New York Court of Common Pleas

The New York Court of Common Pleas was a state court in New York. Established in the Province of New York in 1686, the Court remained in existence in the Province and, after the American Revolution, in the U.S. state of New York until it was abolished in 1894.

James Wilton Brooks writes in History of the Court of common pleas of the city and county of New York (1896) that:

The Court of Common Pleas, founded in 1686, in the City of New York, extended in 1691 throughout the State, restricted again in 1846 to the City of New York, and finally, in accordance with the amended State Constitution of 1894, passing out of existence on the thirty-first of December, 1895, was the oldest judicial tribunal in the state of New York. It succeeded "The Worshipful Court of the Schout, Burgomasters and Schepens", which was established in 1653 and may thus be said to have had a continuous existence of nearly two centuries and a half.

The Dutch West India Company established the colony of New Netherland, centered around New Amsterdam in Manhattan, in 1623. Brooks writes that for many years no provision was made for the administration for justice in the colony. In 1623, Peter Minuit, shortly after being appointed Director-General of New Netherland, formed a council of five, which held legislative, executive, and judicial powers. A Dutch colonial official called the Schout was also attached to this body. Together the Governor, Schout, and Council were supervised by the Dutch colonial authorities at Amsterdam. These authorities carried out judicial powers from 1626 to 1637, during Minuit's six years as Director-General and during four years of the term of his successor, Wouter van Twiller.

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