 The League enforced its code by means of informal tribunals, typically led by the leaders of local chapters.Although there was a long history of such courts by Irish agrarian radicals stretching back to the 1760s, the National League's courts differed from previous iterations in that it held its proceedings openly and followed a common law procedure.This was intended to uphold the League's image of being in favour of the rule of law, just Irish law instead of English law.