Trying to track down obscurities in British legal history
June 8, 2010 11:46 PM   Subscribe

Obscure British legal history question: some kind of writ or procedure that used to be held only by clergy, now held by everyone?

This may be AskMe's greatest challenge ever.

A while ago, I read in some credible source that there was some legal protection that started out in the U.K. as a privilege for clergy. It possibly involved courts of chancery/equity/clerical courts (??), and was either some kind of writ or some kind of procedural protection. Over time, this protection began to be applied to the citizenry at large. I think, but am not sure, that it related to criminal trials.

Sadly, I remember nothing else about this. And I really really need to track this procedure down. Anyone?
posted by paultopia to Law & Government (3 answers total)
 
Best answer: It's called benefit of clergy. Originally just for clergy, then for people who could read, and now for all first time offenders.
posted by Coffer at 12:00 AM on June 9, 2010


Best answer: Here's the wikipedia article for Benefit of Clergy
posted by elephantday at 12:03 AM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I love you guys.
posted by paultopia at 12:09 AM on June 9, 2010


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