0 (in Wales and England until 1971) one or more of the meetings of the most important court in each county, usually held four times a year by a travelling judge
It was the latter's one and only appearance as a juror at the assizes.%!
In the provinces, petitions were published from the pulpit and at the public meetings of quarter sessions and assizes.
Criminal prosecutions at the assizes almost invariably began by the submitting of bills of indictment, and supporting depositions, to the grand jury.
While the leading landowners of the county continued to play a part at the assizes, they were conspicuous by their absence from the sessions juries.
Sometimes royalists sold their property to a third party, as noted above, who was then able to make good claims at the assizes.
A copy was made to be presented at the next assizes for inclusion in the court records.
In this way, much of the preparatory work regarding projects such as road and bridge building was completed out of court, and the actual meetings at assizes were largely formalities.
Constitutional debates were only rarely conducted outside the assizes of the drafting groups, and in most cases the finished product, while often the subject of intense public discussion, remained unaltered.
