- Arches Court
- /archaz kort/ In English ecclesiastical law, a court of appeal belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the judge of which is called the "Dean of the Arches", because his court was anciently held in the church of Saint Mary-le-Bow (Sancta Maria de Arcubus), so named from the steeple, which is raised upon pillars built archwise. The court was afterwards held in the hall belonging to the College of Civilians, commonly called "Doctors' Commons". It is now held in Westminster Hall.Its proper jurisdiction is only over the thirteen peculiar parishes belonging to the archbishop in London, but, the office of Dean of the Arches having been for a long time united with that of the archbishop's principal official, the Judge of the Arches, in right of such added office, it receives and determines appeals from the sentences of all inferior ecclesiastical courts within the province. Many original suits are also brought before him from which the inferior judge has waived jurisdiction.From the Court of Arches an appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Black's law dictionary. HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK, M. A.. 1990.