In English law, oyer and terminer was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat, its name coming from the Anglo-French for to hear and to determine, and also known by the Latin audiendo et terminando. Commissioners holding oyer and terminer were charged with inquiring into all treasons, felonies, and misdemeanors within specified counties and hearing and determining them according to law, a process in which a grand jury first examined the bills of indictment before a petit jury heard and determined the matter. The term also came to refer to the court itself that exercised jurisdiction under such a commission. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Core PrincipleCommissioners were directed to investigate and then hear and determine treasons, felonies and misdemeanours in named counties 1 Sources
1. Oyer and terminer (Wikipedia)
Main body, description of the commission's functionQuote, Main body, description of the commission's function
By the commission of oyer and terminer the commissioners (in practice the judges of assize, though other persons were named with them in the commission) were commanded to make diligent inquiry into all treasons, felonies and misdemeanours whatever committed in the counties specified in the commission, and to hear and determine the same according to law.
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