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69-529: In its earliest form, a writ was simply a written order made by the English monarch to a specified person to undertake a specified action; for example, in the feudal era , a military summons by the king to one of his tenants-in-chief to appear dressed for battle with retinue at a specific place and time. An early usage survives in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia in a writ of election , which

138-563: A barrister to speak for his client in court. With the abolition of the Forms of Action in 1832 and 1833, a profusion of writs was no longer needed, and one uniform writ came into use. After 1852, the need to state the name of the form of action was also abolished. In 1875, the form of writ was altered to conform more to the subpoena used in the Chancery. A writ was a summons from the Crown to

207-602: A county court , which was established by statute, was to issue a 'summons'. In 1999, the Woolf Reforms unified most of the procedures of the Supreme Court and the county courts in civil matters. These reforms brought in the Civil Procedure Rules . Under these, almost all civil actions, other than those connected with insolvency, are now commenced by the completion of a 'Claim Form' as opposed to

276-581: A royal decree made under the royal prerogative and are treated as statute law. Letters patent do not require the consent of parliament . In some Commonwealth realms, such as Canada and New Zealand ( Letters Patent, 1947 in Canada and Letters Patent 1983 in New Zealand), letters patent serve as formal legal instruments that officially grant powers to the governor general . An important function of Letters Patent in many Commonwealth Realms

345-499: A fairly mundane matter of agricultural policy, but the duty also included service as a juror when the lord handed down sentences for criminal offenses, up to and including in cases of capital punishment. Concerning the king's feudal court, the prototype of parliament, such deliberation could include the question of declaring war. Depending on the period of time and the location of the court, baronial, or manorial estate, feudal customs and practices varied. See examples of feudalism . Under

414-400: A few writs have escaped abolition and remain in current use in the U.S. federal courts: The situation in the courts of the various U.S. states varies from state to state but is often similar to that in the federal courts. Some states continue to use writ procedures, such as quo warranto , that have been abolished as a procedural matter in federal courts. In an attempt to purge Latin from

483-603: A first summon by the sheriff to comply had been deemed fruitless. William the Conqueror took over the system unchanged, but was to extend it in two ways: first, writs became mainly framed in Latin, not Anglo-Saxon; second, they covered an increasing range of royal commands and decisions. Writs of instruction continued to develop under his immediate successors, but it was not until Henry II that writs became available for purchase by private individuals seeking justice, thus initiating

552-703: A new one. This phrase derives from the fact that to hold an election in such a system, a writ of election must be issued on behalf of the monarch ordering the High Sheriffs of each county to set in motion the procedure for elections. Early law of the United States adopted the traditional English writ system, in the sense of a rigid set of forms of relief that the law courts were authorized to grant. The All Writs Act authorizes United States federal courts to "issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to

621-465: A rudimentary justice system. The contract, once entered, could not be broken lightly. It was often sworn on a relic like a saint's bone or on a copy of the Gospel, and the gravity of the commendation was accentuated by the clasping of the vassal's hands between the lord's as the oath was spoke. A ceremonial kiss often sealed the contract though the kiss was less significant than the ritual of homage and

690-479: A single alphabet letter ( littera ). Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation and a vestigial exercise of extra-parliamentary power by a monarch or president. They can thus be contrasted with the Act of Parliament , which is in effect a written order by Parliament involving assent by the monarch in conjunction with its members. No explicit government approval is contained within letters patent, only

759-402: A standard category that could be dealt with by standard procedures. The complainant applied to the court for the writ most relevant to his complaint to be sent to the wrongdoer, which ordered him under royal authority to attend a royal court to answer for his actions. The development was part of the establishment of a Court of Common Pleas , for dealing with commonly made complaints by subjects of

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828-415: A type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch , president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly , title or status to a person or corporation . Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations , government offices, to grant city status or coats of arms . Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of

897-576: A variety of other purposes. They function dually as public records and personal certificates. In the United States, the forgery of letters patent granted by the President is a crime subject to fine, imprisonment up to ten years or both ( 18 U.S.C.   § 497 ). Without letters patent, a person is unable to assume an appointed office. Such an issue prompted the Marbury v. Madison suit, where William Marbury and three others petitioned

966-401: A vassal. This was done at a formal and symbolic ceremony called a commendation ceremony , composed of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty . During homage, the lord and vassal entered a contract in which the vassal promised to fight for the lord at his command, whilst the lord agreed to protect the vassal from external forces, a valuable right in a society without police and with only

1035-420: A vast expansion in their role within the common law. Writs could take two main forms: ' letters patent ', which were open for all to read, and 'letters close' for one or more specified individuals alone. The development of writs as a means of commencing a court action was a form of "off-the-shelf" justice designed to enable the English law courts to rapidly process lawsuits by allocating each complaint form into

1104-702: A vis the Norman period, was that it was a more native form of ties between the king and his nobles. It drew heavily on longstanding Germanic practices, distinct in evolution from the Frankish models employed contemporaneously. By 1066, England was a steady patchwork of lands owned by thegns and ealdormen , though the Anglo-Saxon nobility would steadily lose their lands after the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book often remarked on who owned lands prior to

1173-475: A writ. An informal complaint could usually start actions in local courts. However, if a plaintiff wished to avail himself of Royal — and by implication superior — justice in one of the King's courts, then he would need a writ, a command of the King, to enable him to do this. Initially, for common law, recourse to the King's courts was unusual, and something for which a plaintiff would have to pay. For most Royal Courts,

1242-740: Is a written order issued on behalf of the monarch (in Canada, by the Governor General and, in Australia, by the Governor-General for elections for the House of Representatives, or state governors for state elections) to local officials ( High sheriffs of every county in the United Kingdom) to hold a general election . Writs were used by the medieval English kings to summon people to Parliament (then consisting primarily of

1311-671: Is essential that the written grant should be in the form of a public document so other inventors can consult it both to avoid infringement (while the patent remains in force) and to understand how to put it into practical use (once the patent rights expire). In the Holy Roman Empire , Austrian Empire , and Austria-Hungary , imperial patent was also the highest form of generally binding legal regulations, e.g. Patent of Toleration , Serfdom Patent , etc. The opposite of letters patent are letters close ( Latin : litterae clausae ), which are personal in nature and sealed so that only

1380-409: Is not simply civil or criminal because they incorporate the presumption of non-authority so that the official who is the respondent has the burden to prove his authority to do or not do something, failing which the court has no discretion but to decide for the petitioner, who may be any person, not just an interested party. In this, they differ from a motion in a civil process in which the burden of proof

1449-642: Is on the movant and in which there can be a question of standing . Under the Indian legal system, jurisdiction to issue ' prerogative writs ' is given to the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts of Judicature of all Indian states . Parts of the law relating to writs are outlined in the Constitution of India . The Supreme Court, the highest in the country, may issue writs under Article 32 of

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1518-564: Is to act as the order from the Monarch authorising the establishment and powers of a Royal Commission or a Special Commission of Inquiry. This can be seen in jurisdictions such as Australia where Letters Patent are frequently issued in relation to new and ongoing Royal Commissions . The primary source of letters patent in the United States are intellectual property patents and land patents , though letters patent are issued for

1587-643: The Curia Regis in England. The Curia Regis , a Latin term meaning "royal council", consisted of the King of England and his loyal advisors. The Curia Regis accompanied the King as he travelled. This council administered all of the King's governmental activities, including judicial matters. One of the most important members of the Curia Regis was the Lord Chancellor . The Lord Chancellor led

1656-882: The 8th century CE Kingdom of the Franks where a king gave out land for life ( benefice ) to reward loyal nobles and receive service in return. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain, feudalism emerged in the subsequent Anglo-Saxon period, though not in as comprehensive or uniform manner as in the later Norman era . Anglo-Saxon kings, within the Heptarchy period and united English kingdom post-King Athelstan , often granted supporters and nobles lands in exchange for military service. These were often thegns, who were warriors controlling lands and often fought with kings at their call-up and behest. Similarly, ealdormen ruled counties or groups of counties, and similarly were appointed by

1725-560: The Conquest , which often were native English lords or King Edward the Confessor himself. Feudalism took root in England with William of Normandy 's conquest in 1066. Over a century earlier, before the unification of England, the seven relatively small individual English kingdoms, known collectively as the Heptarchy , maintained an unsteady relationship of raids, ransoms, and truces with Vikings from Denmark and Normandy from around

1794-675: The House of Commons alongside what became the House of Lords . The final major event in the fall of English feudalism is considered to be the Black Death , which killed many of the peasants. The reduced supply of labour led to it commanding a higher price. This led to the Statute of Labourers 1351 , which prohibited the payment of wages above their pre-plague wages levels. This caused peasants to work more and be paid less for their work. This led to peasant uprisings demanding higher wages, such as

1863-436: The House of Lords ) whose advice was considered valuable or who were particularly influential, and who were thereby deemed to have been created " barons by writ ". Sometime before the tenth century , officials in England began utilizing writs to convey orders. A " writ " was simply a short written command issued by a person in authority. It was customary for the sender to seal such a command as proof of its authenticity. In

1932-473: The King's council . New writs were created after that time only by the express sanction of Parliament and the forms of writ remained essentially static, each writ defining a particular form of action . It was the role and expertise of a solicitor to select on his client's behalf the appropriate writ for the proposed legal action. These were purchased from the court by payment of a fee. The solicitor would then hire

2001-474: The Kingdoms of England during the medieval period was a state of human society that organized political and military leadership and force around a stratified formal structure based on land tenure . As a military defence and socio-economic paradigm designed to direct the wealth of the land to the king while it levied military troops to his causes, feudal society was ordered around relationships derived from

2070-539: The Peasants' Revolt in 1381. The king, Richard II, met the peasants' delegation and promised that their demands would be met. Instead of keeping his word however, the king instead tortured the leaders of peasant rebellions. The peasants could no longer be forced to accept the servile conditions that they held under the Feudal system. Before a lord (or king) could grant land (a fief) to a tenant, he had to make that person

2139-549: The Tenures Abolition Act 1660 . By then, a deeply embedded socio-economic class disparity had laid the foundation for the rise of capitalism to take the place of feudalism as the British Empire grew. Under the English feudal system, the person of the king (asserting his allodial right ) was the only absolute "owner" of land. All nobles, knights and other tenants, termed vassals , merely "held" land from

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2208-433: The high medieval period , a time in which the wealthy prospered while the poor labored on the land with relatively little hope of economic autonomy or representative government. In the later medieval period , feudalism began to diminish in England with the eventual centralization of government that began around the first quarter of the fourteenth century, and it remained in decline until its eventual abolition in England with

2277-619: The Constitution for enforcement of fundamental rights and under Article 139 for enforcement of rights other than fundamental rights, while High Courts, the superior courts of the States, may issue writs under Articles 226. The Constitution broadly provides for five kinds of "prerogative" writs: habeas corpus , certiorari , mandamus , quo warranto and prohibition: Feudalism in England Feudalism as practiced in

2346-530: The Crown , such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms , as well as appointing a Royal Commission . In the United Kingdom , they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm . A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern intellectual property patent (referred to as a utility patent or design patent in United States patent law ) granting exclusive rights in an invention or design. In this case, it

2415-530: The Laws"). The coined word feudal derives from an ancient Gothic source faihu signifying simply "property" which in its most basic sense was "cattle" and is a cognate of the classical Latin word pecus , which means both "cattle", "money" and "power". European feudalism had its roots in the Roman manorial system - [ Colonus ] (in which workers were compensated with protection while living on large estates) and in

2484-477: The chancery. Chancery is a general term for a medieval writing office that was responsible for the production of official documents. The Lord Chancellor wrote writs on behalf of the King, maintained all official documents, and acted as the keeper of the royal seal . This position, in effect, placed the Lord Chancellor as the head of the English legal system. The King, however, was the ultimate leader of

2553-465: The civil war for years afterwards. The next important event was on 15 June 1215, when King John of England was forced to put his seal to the Magna Carta by pressure from his rebellious barons; this began the collapse of the King's power within the feudal system. In the mid 13th century, Simon de Montfort and several barons formed a crucial part of British politics with the creation of what became

2622-476: The clerks of the Chancery would use wording from previously issued writs, with suitable adjustments, often taken from reference books containing collections of forms of writ, much as in modern times, lawyers frequently use fixed precedents or boilerplate , rather than re-inventing the wording of a new legal document. The problem with this approach was that a plaintiff's rights and available forms of action at his disposal, would be defined, and in most cases limited, by

2691-438: The common law writs. The writ was "served" on (delivered in person to) the wrongdoer and acted as a command that he should appear at a specified time and date before the court specified in the writ, or it might command some other act on the part of the recipient. Where a plaintiff wished to have a case heard by a local court or by the justice of an Eyre if one happened to be visiting the county, there would be no need to obtain

2760-547: The contents back to the gentry in the shires through normal conversation and social intercourse. Today, for example, it is a convention for the British prime minister to announce that they have left a document they wish to enter the public domain "in the library of the House of Commons ", where it may be freely perused by all members of parliament . Letters patent are so named from the Latin verb patī , patior , to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originator's seal

2829-471: The creation of new writs as an erosion of their influence. Over time, opposition to the creation of new writs by the Chancery increased. For example, in 1256, a court was asked to quash a writ as "novel, unheard of, and against reason". Ultimately, in 1258, the King was forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford , which among other things, prohibited the creation of new forms of writ without the sanction of

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2898-618: The crown, for example: "someone has damaged my property". The previous system of justice at the royal court of Chancery was tailor-made to suit each case and was thus highly time-consuming. Thus eventually the obtaining of a writ became necessary, in most cases, to have a case heard in one of the Royal Courts, such as the King's Bench or Common Pleas . Some franchise courts, especially in the Counties Palatine , had their own system of writs, which often reflected or anticipated

2967-441: The days when writing was a rare art, a writ was revered because the person receiving the command was unlikely to deny or question its legitimacy. The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 led to the establishment of a strong, centralized monarchy. The first Norman King of England , William the Conqueror , modified writs to become mainly framed in Latin, increased the number of writs to cover additional royal commands, and established

3036-414: The feudal system several different forms of land tenure existed, each effectively a contract with differing rights and duties attached thereto. The main varieties are as follows: Freehold (indeterminate & hereditable): Freehold (indeterminate & hereditable): Non-freehold (fixed-term & non-hereditable): Letters patent Letters patent ( plural form for singular and plural ) are

3105-421: The holding of land. Such landholdings are termed fiefdoms , traders, fiefs , or fees . The word, "feudalism", was not a medieval term, but an invention of sixteenth century French and English lawyers to describe certain traditional obligations between members of the warrior aristocracy. Not until 1748 did it become a popular and widely used word, thanks to Montesquieu 's De L'Esprit des Lois ("The Spirit of

3174-515: The king to grant service accordingly when called upon. Various writs survive from Anglo-Saxon monarchs, where specific grants of land were given to nobility throughout England. Thegns often worked along with ealdormen and shire reeves to enforce law and order and collect taxes in given areas. This system was indigenous to the Anglo-Saxons, and greatly mimicked feudalism as practiced in Europe at

3243-406: The king, who was thus at the top of the "feudal pyramid". When feudal land grants were of indefinite or indeterminate duration, such grants were deemed freehold , while fixed term and non-hereditable grants were deemed non-freehold. However, even freehold fiefs were not unconditionally heritable—before inheriting, the heir had to pay a suitable feudal relief . Beneath the king in the feudal pyramid

3312-414: The kingdom; therefore, the Lord Chancellor issued writs under the guidance of what he believed to be in the best interests of the King. Between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Lord Chancellor had a large control over the issuance of all original writs. In this history of English common law, original writs began a legal proceeding, while a judicial writ was issued during a legal proceeding. The writ

3381-538: The language of the law, California law has for many years used the term 'writ of mandate' in place of writ of mandamus and writ of review in place of writ of certiorari . The "prerogative" writs are a subset of the class of writs, those that are to be heard ahead of any other cases on a court's docket except other such writs. The most common of the other such prerogative writs are habeas corpus , quo warranto , prohibito , mandamus , procedendo , and certiorari . The due process for 'petitions for' such writs

3450-436: The limited variety of writs available to him. Thus, the power to create new writs was akin to the power to create new rights, a form of extra-parliamentary legislation. Moreover, a writ, if one could be found fitting the plaintiff's case, provided the legal means to remove the dispute from the jurisdiction of the local court, often controlled by a lesser noble , and instead have it heard by the King's judges. The nobility thus saw

3519-425: The lord was the performance of military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, the vassal was responsible to answer calls to military service on behalf of the lord. The equipment required and the duration of the service was usually agreed upon between the parties in detail in advance. For example, a vassal such as a baron, with a wealthy fiefdom lived well off

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3588-478: The mesne tenant, further mesne tenants could hold from each other in series, creating a thriving, if complicated, feudal pyramid. English feudalism first began to fall during the Anarchy , in which there were two factions: the supporters of Empress Matilda and of Stephen Of Blois . Matilda was the daughter of Henry I of England who had recently died in 1135, when his ship sunk due to weather conditions. Matilda

3657-539: The obtaining of a 'Writ', 'Originating Application', or 'Summons' (see Rules 7 and 8 of the Civil Procedure Rules). The following writs, amongst others, existed in England: In some Westminster systems , for example, Canada and some other parliamentary systems , the phrase ' dropping the writ ' refers colloquially to a dissolution of parliament and the beginning of an election campaign to form

3726-495: The parties to the action, with on its back the substance of the action set out, together with a 'prayer' requesting a remedy from the court (for example, damages). In 1980, the need for writs to be written in the name of the Crown was ended. From that time, a writ simply required the parties to appear. Writs applied to claims to be heard in one of the courts, eventually forming part of the High Court of Justice . The procedure in

3795-413: The present day, with most of those to 1625 having been published. In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms , letters patent are royal proclamations granting an office, right, title, or status to a person (and sometimes in regard to corporations and cities). Letters patent take the form of an open letter from the monarch to a subject, although this is a legal fiction and they are in fact

3864-402: The recipient can read their contents. Letters patent are thus comparable to other kinds of open letter in that their audience is wide. It is not clear how the contents of letters patent became widely published before collection by the addressee, for example whether they were left after sealing by the king for inspection during a certain period by courtiers in a royal palace, who would disseminate

3933-423: The revenues of his lands and was able (and required) to provide a correspondingly impressive number of knights when called upon. Considering that each knight needed to attend his service with horses, armor, weapons, and even food and provisions to keep himself, his animals, and his attendants for the demanded period of time, a baron's service to the king could be costly in the extreme. This security of military help

4002-400: The seal or signature of the monarch. Parliament today tolerates only a very narrow exercise of the royal prerogative by issuance of letters patent, and such documents are issued with prior informal government approval, or indeed are now generated by government itself with the monarch's seal affixed as a mere formality. In their original form they were simply written instructions or orders from

4071-474: The seventh to tenth centuries. This fracture in the stability of the Heptarchy paved the way for the successful Norman Conquest , and England's new king, William I , initiated a system of land grants to his vassals, the powerful knights who fought alongside him, in order to have them maintain his new order throughout the kingdom. The feudal system of governance and economics thrived in England throughout

4140-669: The sovereign, whose order was law, which were made public to reinforce their effect. For the sake of good governance, it is of little use if the sovereign appoints a person to a position of authority but does not at the same time inform those over whom such authority is to be exercised of the validity of the appointment. According to the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice , there are 92 different types of letters patent. The Patent Rolls are made up of office copies of English (and later United Kingdom) royal letters patent, which run in an almost unbroken series from 1201 to

4209-434: The swearing of fealty. The word fealty derives from the Latin fidelitas and denotes the fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord. Fealty also refers to an oath that more explicitly reinforces the commitments of the vassal made during homage. Once the commendation was complete, the lord and vassal were now in a feudal relationship with agreed-upon mutual obligations to one another. The vassal's principal obligation to

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4278-637: The time. Armies used in various conflicts were drawn from such arrangements. The invasion of Scotland by King Athelstan in the 930s drew from thegns whom he had established. The English army at the Battle of Hastings also was similar, and as the English lost to the Normans, much of the standing native English nobility had been wiped out following the loss. A primary difference between this form of feudalism, as practiced in Anglo-Saxon England vis

4347-483: The usages and principles of law." However, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure , adopted in 1938 to govern civil procedure in the United States district courts , provide that there is only one form of action in civil cases, and explicitly abolish certain writs by name. Relief formerly available by a writ is now commonly available by a lawsuit (civil action) or a motion in a pending civil action. Nonetheless,

4416-551: The writ would usually have been purchased from the Chancery, although the court of the Exchequer , being, in essence, another government department, could issue its own writs. While originally writs were exceptional, or at least non-routine devices, Maitland suggests that by the time of King Henry II (1154–1189), the use of writs had become a regular part of the system of royal justice in England. At first, new writs were drafted to fit each unique situation. However, in practice,

4485-411: Was Henry's only heir, so she was first in line to the English throne. However, many of the barons who had promised to allow Matilda to rule broke their promise and supported Stephen (Henry's nephew) as king. This divide led to a civil war, which allowed many peasants to gain political power as there was no undisputed ruler. Eventually there was a compromise, although England still felt the repercussions of

4554-413: Was a tenant-in-chief (generally a baron or knight) who, as the king's vassal, held and drew profit from a piece of the king's land. At the next tier of feudalism, holding land from the vassal was a mesne tenant (generally a knight, sometimes a baron, including tenants-in-chief in their capacity as holders of other fiefs) who in turn held parcels of land when sub-enfeoffed by the tenant-in-chief. Below

4623-468: Was a unique development of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy and consisted of a brief administrative order, authenticated (innovatively) by a seal . Written in the vernacular , they generally made a land grant or conveyed instructions to a local court. In the beginning, writs were the documents issued by the King's Chancellor against a landowner whose vassal complained to the King about an injustice, after

4692-412: Was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. They are called "letters" (plural) from their Latin name litterae patentes , used by medieval and later scribes when the documents were written in Latin. This loanword preserves the collective plural "letters" ( litterae ) that the Latin language uses to denote a message as opposed to

4761-416: Was the primary reason the lord entered into the feudal relationship, but the vassal had another obligation to his lord, namely attendance at his court, whether manorial, baronial or at the king's court itself in the form of parliament . This involved the vassal providing "counsel", so that if the lord faced a major decision he would summon all his vassals and hold a council. On the manorial level this might be

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