nisi prius
Americannoun
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Also called nisi prius court. a trial court for the hearing of civil cases before a judge and jury.
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British Law.
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a writ commanding a sheriff of a county to summon a jury and bring it to the court in Westminster on a certain day, unless the judges of assizes previously came to that county.
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the clause with the words “nisi prius” introducing this writ.
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the system of judicial circuits to which judges are assigned for local trials of civil and criminal cases.
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noun
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English legal history
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a direction that a case be brought up to Westminster for trial before a single judge and a jury
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the writ giving this direction
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trial before the justices taking the assizes
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(in the US) a court where civil actions are tried by a single judge sitting with a jury, as distinguished from an appellate court
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nisi prius
1300–50; Middle English < Latin: literally, unless previously, unless before
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was a delight to practise before him at nisi prius.
From Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2 by George Frisbie Hoar
They hold nisi prius terms in their respective districts, which are called district courts.
From Minnesota and Dacotah by C. C. (Christopher Columbus) Andrews
Hall put down upstartism like a judge at nisi prius rebuking a shallow barrister for contempt of court.
From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Henry B. Stanton
He had, "as he deserved, the reputation of being the best nisi prius lawyer in the state."
From Lincoln; An Account of his Personal Life, Especially of its Springs of Action as Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War by Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright) Stephenson
The archipelago had been divided by the Taft Commission into fifteen judicial districts, containing three or four provinces each,—each district court to be a nisi prius or trial court.
From The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount
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