Justice under the Hudson's Bay Company

For a fascinating tale see Paul C. Nigol, Discipline and Discretion in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Hudson's Bay Company Private Justice System, chapter 5 of Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670-1940 (Louis A. Knafla & Jonathan Swainger eds., UBC Press 2005). Excerpt:

Autonomous decision making was an important characteristic of the private justice system of the HBC. Governors, because of their lack of proximity to London and the obvious communication problems that accompanied this, were given a great deal of latitude in their dealings with insubordinate company servants as well as First Peoples. Although the charter, legislation, and company orders and instructions laid out rather rigid remedies for behaviour that could be regarded as illegal, the personalities of the officers influenced the private justice system to a greater degree. Therefore, what is referred to as a private justice system can also be considered a personal justice system in the context of justice at the various posts, factories, and forts of the HBC.