Mera Noctis - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: mera noctisMera noctis
Mera noctis, midnight....
Original Writ or Original
Original Writ or Original [breve originale, Lat.], was the beginning or foundation of a real action at Common Law. It is also applied to processes for some other purposes.It was a mandatory letter issuing out of the Common Law or ordinary jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (see now CHANCERY), under the Great Seal, and in the sovereign's name, addressed to the sheriff of the county where the injury was committed, containing a summary statement of the cause of complaint, andrequiring him to command the defendant to satisfy the claim, and, on his failure to comply, then to summon him to appear in one of the superior Courts of Common Law. In some cases it simply required the sheriff to enforce the appearance. Original writs differed from each other in their tenor, according to the nature of the plaintiff's complaint, and were conceived in fixed and certain forms. Many of these are of a remote antiquity; others are of later origin, and their history is as follows:-The ancient writs had p...
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