{"id":5339,"date":"2017-08-18T23:37:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T23:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=5339"},"modified":"2017-11-23T22:57:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T22:57:06","slug":"writ-of-certiorari-law-latin-to-be-more-fully-informed-15c-an-extraordinary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=5339","title":{"rendered":"Writ of Certiorari – issued by an appellate court, directing a lower court to deliver the record in the case for review"},"content":{"rendered":"

writ of certiorari<\/span>:<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span>[Law Latin “to be more fully informed”]
\n(15c.)<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0An extraordinary writ issued by an appellate court, at its discretion, directing a lower court to deliver the<\/strong><\/span>
\n record in the case for review. The writ evolved from one of the prerogative writs of the\u00a0English Court of King\u2019s Bench, and in the United States it became a general appellate\u00a0remedy. \u00a0The US. Supreme Court uses certiorari to review most of the cases that it\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>decides to hear.\u00a0<\/strong> Abbr. cert. \u2014 aka certiorari<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. Cf. CERTIFICATION (5). [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Excerpt from Benjamin J. Shipman’s\u00a0Handbook of Common-Law<\/a>\u00a0regarding\u00a0certiorari:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cThe established method by which the Court of King\u2019s\u00a0Bench from the earliest times exercised superintendence over\u00a0the due observance of their limitations by inferior courts,\u00a0checked the usurpation of jurisdiction, and maintained the\u00a0supremacy of the royal courts, was by writs of prohibition and\u00a0certiorari. \u00a0A proceeding by writ of certiorari (cause to be\u00a0certified) is a special proceeding by which a superior court\u00a0requires some inferior tribunal, board, or judicial officer to\u00a0transmit the record of its proceedings for review, for exceSs of\u00a0jurisdiction. \u00a0It is similar to a writ of error, in that it is a\u00a0proceeding in a higher court to superintend and review judicial\u00a0acts, but it only lies in cases not appealable by writ of error or\u00a0otherwise.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from Charles Alan Wright’s\u00a0Federal Practice and Procedure<\/a>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe discretionary writ of certiorari has come to control\u00a0access to almost all branches of Supreme Court jurisdiction. \u00a0Appeal jurisdiction has been narrowly limited, and\u00a0certification\u00a0of questions from federal courts of appeals has\u00a0fallen into almost complete desuetude. Certiorari control over\u00a0the cases that come before the Court enables the Court to\u00a0define its own institutional role.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from\u00a0Daniel R. Coquillette’s\u00a0The Anglo-American Legal Heritage<\/a>:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe writ of certiorari (from the Latin certiorarie \u2018in\u00a0form\u2019) is used today in the United States as a general vehicle of\u00a0discretionary appeal. Historically, however, the writ had a\u00a0much narrower function. It lay only to inferior courts& only to\u00a0demand that the record be \u2018certified\u2019 and sent to the King\u2019s\u00a0Bench to see if that [inferior] court had exceeded its power in\u00a0particular cases. \u00a0It was most frequently used to review\u00a0criminal indictments and local administrative orders, and was\u00a0often used to examine the statutory authority for acts of\u00a0administrative bodies created by statute.<\/span>“<\/strong> [4]<\/span><\/p>\n