Common pleas courts in the United States handle civil cases at the state level and are in the minority, with only four states still operating them. They derive their structure from the English common law system and were originally designed to deal with disputes between citizens. The UK abolished its common appeals system in the 1800s, and most US states followed suit. Common pleas courts have since become superior or lower courts and are now part of the larger state court systems. The four states that still have common pleas courts do so more in name than in function.
A common pleas court is a court in the United States that handles civil cases at the state level. These courts are in the minority in the United States, because their function is usually performed by superior or lower courts. Common pleas courts derive their basic structure – and their name – from the English common law system in place when the United States was a British colony. The United Kingdom abolished its common appeals system during the 1800s, and most US states followed suit around the same time.
At the end of 2011, only four U.S. states operated common pleas courts: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, and South Carolina. At the time of the original English settlement in the early 1600s, all law courts in the United States were actually English law courts, because the states were considered crown colonies. As such, they followed the design of the English judicial system in both form and function.
The English judicial system during the colonial period was divided into two main parts: the King’s Bench and the Common Bench. The King’s Bench heard cases involving the King, usually cases of treason or violation of national laws. In contrast, the Common Bench, also known as the Court of Common Pleas, dealt with disputes between citizens. The national government was not a party to these disputes and had no interest in the outcome.
The UK court system no longer supports common grounds courts. These courts were merged into King’s Bench in 1873. There is still a difference between claims brought between citizens and claims brought by the government against a citizen or private entity, but there are no separate court systems for each – just different methods of hearing claims. Civil cases are usually heard in magistrates’ courts, which serve as the bottom rung on an ascension ladder through the justice system.
Most US states made a similar change over the same period. The common plea courts generally became superior courts or trial courts and were absorbed into the larger state court systems as they developed. Like the UK Magistrates’ Courts, these courts now serve as courts of primary jurisdiction for a variety of civil matters, such as family disputes and commercial conflicts. Trial judges will hear disputes, then hand down judgments that can be appealed all the way to state supreme courts and sometimes even the highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court. In this way, the courts of first instance are connected to the broader national justice system, albeit at a lower and more introductory level.
The four states that support a common pleas court do so more in name than in actual function. These courts do not function as an ancient English common plea court would have done, in that they are not separate from the other judicial branches of the state. They keep their name largely out of tradition and function, in most cases, just as a superior or lower court would. United States law allows several states to order their own courts independently, but all follow a similar pattern of jurisdiction and appeals.
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