Hilary term

English

WOTD – 13 January 2017

The Royal Courts of Justice in London, UK, the seat of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales

Etymology

Hilary + term. The name Hilary is from the Latin Hilarius (“Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers”), hilarius (“more cheerful, more joyful”), from hilarē (“cheerful, joyful”), from hilaris (“cheerful, light-hearted, lively”), from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, glad, happy, joyful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, merciful, propitious; gentle, kind, mild”). The feast day of Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367), 13 January, occurs during this term.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪləɹi tɜːm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪləɹi tɝm/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Hil‧a‧ry term

Noun

Hilary term (plural Hilary terms)

1. (law) The second term of the legal year, running from January to March or April, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.

   Coordinate terms: Michaelmas term, Easter term, Trinity term

   • 1782, William Brown, “Thomas Brooks, D.D. and Elizabeth His Wife, Late Elizabeth Adams, Widow and Executrix of James Adams, Esq.; Deceased, Plaintiffs; Frances Reynolds, Widow, Defendant”, in Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery. [...] From Trinity Term, in the Eighteenth, to the Conclusion of the Twenty-fifth Year of the Reign of His Present Majesty King George the Third, both inclusive, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed by A[ndrew] Strahan and W[illiam] Woodfall, law-printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty: for E. and R. Brooke, Bell-Yard, Temple-Bar, published 1790, →OCLC, page 183:

     In Hilary term, 1777, Howland and his co-truſtees, filed a bill againſt the preſent plaintiff Elizabeth, the teſtator's heir at law, and the perſons claiming under his will, for the directions and indemnity of the Court, in executing their truſt; […]

   • 1845, R. Levinge Swift, “Appendix. Lord Lyndhurst’s Orders of 3rd April, 1828, (Amended by Lord Brougham’s Orders, 23rd November, 1831.)”, in The Orders of the High Court of Chancery, from Hilary Term 1828 to Trinity Term 1845, as at Present Applicable to the Practice: With the Cases Decided under each Order, London: Owen Richards, law bookseller and publisher, 194. Fleet-Street, →OCLC, pages 8–9:

     [Order] XIX. That whenever the time allowed for any of the following purposes, that is to say, for amending any bill, for filing, delivering, and referring exceptions to any answer, or for obtaining a Master's report upon any exceptions, would expire in the interval between the last seal after Trinity term and the first seal before Michaelmas term, or between the last seal after Michaelmas term and the first seal before Hilary term, such time shall extend to and include the day of the general seal then next ensuing.

   • 2004, Barry Cahill, Jim Phillips, “The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia: Origins to Confederation”, in Philip Girard, Jim Phillips, Barry Cahill, editors, The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, 1754–2004: From Imperial Bastion to Provincial Oracle, Toronto, Ont.: Published for The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 71:

     Hilary Term was reinstated in 1796, with the injunction that jurors were not required to attend unless specially ordered. It seems likely, therefore, that the term was intended to be used for appeal cases only, although since criminal trials with juries were held in most Hilary Terms after 1798 this intention was not always carried out.

2. (education) The second academic term of the universities of Oxford and Dublin, and other educational institutions, running from January to March; equivalent to Lent term at the University of Cambridge. The term was modelled after the legal term, but does not begin and end on the same dates.

   Coordinate terms: Michaelmas term, Trinity term

   • 1813, “University Terms, and How Many are Required to be Kept for each Degree”, in The Oxford University Calendar, for the Year 1813, Oxford: Printed by Munday and Slatter, for J. Parker; and F[rancis] C[harles] and J[ames] Rivington, London, →OCLC, page 65:

     There are four terms in the year, viz. […] 2. Hilary term, which begins on the 14th day of January, and ends the day before Palm Sunday.

Usage notes

• In England and Wales, the system of terms applies to the High Court of Justice, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court; in Ireland it applies to the High Court and the Supreme Court.

• At present, Hilary term begins on 11 January unless this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, in which case it begins on the following Monday. In England and Wales it ends on the Wednesday before Easter Sunday, while in Ireland it ends on the Friday of the week preceding the Easter vacation.

Further reading

• Hilary term on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “Term Date Calculator”, in New Square Chambers‎^[3], 2016, archived from the original on 14 August 2007.