assizes

/ əˈsaɪzɪz /

plural noun

1. (formerly in England and Wales) the sessions, usually held four times a year, of the principal court in each county, exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction, attended by itinerant judges: replaced in 1971 by crown courts

Example Sentences

Magna Carta laid down the law about “fish weirs” on English rivers, “assizes of darrein presentment,” people being “distrained to make bridges,” and other “liberties . . . to hold in our realm of England in perpetuity.”

From Washington Post

At the following assizes he was found guilty of murder and was condemned to die. 

From Project Gutenberg

Till the spring assizes at E——, where he was to be tried, it furnished the staple of conversation, and every fresh bit of evidence, for or against him, was eagerly repeated and canvassed.

From Project Gutenberg

They held their assizes four times a year, listened to all complaints and accusations, and were empowered to redress all wrongs and to punish all offenders of whatever rank.

From Project Gutenberg

Herefordshire was governed by a sheriff as early as the reign of Edward the Confessor, the shire-court meeting at Hereford where later the assizes and quarter sessions were also held.

From Project Gutenberg