According to the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus's treatise Germania (AD 98), the comitatus was a military bond between a Germanic warrior and his Lord.

Later, during the Anglo Saxon period (450-1066) the Comitatus was a court of law and not an organization for military purposes.

After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, there was further development of county courts and government.

c. 95), which created a jurisdiction for small civil claims intended to be more coherent, and less cumbersome and costly, than the universal jurisdiction of the High Court or the remnants of local courts administering justice in civil matters.

Civil matters in England (with minor exceptions, e.g. in some actions against the police) do not have juries.

For personal injury, defamation, and some landlord-tenant dispute cases the thresholds for each track have different values.

Judgments can be enforced at the request of the claimant in a number of ways, including requesting the court bailiffs to seize goods, the proceeds of any sale being used to pay the debt, or an Attachment of Earnings Order, where the defendant's employer is ordered to make deductions from the gross wages to pay the claimant.

If the debt was not fully paid within the statutory period, the entry will remain for six full years.