In English law, oyer and terminer (/ˈɔɪ.ər ... ˈtɜːrmɪnər/; a partial translation of the Anglo-French oyer et terminer, which literally means 'to hear and to determine'[1]) was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat.
[4] Massachusetts Governor William Phips created a court of Oyer and Terminer for the Salem witch trials on May 27, 1692, consisting of Mr. Stoughton, Maj. Richards, Maj. Gidny, Mr.
Wait Winthrop, Samuel Sewall, Mr. Sargeant, as well as Maj. Nathaniel Saltonstall, who soon withdrew in dissatisfaction and was replaced by Jonathan Corwin.
(Corwin had been one of the two main judges of the early proceedings in Salem, often signing his name under John Hathorne.
[6] It was dissolved by Governor Phips on October 29, 1692, when the trials were reflected upon and disapproved of.