Tolzey Court

rdf:langString Tolzey Court

rdf:langString The Tolzey Court was a court with civil jurisdiction that was held in the English city of Bristol. First mentioned in 1344, it may have developed out of the borough hundred court. It was originally held in a room on Corn Street but later moved to the Bristol Guildhall on Broad Street. The court absorbed the Mayor's Court and at least one of Bristol's court of piepowders. The Tolzey Court was limited in jurisdiction to actions arising in Bristol or its liberties and could award costs with no upper limit. It was valued by plaintiffs for its use of some aspects of lex mercatoria law, including the ability to try cases in the absence of a defendant and apply the principle of foreign attachment to recover costs from defendant's debtors. In the Victorian era it commonly used juries, which were otherwise unusual in civil trials. The Tolzey Court became popular in the 1960s as its fees were lower than the High Court or county court. It was prevented from hearing repossession cases by the and abolished by the Courts Act 1971.