Crown Tribunal

In 1578, King Stefan Batory created the Crown Tribunal to reduce the enormous pressure on the royal court.

That placed much of the monarch's juridical power in the hands of the elected deputies of the szlachta (nobility) and further strengthened that class.

The Marshal was chosen from and by the judges themselves, and the President dealt with ecclesiastic matters and was a high-ranking priest.

The tribunals had many problems since their creation, as the judges rarely had any formal training and were basically politicians elected each year.

With the progressive degradation of Polish political system in the early 18th century, the tribunals became as corrupt and dependent on the magnates from the Sejm.