to the laws, statutes, and customs of England. They were given the same powers as the King's Chief Justice and other Justices in the English Courts.
The Great Sessions were to be held for six days in every shire, of which fifteen days' notice was required to be given by proclamation.
Official seals were prescribed. All writs and processes were to be sealed. There are still extant seals which, within the Principality of Wales, were the chief emblems of sovereignty in Wales. This important and striking series of seals were known as the Royal Judicial Seals of the King's Great Sessions in Wales, and cover a period of three hundred years.[1] Stewards of manors were to continue to hold their courts, but were expressly forbidden to inquire into felonies. Officers of incorporated towns, according to their lawful grants and laudable customs, were to continue to hold pleas and to determine actions, provided that they followed the English laws and customs, and not Welsh laws, and provided also that in personal actions the issues joined should be tried by a jury of six men, as had been the custom in divers places in Wales. Power was granted to the King to dissolve boroughs which had their grants from the Lords Marchers, and in their place to erect others, and the King "was pleased and contented of his most gracious goodness" to allow existing officials to enjoy their ordinary fees for life. Regulations for judicial seals, fines, and fees were minutely set forth. For making process and entering process an official called a "prenotary" was appointed for each circuit. "The Prothonotary, or chiefe registrar, draweth all the pleadings, entreth and engrosseth the Records and Judgments in civil causes and ingrossing Fynes."[2] A marshal and crier were to attend upon the Justices, as in the English Courts. They were paid by fees, and upon the acquittal of a felon the marshal received fourpence and the crier a penny.
