Statute of Winchester

The Statute of Winchester of 1285 (13 Edw. 1. St. 2), also known as the Statute of Winton, was a statute enacted by King Edward I of England that received royal assent on 8 October 1285. It reformed the system of Watch and Ward, the local watchmen established under the Assize of Arms of 1252, and it revived the jurisdiction of the local courts. The statute served as the primary legislation regulating the policing of the country between the Norman Conquest and the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, and it was particularly notable for requiring that a hue and cry be raised against theft or robbery, and that the whole hundred, the local administrative division, be answerable for the crime, in effect establishing a form of collective responsibility for law enforcement.