Court of quarter sessions
Bentley notes in English Criminal Justice in the Nineteenth Century that "the reputation of such courts remained consistently bad throughout the century" due to failure by chairmen to take proper note of evidence, display of open bias against prisoners, and the severity of sentences compared to the assizes.[3]: 121 The quarter sessions did not have jurisdiction to hear the most serious crimes, most notably those subject to capital punishment or later life imprisonment.[3]: 121 The courts of quarter sessions, throughout, had a narrow civil jurisdiction; however, until the Local Government Act 1888 created elected county councils, they also provided or authorised much major infrastructure and services that needed to span more than one vestry for their respective counties.These functions and powers included: The quarter sessions in each county were made up of two or more justices of the peace, presided over by a chairman, who sat with a jury.The clerk rarely discharged the duties of the office himself, but appointed a solicitor to act as his deputy in return for a share of the fees.The more populous non-county boroughs continued to hold their own quarter sessions,[2] until they were abolished in 1972 by the Courts Act 1971.In 1867, the Attorney-General for Ireland, Hedges Eyre Chatterton, issued guidelines to regulate which cases ought to be tried at assizes rather than quarter sessions: treason, murder, treason felony, rape, perjury, assault with intent to murder, party processions, election riots, and all offences of a political or insurrectionary character.It had jurisdiction over both civil and criminal matters until 1691, when it was restricted to felony crimes not punishable by death or life imprisonment.In 1804, after Ohio became a state, the courts of quarter sessions of the peace were replaced by boards of county commissioners.