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In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; /dɪsˈsiːzɪn/[1]) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II in the wake of the Assize of Clarendon of 1166;[2] and like the other two was only abolished in 1833.[3]
Facing the disorder of self-help over the possession of land in the wake of the reign of King Stephen, Henry II in his nationwide assizes of Clarendon and Northampton had his justices "cause an inquisition to be made concerning dispossessions carried out contrary to the assize".[4] Drawing on the sophisticated models offered by canon law, the king subsequently created the private (and purchasable) writ of novel disseisin, which enabled individuals to take disputed possession cases to the royal courts.[5]
The action became extremely popular due to its speed (avoiding the delays or essoins of feudal justice), accessibility, and expediency. Rather than dealing with the issue of lawful possession, it simply asked whether dispossession had taken place, in which case the property was restored to the plaintiff, and the question of true ownership was dealt with later.[6]
Although Henry had intended his newly created Grand Assize to determine issues of right, not possession, in land, in practice quite quickly novel disseisin superseded the Grand Assize and became itself the primary determinant of right in land—partly because, from dealing only with 'recent' disseisin, its remit was gradually extended further and further back in time.[7] A further significant extension involved the application of the writ to profits and rights emanating from land, including rents. Thus, for example, the date of disseisin allowed at the Common Bench by 1321 went back as far as 1242; while in the 1321 London eyre, of eighty-one cases of novel disseisin, only half concerned property (houses or shops), the other half dealt with rents.[8]
Ranulf de Glanvill's Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England gives examples of novel disseisin writs, which were issued to a sheriff as a command from the king. The general structure was:
被告人が法廷に出廷する期日は厳格に執行されたが、他の手続きでは欠席が認められていた（essoins）。
利点があったにもかかわらず、新しい占有剥奪法は悪用される可能性もあった。例えば、占有剥奪者が正当な占有者に対して先手を打ってその権利を行使した場合などである。[ 9 ]時が経つにつれ、その運用を妨害する法的手段が考案され、偽装封建制の下では、新しい巡回裁判所の大きな強みであった陪審員の買収も増加した。[ 10 ]