Note 643 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 3)
Reading edition
Cf. Stephen, History of Criminal Law, I. 83. The mistake made by Hallam and others may have been in part the result of their neglecting the important modification undergone by the phrase “pleas of the Crown” between 1215, when it was still confined to a few specific crimes of special gravity, and the present day, when it has become synonymous with the whole field of criminal law.