The
Court of Common Pleas, or
Common Bench, was a
common law court in the
English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the
Exchequer of Pleas, the Common Pleas served as one of the central English courts for around 600 years. Authorised by the
Magna Carta to sit in a fixed location, the Common Pleas sat in
Westminster Hall for its entire existence, joined by the Exchequer of Pleas and
Court of King's Bench.