1. Hist. An assize court commissioned by the Crown to pass through the counties two or more times a year and hear felonies and treason cases. • The judges sat by virtue of several commissions, each of which, strictly speaking, created a separate and distinct court. A judge with an oyer and terminer commission, for example, was allowed to hear only cases of felony and treason; he could not try persons charged with other criminal offenses. But if the judge also carried a commission of gaol delivery (as most did), he could try all prisoners held in gaol for any offense; in this way most Courts of Oyer and Terminer gathered full criminal jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the assize courts was taken over by the Crown Court in 1971. See ASSIZE(1); COMMISSION OF OYER AND TERMINER; COMMISSION OF GAOL DELIVERY.
2. In some states, a court of higher criminal jurisdiction.
