Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776

part in a quarrel pending in court or working any fraud whereby common

right may be delayed or disturbed. There had been many abuses, the most common of which was extortion by sheriffs, who gaoled people without cause to make them pay to be released. The 1275 prohibition of maintenance of a quarrel of a party in court by a nonparty was extended in 1327 to all persons, including the ...