KING’S PEACE

King’s peace.Hist. A royal subject’s right to be protected from crime (to “have peace”) in certain areas subject to the king’s immediate control, such as the king’s palace or highway. • A breach of the peace in one of these areas subjected the offender to punishment in the king’s court. Over time, the area subject to the king’s peace grew, which in turn increased the jurisdiction of the royal courts. — Also written King’s Peace. Cf. AGAINST THE PEACE AND DIGNITY OF THE STATE .

“A breach of the King’s Peace was at one time the most comprehensive of all offences against the Crown; it indeed included, and still includes, all the more serious crimes. At one time, in fact, every indictment charged the accused with an offence ‘against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King’; and, though this form is no longer employed, that is mainly because the imperative duty of not disturbing the King’s Peace has by now evolved into an elaborate system of Criminal Law.” Edward Jenks, The Book of English Law 134 (P.B. Fairest ed., 6th ed. 1967).

[Blacks Law 8th]