Chanceries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. a judicial institution focusing on equitable remedies and civil law disputes a specialized court handling legal matters related to injunctions and probate issues an adjudicative body designed for the administration and resolution of specific types of legal cases involving fairness and justice
2. a venue for the resolution of civil disputes and equitable claims, often acting as a specialized court dealing with legal documentation and family law issues
3. A court that administers justice through fairness and equitable principles rather than strict legal rules ; an official office where legal documents are processed or diplomatic matters are managed

Etymology: "Chanceries" is the plural of "chancery," which in its legal sense means a court of equity, the branch of English law that could grant relief where the strict common-law courts could not. The name points back to the chancellor, the official who headed the royal writing office, the department that drew up and sealed the king's documents. That office was the chancery, and its head, the chancellor, eventually presided over the court that grew out of it. The word reached English in Middle English as "chancerie," a shortened form of the older "chancellerie," so the surviving English term is really a clipped version of the longer word for the chancellor's office. The fuller form is the one that still names the office of a chancellor's staff or an embassy's administrative section, while the shorter form took on the specialised legal sense.

Synonyms: courts, administrations, legations, diplomatic missions, offices