From the time English law was introduced, the crown exercised a special 
vigilance over its maintenance. As a result, there was created a sphere of interest 
supplementary to the normal prerogative over defaults of justice and so 
adding considerably to its importance. In the year 1218, as a result of complaint 
against a judgment in the royal court at Dublin, the justiciar of Ireland was 
commanded by the King to cause a record to be made of the cause and to reduce 
this to writing, the same to be put under his seal and the seals of those 
who had participated in the judgment and the making of the record, and sent 
to England. 79 Upon this written record the magnates of England and legal 
experts (jurisperiti) conferred, and after a very long delay, in 1223 notified the 
justiciar that because of two errors, which were specifically enumerated, he was 
ordered to restore the complainant in what he had lost by "an unjust judgment." 
80 
This case is a landmark if, as it would appear, this was the first occasion 
when a written record under seal of an adjudged case was evoked for purposes 
of review. 81 During the remainder of Henry Ill's reign a variety of mandates 
similar in form were employed for this purpose, 82 although it would appear, 
from the variation in wording well into the reign of Edward I, 83 that no fixed 
writ of course had been framed for Ireland, although, significantly enough, 
the Irish error writ seems to have served as a model for Chester—where the 
King's originals were not current—after the palatinate had been annexed to 
the crown. 84 How far the practice with respect to the King's dominions had 
an influence in formulating instruments for the review of causes within the 
realm must remain for the moment conjectural. The lodgment of the Irish 
error jurisdiction in King's Bench provided a meeting ground, and it is clear 
that by the middle of the thirteenth century a written record under seal could 
™ Rotuli litterarum clausarum, 353. 
80 Ibid., 549, "minus iusto iudicio." 
81 Extents and inquisitions were so certified 
within the realm, and on occasion transfers were 
so made from the county (e.g., 3 CRR 225 
[1204]; 7 CRR no [1214]). 
82 Close Rolls, 1254-56, 158, 206, 411; Close 
Rolls, 1259-61, 455. To be noted also are examples 
where there appears to have been a reversal 
of judgment but no evoking writ is to be 
found (1 Calendar of Documents relating to 
Ireland, no. 2487; 1 Roles Gascons, no. 729, 
735 [1242-43]). In Close Rolls 1253-54, 116, 
after complaint is made to the Council apparently 
without a record, direction is given for 
further proceedings in Ireland. In Close Rolls 
1242-47, 471, is a mandate respecting an appeal 
of felony that contemplates correction in 
Ireland. On this practice cf. also Close Rolls, 
1251-53, 501. The case in Close Rolls 1254-56, 
212, orders a record by justices to the justiciar 
and amendment by the latter. Note finally the 
use of an inquest in a case of a concord made 
by a lunatic and the reversal on this basis (1 
Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland, 
nos. 2894 and 2964 [1247-48]). 
83 2 Sayles, Select Cases in the Court of King's 
Bench, 45, 72, 125; 1 Calendar of Justiciary 
Rolls, 1293-1303 (Mills ed., I9°s)> 4°4 
(i3° 2 )- , „ 
8 * Close Rolls 1247-51, 349- In 12 54 we Constable 
of Chester, in his return on a mandate to 
make a record, avers that it is not the custom 
of Chester for the knights (viz., suitors) to put 
their seals to such records (Placitorum abbreviatio, 
142-43 rot. 10).