Capias - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition capias

Definition :

Capias (that you take). The writ of capias (which was a writ directing the sheriff to take the body of the defendant), as a means of commencing an action at Common Law, was altogether abolished, and a new writ, called a 'capias on mesne process,' or 'bailable process,' was introduced by the (English) Judgments Act, 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 110), s. 3, which limited the application of the writ to cases in which the cause of action amounted to 20l. or upwards, and the debtor was about to quit England, unless forthwith apprehended; see now the (English) Debtors Act, 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 62), s. 6, abolishing arrest on mesne process; and see MESNE PROCESS.