writ of capias

2 definitions found

writ of capias - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Writ \Writ\, n. [AS. writ, gewrit. See Write.]
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     1. That which is written; writing; scripture; -- applied
        especially to the Scriptures, or the books of the Old and
        New testaments; as, sacred writ. "Though in Holy Writ not
        named." --Milton.
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              Then to his hands that writ he did betake,
              Which he disclosing read, thus as the paper spake.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ. --Knolles.
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     2. (Law) An instrument in writing, under seal, in an
        epistolary form, issued from the proper authority,
        commanding the performance or nonperformance of some act
        by the person to whom it is directed; as, a writ of entry,
        of error, of execution, of injunction, of mandamus, of
        return, of summons, and the like.
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     Note: Writs are usually witnessed, or tested, in the name of
           the chief justice or principal judge of the court out
           of which they are issued; and those directed to a
           sheriff, or other ministerial officer, require him to
           return them on a day specified. In former English law
           and practice, writs in civil cases were either original
           or judicial; the former were issued out of the Court of
           Chancery, under the great seal, for the summoning of a
           defendant to appear, and were granted before the suit
           began and in order to begin the same; the latter were
           issued out of the court where the original was
           returned, after the suit was begun and during the
           pendency of it. Tomlins. Brande. Encyc. Brit. The term
           writ is supposed by Mr. Reeves to have been derived
           from the fact of these formulae having always been
           expressed in writing, being, in this respect,
           distinguished from the other proceedings in the ancient
           action, which were conducted orally.
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     Writ of account, Writ of capias, etc. See under
        Account, Capias, etc.
  
     Service of a writ. See under Service.
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  Capias \Ca"pi*as\, n. [L. thou mayst take.] (Low)
     A writ or process commanding the officer to take the body of
     the person named in it, that is, to arrest him; -- also
     called writ of capias.
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     Note: One principal kind of capias is a writ by which actions
           at law are frequently commenced; another is a writ of
           execution issued after judgment to satisfy damages
           recovered; a capias in criminal law is the process to
           take a person charged on an indictment, when he is not
           in custody. --Burrill. Wharton.
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