However, the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation (except where the king wanted to raise money by selling a new form of writ).
A local lord of the manor (or family) could hold their servants and tenants responsible in a manorial court and was among wealthy people who could more easily enlist the help of a county or city bailiff, posse comitatus if one existed and the justices of the peace.
The sheriff was the often-armed representative of the king in a city, town or shire, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing his laws.
The church could hold ecclesiastical courts to resolve offences in its canon law and on its narrow territorial jurisdiction.
Justice for crimes sought in older forums and by private prosecution declined—instead the state courts, and increasingly the state paying lawyers to prosecute became the normal route to justice for matters that conceivably affect or endanger the community at large.