Sittings - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition sittings

Definition :

Sittings. By the Judicature Act, 1873, s. 26, the division of the legal year into terms is abolished, and sittings are substituted for it. See now (English) R.S.C. 1883, Ord. LXIII.

The sittings of the Court of Appeal and High Court of Justice in London and Middlesex are four in every year, viz., the Michaelmas sittings, the Hilary sittings, the Easter sittings, and the Trinity sittings. The Michaelmas sittings commence on the day appointed by Order in Council (Long Vacation Order, 1935, 12th October; Long Vacation Order, 1936, 12th October), and terminate on the 21st of December; the Hilary sittings commence on the 11th of January and terminate on the Wednesday before Easter; the Easter sittings commence on the Tuesday after Easter week and terminate on the Friday before Whit-Sunday; and the Trinity sittings commence on the Tuesday after Whitsun-week and terminate on the 31st of July (R.S.C. 1883, Ord. LXIII).

It is also provided by the (English) Judicature Act, 1925, s. 52 (replacing the (English) Judicature Act, 1873, s. 30), that, subject to rules of Court, such number of judges of the High Court as may be requisite having regard to the business to be disposed of shall, so far as reasonably practicable and subject to the vacations, sit continuously at the Royal Courts of Justice for the trial of causes in the King's Bench Division. See further as to the judges who are to preside at different sittings, Judicature Act, 1925, s. 70 (3) (replacing (English) Judicature Act, 1873, s. 37); and see also GUILDHALL SITTINGS; WESTMINSTER; and VACATION.

Sittings at the Royal Courts of Justice include sittings in chambers as well as in Court, Petty v. Daniel, (1886) 34 Ch D 172