oyer and terminer

noun Law.

1. (in some U.S. states) any of various higher criminal courts.
2. British.
   1. a commission or writ directing the holding of a court to try offenses.
   2. the court itself.

noun

1. English law (formerly) a commission issued to judges to try cases on assize. It became obsolete with the abolition of assizes and the setting up of crown courts in 1972
2. the court in which such a hearing was held
3. (in the US) a court exercising higher criminal jurisdiction