The Origins of Uncontested Adjudication

This brief chapter explores the origins of non-contentious or voluntary jurisdiction, tracing its appearance in Roman law and its incorporation into the practice of civil law systems of Europe. After examining uncontested adjudication in England, this chapter tracks its arrival in British North America. Building on English forms that were themselves rooted in civil law, colonial courts in North America used uncontested process to handle such familiar matters as the probate of decedents’ estates and the exercise of equity and admiralty jurisdiction.