Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 364

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Volume 4, Page 364

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[001] not the king, as in the case of the death of a man wickedly slain,¹ robbery, the crime
[002] of forgery² or the like, where the loss of life or members follows, let the same be done,
[003] [though] permission will sometimes be obtained from the prince to allow such persons
[004] to be released on bail.³ If the crime is of the lightest kind, involving nothing more than
[005] an interdiction [from some activity] or exile from a vill or a county,⁴ such persons are
[006] usually attached, according to some. If it is a delict,⁵ a trespass or injuria, though
[007] contra pacem,⁶ the formal series of attachments ought to be observed, as in other
[008] civil and personal actions. What the procedure ought to be in criminal cases may be
[009] adequately drawn [from what has been said] above in the tractate on the pleas of the
[010] crown. There are some civil and personal actions which for good reason demand
[011] urgency and brook neither delays nor the formalities of attachments, but require
[012] quick judgment, as may be seen if the thing is about to perish in time, as in the case
[013] of crops and other things, [or] if loss and danger threaten the action by the lapse of
[014] six months, lest after the time the collation to the church devolve upon the bishop.
[015] Also the heinousness of the injuria and the dignity or the privilege of the person
[016] against whom the injuria against the peace has been done, as⁷ against noble persons⁸
[017] or foreigners who cannot long delay, as merchants and the like,⁹ and there may be
[018] many other reasons. If the action is personal and civil, but not urgent, and the
[019] person lawfully summoned does not appear on the day of summons, the plaintiff
[020] offering himself for the suit against him on the first, second, third and fourth day,
[021] the person summoned will be awaited no longer, but, because it cannot proceed to
[022] judgment without his answer,¹⁰ let process issue against him, that he be attached by
[023] pledges, whether the summons has been attested or has not, since it is not denied.

Enrolment after the default.

[025] Let the enrolment be in this form. ‘A. offered himself on the fourth day against B.
[026] with respect to such a plea (why he does not keep an agreement, or a fine made or the
[027] like, and here¹¹ let the gist of the action and the form of the writ be briefly¹² inserted
[028] and enrolled. Then let the enrolment say:) And he did not come and was summoned¹³
[029] etc. Judgment: Let him be attached to be present on such a day to answer as to the
[030] principal

Notes

1. Cf. ii, 340: ‘in parte tangit regem’

2. Cf. ii, 298, 335

3. Supra ii, 345

4. Supra ii, 298-9

5. Supra 290, infra 368

6. Infra 365

7. ‘ut’

8. Supra ii, 439

9. Supra 63, infra 377

10. ‘quia . . . ad iudicium,’ from lines 22-23

11. ‘hic’

12. ‘breviter’

13. ‘summonitus’