Definition
Justices is the plural of justice, referring collectively to judges who hold a particular title or office. The term carries distinct meanings depending on context:
1. Justices of a court: The judges composing a multi-member tribunal. The Supreme Court of the United States, for example, is comprised of justices rather than judges — a title distinction that carries formal significance. State supreme courts and intermediate appellate courts frequently use the same designation.
2. Justices of the peace: Magistrates of local or inferior jurisdiction, historically empowered to handle minor criminal matters, conduct preliminary hearings, solemnize marriages, and perform other limited judicial functions. The office traces to medieval English administration and was transplanted wholesale into American colonial governance.
3. Justices in eyre: A historical English office, no longer in existence, referring to itinerant royal commissioners who traveled assigned circuits to hear pleas and administer justice in the king's name. A specialized variant — justices in eyre of the forest — held jurisdiction over offenses committed within the royal forests, including violations involving vert (vegetation) and venison (game). Their court was called the justice seat of the forest.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Simply the plural of justice — persons who are just, or judges holding the title of justice.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's treats justice primarily as a virtue or quality, and secondarily as a judicial officer, with the plural following naturally from either sense.
The gap between common and legal usage is contextual rather than definitional: in ordinary speech, justices and judges are often used interchangeably. In legal usage, the distinction matters — some courts have judges, others have justices, and the title signals something about the court's tier and character. A researcher who treats the terms as synonyms in historical sources may misread the court's nature or jurisdiction.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Justices of the Supreme Court: Article III judges appointed to the highest federal court; nine in number by statute, though the Constitution does not fix the number.
Justices of the peace (JPs): Local magistrates of limited jurisdiction. Historically significant in common law administration; still operational in many U.S. states and in England and Wales, where lay magistrates sit without legal qualification.
Justices in eyre: Itinerant royal justices of medieval England who held general sessions across circuits. Formally distinct from justices of assize.
Justices in eyre of the forest: A specialized subtype with jurisdiction over forest law offenses — vert (unlawful cutting or destruction of trees and undergrowth) and venison (unlawful taking of game). Their court, the justice seat of the forest, was a separate tribunal from the general eyre.
Associate Justices / Chief Justice: Titles distinguishing rank within a multi-member court. The Chief Justice of the United States holds a distinct constitutional office; the title is not merely honorific.
Why It Matters in Research
The term justices is a navigational challenge because it collapses across time, tier, and jurisdiction. When reading historical sources, researchers must identify which office is intended — itinerant eyre justices, forest-specific justices, justices of the peace, or appellate jurists — because their powers, procedures, and records are entirely distinct.
In American legal research, the judge/justice distinction signals court tier and can affect how you locate records. Federal district court judges are judges; Supreme Court members are justices. Many state supreme courts use justices, but state intermediate appellate courts vary. Conflating the titles when searching historical court records, docket indexes, or legal databases will produce gaps.
For historical English research, justices in eyre are particularly important: their rolls (eyre rolls) are a primary source for medieval land law, criminal procedure, and local administration. These are archival records held largely at the Public Record Office (now The National Archives, Kew) and are not reproduced in standard legal reporters. Rapalje & Lawrence's entry correctly cross-references vert and venison, and researchers approaching forest law should follow that cross-reference — forest jurisdiction operated under a parallel legal system with its own courts, officers, and offenses.
Justices of the peace generated an enormous volume of records — recognizances, warrants, examinations, and quarter sessions minutes — that are essential sources for local legal history, particularly in colonial America and early republic research. These records are usually held at county or state archives rather than in published reporters.
The term justice also appears in statutory titles (e.g., obstruction of justice) where it refers not to a person but to the administration of law as an institutional concept. Researchers should be alert to this usage to avoid false positives in full-text searches.
Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje & Lawrence devote their entry specifically to justices in eyre, distinguishing the general itinerant justices from the specialized justices in eyre of the forest. The entry correctly identifies eire as the source of the designation (a journey or circuit) and notes the forest court's jurisdiction over vert and venison. The cross-reference to vert and venison is appropriate and should be followed.
What Rapalje & Lawrence do not cover: the entry is narrow and historical. It does not address justices of the peace, appellate justices, or the American usage that would be most relevant to a practicing researcher. The omission reflects the dictionary's orientation toward English common law history rather than American practice. Researchers using Rapalje & Lawrence for this term should treat it as a specialized entry on forest law administration, not a general account of the office.
No substantial divergence exists between Rapalje & Lawrence and general legal historical understanding on the narrow point covered; the entry is reliable as far as it goes.
Jurisdictional Note
In the United States, whether judges of a particular court are styled judges or justices varies by state constitution and statute. In England and Wales, justices of the peace (magistrates) remain a functioning part of the court system; the historical itinerant eyre system was abolished long before the modern period. Researchers working across jurisdictions should not assume that the same title denotes equivalent authority or procedure.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Obstruction of Justice (18 USC 1501-1521) — The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia (for the statutory usage of justice as institutional concept)
Military Justice — Overview (UCMJ) — The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia (for a specialized jurisdictional system with its own judicial officers)
Juvenile Justice — Overview and Philosophy — The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia (for the administrative and philosophical dimensions of justice as a system)