An administrative district designed to facilitate the execution of justice. The division of Kaldor into shires was well under way by the latter part of the 3rd century and the concept has since spread throughout most of civilized Hârn. Simply, a shire is a “province” containing the organs of royal justice in the form of courts and judges, before which all litigation between freemen must be tried. Shires may be subdivided into “hundreds.” These too have their own legal organs. Each hundred or shire has specific “jurors,” part of whose feudal obligation is to attend the hundred or shire moot and pass judgment in the name of the king on the cases brought before them.
The presiding officer over a shire is termed a sheriff (shire-reeve) and that over a hundred is called a “bailiff of the hundred.” These officers are charged with responsibility for executing the decisions of the moots and with deciding whether appealed cases should be permitted to rise to a higher court. Since the moots meet no more than monthly, these officers wield considerable discretionary powers that are often open to abuse, particularly in Rethem.
The presiding officer over a shire is termed a sheriff (shire-reeve) and that over a hundred is called a “bailiff of the hundred.” These officers are charged with responsibility for executing the decisions of the moots and with deciding whether appealed cases should be permitted to rise to a higher court. Since the moots meet no more than monthly, these officers wield considerable discretionary powers that are often open to abuse, particularly in Rethem.