Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Court of Arches

Eccles. law. The ecclesiastical court of the province of Canterbury, responsible for various appeals from provincial diocesan courts. ( The court handled probate cases until the Court of Probate acquired jurisdiction in 1857. The Pope heard appeals from the Court of Arches until the break with Rome prompted a transfer of the appellate jurisdiction to the royal courts. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council now hears certain appeals from the Court of Arches. - Also termed Arches Court of Canterbury; Court of Canterbury; Court of the Official Principal. Cf. CHANCERY COURT OF YORK. "The Court of Arches is the provincial court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is held by a judge generally called the Dean of the Arches. Its jurisdiction was important while testamentary cases were dealt with in the Ecclesiastical Courts. The name is derived from the fact that the court was originally held in the Church of St. Mary-Le-Bow (Ecclesia Beatae Mariae de Areubus), the steeple of which is raised on stone pillars formed archwise like bent bows." W.J.V. Windeyer, Lectures on Legal History 184 n.11 (2d ed. 1949).