Court for Crown Cases Reserved

The Court for Crown Cases Reserved or Court for Criminal Cases Reserved was an appellate court established in 1848 for criminal cases in England and Wales to hear references from the trial judge. It did not allow a retrial, only judgment on a point of law. Neither did it create a right to appeal and only a few selected cases were heard every year.

History

The Court for Crown Cases Reserved was created by the Crown Cases Act 1848, introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Campbell. Under the act, after a conviction, the trial judge in a criminal case could refer the case by way of case stated to the new court. A case that was reserved would then be heard at Westminster Hall at least five judges of the superior courts of common law including at least one among the Lord Chief Justice, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, or Chief Baron of the Exchequer. The court could only hear appeals on a point of law; it could quash a conviction, but not order a retrial or alter a sentence. It was superseded in 1907 by the new Court of Criminal Appeal.

The Crown Cases Act 1848 also applied in Ireland. The Irish Court for Crown Cases Reserved sat in the Four Courts in Dublin and included at least one of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. The 1907 abolition in England did not affect the Irish court. The Government of Ireland Act 1920 created new jurisdictions of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland with separate court systems, and a new High Court of Appeal for Ireland with appellate jurisdiction over both systems, including under the 1848 act. This court was abolished by the Irish Free State Act 1922 and its powers in Northern Ireland given to the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland, with the 1848 powers passed to a separate Court of Criminal Appeal in 1930. A Court of Criminal Appeal for the Irish Free State was established by the Courts of Justice Act 1924.