Oyer and Terminer

[French, To hear and decide.] The designation "court of oyer and terminer" is frequently used as the actual title, or a portion of the title, of a state court that has criminal jurisdiction over felonious offenses.

oyer and terminer

‘to hear and determine’, now obsolete, the commission given to judges of the assize.

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

OYER AND TERMINER. The name of a court authorized to hear and determine all treasons, felonies and misdemeanors; and, generally, invested with other power in relation to the punishment of offenders.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.

References in periodicals archive

(21.) The Proceedings at the Sessions of Peace, Oyer and Terminer, for the City of London and County of Middlesex, on Wednesday the 11th, Thursday the 12th, and Friday the 13th of October (London, 1738), pp.

1; and The Proceedings at the Sessions of Peace, Oyer and Terminer, for the City of London and County of Middlesex, on Wednesday the 20th, Thursday the 21st, Friday the 22d, and Saturday the 23d of April, 1737 (London, 1737), p.

"DAMN YOU, YOU INFORMING BITCH." VOX POPULI AND THE UNMAKING OF THE GIN ACT OF 1736

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