The Bells of the Old Baily


In 1834 the Central Criminal Court was set up by statute, as the Court in which the Commissioners were to do their work. Since that time the proceedings held at the Sessions House were those of the Central Criminal Court. By the Judicature Act of 1875 the Central Criminal Court was constituted part of the High Court of Justice. Its jurisdiction has been subsequently extended and now covers indictable offences (offences other than those tri able summarily before magistrates), committed within the City of London, the counties of London and Middlesex, and much of the surrounding country - side. It also has jurisdiction over offences committed on the High Seas (thus inheriting the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty).

And less serious offences, if committed within the City of London, are tried at the Central Criminal Court. The Court must sit for at least twelve sessions in the year (it in fact sits for twelve), and each session last for nearly a month. The vacations observed by the civil side of the Supreme Court have no place here. At the beginning of each session is read out the list of persons commissioned to hear cases. The persons so commissioned are the Lord Mayor of London, the Lord Chancellor, all the judges of the High Court and certain other persons. The Court may sit in two or more divisions (“courts”) and these may be as many as five. 59 There is a tendency towards a more humane administration of the criminal law. For many years the reform in the punishment of offences after conviction has been accompanied by a trend towards a more sati s- factory trial of accused prisoners before they are convicted.