WRIT, a law term, which in its proper signification means a writing under the king's seal, whereby he confers some right or privilege, or commands some act to be .done. Writs are either patent (open, commonly called letters patent, liters patentee), which are not sealed up, but have the great seal attached to them ; or dose (literre cktusce), which are, or are supposed to be, sealed up. The former are addressed to all persons indiscrimi nately, generally in these terms—" To all to whom these presents shall come ;" the latter are directed to some officer or other individual. Of the former kind is the creation of a peer by patent, which is a royal grant of peerage ; of the latter, the creation of a peer by writ, which is a summons to attend the house of peers by the style and title of some barony.
Writ in its ordinary and more limited sense is a term applicable to process in civil or criminal proceedings. Civil writs are divisible into original and judicial: original writs issue out of the Court of Chancery, and give authority to the courts, in which they are returnable, to proceed with the cause ; judicial writs are awarded by the court in which the action is already pending. These are again sub divided into mesne and final. Original writs (which now, except in the few real actions still preserved, have been super seded by the writ of summons) used to contain a briestatement of the plaintiffs alleged cause of action • and such a writ was called in law Latin breve, in law French brie': and this term was after wards applied to judicial and other writs. Original writs issuing from Chancery were always witnessed, or tested, in the name of the king ; judicial writs issued from that one of the superior common law courts in which the original writ was made returnable, and were tested in the name of the chief judge of such court In eases where the plaintiff seeks to re cover a sum under 40s., be may bring his suit in the county-court, or court-baron, in which no royal writ is necessary, but the suits therein commence, not by ori ginal writ, but by plaint, which is a statement of the party's cause of action in the nature of a declaration.
There are many kinds of writs, some of the more important of which may be here mentioned. There is the writ to the sheriff of a county to elect a member or members of the Commons' House of Par liament, in case of a vacancy or general election, which issues upon the warrant of the lord chancellor or in certain cases of the speaker of the House of Commons. The writ of habeas corpus (ad subjiciendme), which is directed to any person who de tains another, commanding him to pro duce the body of the prisoner at such a time and place, together with the cause of his caption and detention, to do, submit to, and receive (ad faciendum, subjici endunt, et recipiendum) whatever the court or judge by whom the writ is awarded shall think fit. MAMAS CORMS.] There are various other writs of habeas corpus, for the purpose of bringing up prisoners to be charged in execution, to give testi mony, &c.—the writs of subpoena ad tes ti/wand/int, by which a party is com manded to appear at the trial of a cause, to give evidence under a nominal pecu niary penalty ; and of subpoina duces teem, by which the party is commanded to bring certain specified documents for the purpose of the trial. There is also the writ of subpcena in equity, whereby the defendant in a snit is commanded to appear and answer the plaintiff's bill. A defendant privileged from the particular suit, or from being sued except before some other tribunal, is entitled to a writ of Privilege, by which the court is re quired to discontinue the suit. In modern times a party is allowed his privilege without suing out any writ of privilege. The new Nature Brevium of the Most Reverend Judge, Mr. Anthony Fits-Her bert, contains a great variety of writs.