And hence it is, that tho' there be late Collections of the Laws and Customs of Normandy, as Terrier and some others, yet they are not of any Authority it those Islands; for the Decision of Controversies, as the Grand Contumier of Normandy is, which is (at least in the greatest Part thereof) a Collection of the Laws of Normandy as they stood before the Disjoining of those Islands from the Dutchy, viz. before the Time of King Hen. 3. tho' there be in that Collection some Edicts of the Kings of France which were made after that Disjunction; and those Laws, as I have shewn before, tho' in some Things they agree with the Laws of England, yet in many Things they differ, and in some are absolutely repugnant.
And hence it is, that regularly Suits arising in those Islands are not to be tried or determined in the King's Courts in England, but are to be heard, tried, and determined in those Islands, either before the ordinarY Courts of Jurats there, or by the Justices Itinerant there, commissioned under the Great Seal of England, to determine Matters there arising; and the Reason is, because their Course of Proceedings, and their Laws, differ from the Course of Proceedings and the Laws of England.
And altho' it be true, that in ancient Times, since the Loss of Normandy, some scattering Instances are of Pleas moved here touching Things done in those Islands, yet the general settled Rule has been to remit them to those Islands, to be tried and determined there by their Law; tho' at this Day the Courts at Westminster hold Plea of all transitory Actions wheresoever they arise, for it cannot appear upon the Record where they did arise.
Mic. 42 E. 2. Rot. 45. coram Rege. A great Complaint was made by Petition, against the Deputy Governor of those Islands, for divers Oppressions and Wrongs done there: This Petition was by the Chancellor delivered into the Court of B. R. to proceed upon it, whereupon there were Pleadings on both Sides; but because it appeared to be for Things done and transacted in the said Islands, Judgment was thus given:
Et quia Negotiam praedict' in Curia hic terminari non potest, eo quod Juratores Insulae praedict' coram Justitiariis hic venire non possunt, nec de Jure debent, nec aliqua Negotia infra Insula praedicta emergentia terminari non debent, nisi secundum Consuet.
Insulae Praedictae. Ideo Recordum retro traditur Cancellario ut inde fiat Commissio Domini Regis ad Negotia praedicta in Insula praedicta audienda & Terminanda secundum Consuet' Insulae praedictae.
And accordingly 14 Junii, 1565, upon a Report from the Attorney General, and Advice with the two Chief Justices, a general Direction was given by the Queen and her Council, That all Suits between the Islanders, or wherein one Party was an Islander, for Matters arising within the Islands, should be there heard and determined.
But still this is to be taken with this Distinction and Limitation, viz. That where the Suit is immediately for the King, there the King may make his Suit in any of the Courts here, especially in the Court of King's-Bench: For Instance, in a Quare Impedit brought by the King in B. R. here for a Church in those Islands; so in a Qiuo Warranto for Liberties there; so a Demand of Redemption of Lands sold by the King's Tenant within a Year and a Day according to the Custom of Normandy; so in an Information for a Riot, or grand Contempt against a Governor deputed by the King. These and the like Suits have been maintained by the King in his Court of King's-Bench here, tho' for Matters arising within those Islands: This appears, Paschae 16 E. 2. coram Rege, Rot. 82. Mich. 18 E. 2. Rot. 123, 124, 125.
& Pas. I E. 3. Rot. 59.
And for the same Reason it is, that a Writ of Habeas Corpus lies into those Islands for one imprisoned there, for the King may demand, and must have an Account of the Cause of any of his Subjects Loss of Liberty; and therefore a Return must be made of this Writ, to give the Court an Account of the Cause of Imprisonment; for no Liberty, whether of a County Palatine, or other, holds Place against those Brevia Mandatoria, as that great Instance of punishing the Bishop of Durham for refusing to execute a Writ of Habeas Corpus out of the King's Bench, 33 E. I. makes evident.
And as Pleas arising in the Islands regularly, ought not in the first Instance to be deduced into the Courts here, (except in the King's Case;) so neither ought they to be deduced into the King's Courts here in the second Instance; and therefore if a Sentence or Judgment be given in the Islands, the Party grieved thereby, may have his Appeal to the King and his Council to reverse the same if there be Cause. And this was the Course of Relief in the Dutchy of Normandy, viz. by Appeal to the Duke and his Council; and in the same Manner, it is still observed in the Case of erroneous Decrees or Sentences in those Islands, viz. To appeal to the King and his Council.
But the Errors in such Decrees or Sentences are not examined by Writ of Error in the King's-Bench, for these Reasons, viz.
1st. Because the Courts there, and those here, go not by the same Rule, Method, or Order of Law.
And 2dly, Because those Islands, though they are Parcel of the Dominion of the Crown of England, yet they are not Parcel of the Realm of England, nor indeed ever were; but were anciently Parcel of the Dutchy of Normandy, and are those Rewains thereof which the Power of the Crown and Kingdom of France have not been able to wrest from the Kings of England.
