 145, 170.

Fr. and Eng. [L. Lat. curia, Curtis, placitum, judicium.] A tribunal established for the public administration of justice, [forum judiciale veljaridicum;) and composed of one or more judges, who sit for that purpose at certain iixed times and places, attended by proper ofl Scers.* Spelman, voc. Curia. See infra. A place where justice is judicially administered. Co. Liu. 58. 3 Bl. Com. 23. The persons of the judges so sitting for the administration of justice. The definition of Lord Coke which makes a <Jourt to be merely a pl(tce of justice, though sufficiently expressive of the original meaning of the term, (see infra,) fails obviously to convey its full modern signification. A jp/oce of meeting, indeed, is of the essence of a court, but persons also enter largely into its composition. Accordingly, it is well observed by Sir W. Blackstone, that in every court there must be at least three constituent parts, the actor, retis, and judex; the a^tor, or plaintiff, who complains of an injury done; the reus, or defendant, who is called upon to make satisfaction for it; and the judex, or judicial power, which is to examine the truth of the fact, to determine the law arising upon that fact; and if any injury appears to have been done, to ascertiun and by its officers to apply the remedy. 3 Bl. Com. 25. A court may be more particularly described as an organized body with defined powers, meeting at certain times and places for the hearing and decision of causes and other matters brought before it, and aided in this its proper business, by its proper officers, viz. attorn ies and counsel to present and manage the business, clerks to record and attest its acts and decisions, and ministerial officers to execute its commands, and secure due order in its proceedings.* The term court is obviously of Norman origin, being borrowed without change from the French of the middle ages. Spelman, voc. Curia. Le haute court; the high or supreme court. Assises de Jerusalem, c. ix. It seems to be derived from the L. Latin Curtis of an earlier period, which, like cwria, (the ordinary Latin form of the word,) denoted primarily the hall or palace of a sovereign or lord; and derivatively, (as that was the usual place of administering justice,) a court, in the modern sense. See Curia, Curtis.