Court of King's Bench

One of the three courts of common law. The Court of King's Bench evolved from the curia regis, the itinerant royal court which dealt with the administration of the realm. Its origins have been traced back to 1178 when Abbot Benedict of Peterborough recorded that Henry II ordered five judges of the curia regis to sit permanently to hear complaints from his subjects. In 1268 King's Bench was appointed its first chief justice. It had unlimited criminal jurisdiction throughout the realm. The Judicature Act of 1873 unified the courts system and transferred jurisdiction to a single High Court of Justice.