Definition
A day in banc. In historical court practice, a day on which the full bench — the court sitting as a whole — heard argument or conducted proceedings. Distinguished from a day assigned for trial at nisi prius, where a single judge sat in the country to hear evidence before a jury. A jour en banc was a sitting of the court in its central, formal capacity, as opposed to the circuit or assize proceedings conducted outside the principal court.
Common Confusion
JOUR EN BANC vs. JOUR EN PAYS (also called JOUR EN NISI PRIUS): The contrast between these two terms is the primary reason either appears in historical sources. Jour en pays was a day assigned for trial in the country — the local venue where nisi prius proceedings took place before a single judge and jury. Jour en banc was the corresponding term for a day before the full court at Westminster. Researchers encountering either phrase should identify which type of proceeding is being described, as they represent fundamentally different stages and venues of litigation.
JOUR EN BANC vs. EN BANC: Modern usage of en banc refers to the full bench of an appellate court sitting together — a practice retained in American federal and state appellate procedure. Jour en banc is the older, full form of the phrase and refers specifically to a scheduled day of such sitting in historical English common law practice. The modern term en banc carries forward the conceptual core but has shed the procedural scheduling meaning embedded in jour en banc.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is almost exclusively a feature of early English and Anglo-American common law sources. Researchers will encounter it in Year Books, early plea rolls, and treatises describing the structure of medieval and early modern English court practice. It signals a particular procedural moment: the court assembled at its principal seat, as opposed to operating through circuit or local proceedings.
The term is a navigational marker in historical pleading records. When a document references a jour en banc, it situates the proceeding at the central court — typically one of the courts at Westminster — rather than at a nisi prius sitting in the county. This distinction matters when tracing the procedural history of a case through historical sources, because argument, legal rulings, and judgment typically occurred en banc, while the taking of evidence and verdict occurred en pays.
Researchers using secondary sources should be alert to the fact that modern discussions of en banc practice in appellate courts rarely trace the phrase back to this historical form. The procedural continuity is real but the terminology gap is significant: historical legal dictionaries treat jour en banc as a scheduling and venue term, while modern appellate procedure uses en banc purely to mean full-bench composition. Conflating the two can produce anachronistic readings of older sources.
The Burrill citation to the Year Books (H. 11 Hen.) confirms the term's presence in medieval English practice. Researchers working with Year Book materials will find jour en banc appearing as a routine procedural notation rather than a term of art requiring special analysis.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries agree on the core definition: a day in banc, distinguished from a day at nisi prius. The entries are brief and consistent, reflecting the term's status as settled historical vocabulary rather than contested doctrine.
Black's and Rapalje & Lawrence both provide the explicit contrast with jour en pays / jour en nisi prius, which is the primary analytical content these sources offer. Burrill adds the Year Book reference, grounding the term in medieval practice and confirming its use in early English court records.
None of the three sources elaborates on procedural mechanics — what business was transacted on a jour en banc, how days were assigned, or how the distinction between banc and nisi prius sittings was managed administratively. Researchers needing that level of detail should turn to treatises on early English pleading and procedure, such as Blackstone's Commentaries or Tidd's Practice, which address the structure of Westminster court proceedings in greater depth.
Jurisdictional Note
Jour en banc is a term of English common law origin and appears primarily in English and early American legal sources. It does not appear as operative terminology in modern American, English, or Commonwealth court practice. Its relevance today is historical and interpretive rather than practical.