Writ

Freedom from unwarrantable arrest or imprisonment of the person was secured by the writs de odio et atia, de homine reple giando, de manucaptione and mainprise. These have long been superseded by the more efficient writs of habeas corpus, though, it may be added, these latter also are themselves of very ancient origin.

Writs at the Present Day.

The vast majority of writs at the present day deal with the initiation, progress, or results of litigation; but purely administrative writs still exist, such as those for summoning representatives to parliament, or for as sembling an ecclesiastical convocation. Writs are now issued from the central office of the Supreme Court, which was created by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Officers) Act, 1879, and thereby absorbed the Crown office of the Queen's Bench Division. The Crown office is an institution of the greatest antiquity, and the clerk of the Crown in Chancery has important duties relating to parliamentary writs, which are noticed below. Some writs require the Great Seal, e.g., those for summoning new parliaments; writs of summons in actions are under the seal of the court, and are tested in the name of the lord chancellor, but writs issuing from the Crown office side are tested in the name of the lord chief justice of England. Instead of the Great Seal, the Crown Office Act, 1877, allows wafer great seals made on em bossed paper, wax, wafer, or any other material, in accordance with rules drawn up by a committee of the Privy Council, to be attached to documents authorized by such rules to be thus vali dated. As to writs connected with litigation, the commonest type is the writ of summons which originates a civil action in the High Court of Justice. Indeed, it is now the only way in which such an action can be commenced. It is a formal document by which the king commands the defendant to "enter an appearance" within eight days, if he wishes to dispute the plaintiff's claim, and notifying him that, in default, judgment will be signed against him. It must be indorsed with a statement of the nature of the claim made. It may be issued either from the central office of the Supreme Court in London, or from one of the district registries which exist in many of the large provincial towns. Issue consists in taking two copies of the proposed writ to the writ department of the central office or to a district registry, signing one copy and paying 3os., whereupon the official impresses a 3os. stamp

on the signed copy, files it, stamps the other with a "seal," and hands it back to the applicant. This then becomes the writ in the action. Technical defects in the writ are no longer fatal, for the plaintiff can amend them with the leave of the practice master in the King's Bench Division or of the chief clerk of the writ in the Chancery Division. Bracton's statement nearly 700 years ago, non potest quis sine brevi agere, is true of procedure in the High Court even now, but the great difference between the writs of his day and those of our own is the elasticity of claim which the latter allow. We are not limited to a certain number of actions, each with its appropriate writ, to be chosen rightly at the plaintiff's peril; the writ is always the same except for its indorsement, and, in effect, any claim which it is probable that the courts will enforce can be indorsed on it. If the plaintiff lose his case, it will be either because he has not evidence to support it, or because he fails to satisfy the requirements of the substantive law, and not because he has selected the wrong form of writ. After issue of the writ, it must be served on the defendant. This is done by showing him, or his solicitor, the original, and then leaving with either of them a correct copy of it. As a rule, the writ cannot be served on a Sunday. The entry of appearance by the defendant does not involve his personal presence. This, and all other proceedings on the writ, prior to the trial of the action, can be, and usually are, conducted on behalf of the parties by their respective solicitors. The officials who deal with these preliminary proceedings are the masters of the Supreme Court. No leave for the issue of the writ is necessary, unless the de fendant be out of England, or the plaintiff seek to join on his writ causes of action for the joinder of which leave is required. Proceedings in the county court, in which most civil actions for claims of small amount are tried, are begun by the entry of a plaint, followed by a summons to the defendant.