The Court of Exchequer Chamber was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 appellate court

Appellate court

An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...

 for common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 civil actions, prior to the reforms of the Judicature Acts

Judicature Acts

The Judicature Acts are a series of Acts of Parliament, beginning in the 1870s, which aimed to fuse the hitherto split system of courts in England and Wales. The first two Acts were the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1875 The Judicature Acts are a...

 of 1873-1875.

The Court heard references from the King's Bench

King's Bench

The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...

, the Court of Exchequer

Exchequer of pleas

The Exchequer of Pleas or Court of Exchequer was a court that followed equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law, and common law, in England and Wales. Originally part of the curia regis, or King's Council, the Exchequer of Pleas split from the curia during the 1190s, to sit as an...

 and, from 1830, the Court of Common Pleas

Court of Common Pleas (England)

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...

. It was constituted from judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

s belonging to the two courts that had been uninvolved at first instance

Court of first instance

A court of first instance is a trial court of original or primary jurisdiction.Specific courts called the Court of First Instance include:* European Court of First Instance, of the European Union* Court of First Instance...

.In cases of exceptional importance such as Rex v. Hampden (1637) all twelve common law judges ,sitting in Exchequer Chamber, might be asked to determine a point of law, the matter being referred by the Court hearing the case rather than the parties.

Though further appeal to the House of Lords

Judicial functions of the House of Lords

The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...

 was possible, this was rare before the nineteenth century.As a rule a judgement of the Exchequer Chamber was considered the definitive statement of the law, although certain judgments like Hampden ( the case of Ship Money

Ship money

Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...

 ) caused political controversy.

It was superseded by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

.