III.   Fund

The Court of King’s Bench, also known as Curia Regis De Banco, is a type of administration associated with an Assurance Fund created and known as “Oyer and Determiner” first formed in 1542 (34Hen8.c.14), whereby the indictments and convictions of all lesser courts were underwritten and assured against wrongful arrest, error of process and wrongful conviction, thus providing the necessary “assurance” and incentive for clerks, justices and magistrates to increase the number of indictments and convictions they pursued.

In respect of the Assurance Fund known as “Oyer and Determiner”:

(i) The word oyer, determiner and terminer all originate from Anglaise with oyer meaning “to hear” and the word determiner meaning “I delimit, I confine, I designate” and terminer meaning “to end, to bring to an end”; and

(ii) The claim that there were such positions as “justices of the Oyer and Determiner” or “justices of the Oyer and Terminer” prior to Henry VIII in the 16th Century is a deliberate falsity designed to obfuscate, confuse and hide the purpose and function of the Assurance Fund and the change of court function to one of commercial operation; and

(iii) The claim that the granting of commissions of Oyer and Terminer was first defined in 1285 (13Ed1 Stat. Westminster c.29) is a deliberate 18th Century fraud designed to hide the origin of the Assurance Fund of the same name.

In relation to the functions and operations of the Court of King’s Bench and the Oyer and Terminer Assurance Fund:

(i) In accord with the Act of 1542 (34Hen8.c.14), no lesser court could proceed in conviction or indictment for serious crimes without a Commission from the Court; and

(ii) The clerks of the crown, clerks of the peace and clerks of assize were required to send a transcript to the court at Westminster in the county of Middlesex of the name, surname and day and place of the said felony or other offence of each conviction or indictment, whereupon such transcript would be certified or “assured” by the court and the clerk paid; and

(iii) The writ issued by the Court of King’s Bench was simplified to a Writ of Trespass and the records retained by the Court were listed by the act to remain forever at Westminster in the county of Middlesex.

In respect to the evolution and history of the Court of King’s (Queen’s) Bench:

(i) The first time an instance of the Court of King’s Bench was established external to England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland was in 1774 (14 Geo.3. c.83) through the Quebec Act that annexed certain North American British colonies, provinces, plantations and settlements from control of the Admiralty Government of Newfoundland (later known as Delaware) into the Province of Quebec; and

(ii) The claim that the private Province of Pennsylvania possessed a Court of King’s Bench as early as 1720 is myth born from events following significant changes after 1865 and the United States Civil War; and designed to deliberately obscure the true history of the Court of King's (Queen's) Bench in North America; and

(iii) Following the formal division of British North America in 1791 (31Geo3.c.31), including all British countries, colonies, plantations and settlements, the provinces of Upper Canada were each granted a Court of King’s Bench as their Superior Court directly connected in authority to the original Court in England. These Superior Courts continued even upon the union of Upper and Lower Canada into one Province in 1840 (3&4 Vict. c.35) and the subsequent enactment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 (30&31Vict.c.3) and 1871 (34&35 Vict. c.28); and

(iv) Following the Supreme Court of Judicature Constitution Act of 1873 (36&37Vict. c.66), the previous powers of the Court of King’s (Queen’s) Bench as original court of jurisdiction were conveyed to the new Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice; and for appeal to the Her Majesty’s Court of Appeal. However, outside of England (and Wales), the Court of King’s (Queen’s) Bench continued in Canada and the Court of King’s (Queen’s) Bench of British Columbia became effectively the highest functioning Court of King’s (Queen’s) Bench in the world, outside of the jurisdiction of the Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice; and dealing in particular with all matters of appeals and issues of original jurisdiction within the “District of Columbia” of British Columbia, otherwise known as Washington D.C.