Unit 1 of History of Courts, Legislature and Legal Profession (syllabus: Module I — the Royal Charter of 1600 and the King’s Commission of 1601; the Mayor’s Courts and the Charter of 1726; the changes made by the Charter of 1753; Warren Hastings’s judicial plans of 1772 and 1774 and the separation of 1780; the Regulating Act 1773, the Supreme Court at Calcutta under the Charter of 1774 and its working; Kamaluddin’s Case, the Patna Case, Cossijurah’s Case, the trial of Raja Nandakumar and Saroop Chand’s Case; the Act of Settlement 1781; Impey’s reforms and the judicial reforms of Lord Cornwallis). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- How did a trading charter of 1600 grow into a power to try capital offences by 1633?
- What did the Charter of 1726 create, and why is its appeal route the single most examinable feature?
- What were the main provisions of the Regulating Act 1773?
- What were the defects of the Regulating Act 1773, and why was conflict built into it?
- How did the Supreme Court and the Supreme Council come into conflict, and what did each leading case decide?
- On what grounds is the trial of Raja Nandakumar criticised?
- What did Warren Hastings's judicial plans of 1772, 1774 and 1780 do, and what did Impey add?
- Was the Act of Settlement 1781 a settlement or a surrender?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Regulating Act 1773, s. The provisions on jurisdiction and applicable law
- Regulating Act 1773, s. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over British subjects in Bengal and Orissa
Leading cases
Full case summaries
- Kamaluddin's Case (1775)
- The Patna Case (1777)
- Cossijurah's Case (1779)
- Trial of Raja Nandakumar (1775)
- Saroop Chand's Case