Writ - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition writ

Definition :

Writ [breve, Lat.], a judicial process, by which any one is summoned as an offender; a legal instrument to enforce obedience to the orders and sentences of the courts. For the particular writs, see their distinctive names, as assistance, capias, etc.

The (English) Real Property Limitation Act, 1833, abolished all writs in real and mixed actions (except in dower unde nihil habet, quare impedit or ejectment), expressly naming sixty abolished writs (e.g., the writ of right de rationabili parte, of quo jure, of assize of novel disseisin, of entry sur disseisin in the quibus, of waste, of partition, and of per qu' servitia. See also Co. Litt.; Hargr. And Butler's Notes to s. 101, and Index to Notes, ibid. 18th Edn.

The most used modern writ is the Writ of Summons, by which (corresponding to the 'Plaint' in a County Court) an action in the High Court of Justice is commenced. See SUMMONS, and for other writs in actions see EXECUTION, ELEGIT, FIERI FACIAS, POSSESSION, and VENDITIONI EXPONAS. For writs not in actions, see CERTIORARI, MANDAMUS, PROHIBITION, and QUO WARRANTO.

A court's written order, in the name of a state or other competent legal authority, commanding addressee to do or refrain from doing some specified act, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn.

It is a formal or legal document ordering or prohibiting the performance of some action, Webster Random House Dictionary, p. 1698.

It is a remedy for the enforcement of fundamental rights and other purposes viz. (i) habeas corpus; (ii) mandamus; (iii) prohibition; (iv) quo warranto and (iv) certiorari. [Constitution of India, Arts. 32 and 226]