Assizes

Assizes are sittings, or sessions of a court of justice, and originally represent the method of trial by jury. In the Middle Ages the term was used for special court sessions in counties of England, and also in France for certain sessions in the provinces by the High Court (Parlement of Paris).

In England, at first, the assizes were only held every seven years, and mostly at Westminster. The Magna Carta (1215) changed that to an annual procedure, and gave the responsibility to the judges of the counties.

In France assizes were held in the large towns, and on a regular basis by the prévôts (low-ranking royal judicial administrators), together with a group of local authorities (lay judges). Additionally, there were the grand assizes that met every three months a year under the aegis of the local baron or count.

Courts of assize are criminal courts that deal with the most severe cases nowadays.[1]

[1] "Assize." Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/topic/assize