"Due Process" Not in OED

[Fred Shapiro]

One of the OED's weakest areas is legal vocabulary.  An example of an
extremely important legal term not included in the OED is "due process."
Here is the earliest example I have found; it occurs in a statute:

1344 (18 Edw. 3 St. 3)  And in case they cannot sufficiently shew, that
they have entered by due Process after Licence to them granted in general
or in special, that they shall be well received to make a convenient Fine
for the same.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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