recorder

recorder, in Anglo-American judicial systems, an officer appointed by a city, county, or other administrative unit to keep legal records. In England and Wales the recorder, in the course of time, came to be a locality’s chief legal officer and sole judge at quarter sessions. When the quarter sessions courts were abolished by the Courts Act of 1971, the recorder’s jurisdiction moved to the Crown Court.

Prior to 1971, recorders in England and Wales were required to be barristers of five years’ standing; after that date they could be either barristers or solicitors, but they were required to have 10 years’ standing.