In the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
legal systems, (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
: "that you may capture
imin order for him to reply") is or was a
writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, ...
issued by a court to the sheriff of a particular county to bring the
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one juris ...
, having failed to appear, to answer a civil action against him.
Under the American legal system, this writ was replaced by the practice of serving process directly to the person of the defendant in order to compel him to appear before the court to establish jurisdiction over him. But now that the has given way to personal service of summons or other form of notice, due process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment , if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice".
In the United Kingdom, this writ was abolished by the
Crown Proceedings Act 1947, which came into effect on January 1, 1948.
In New South Wales (Australia), this writ is abolished by the '' Civil Procedure Act 2005'' (NSW) along with any other process for attachment to the person ('in personam') or for committal of the person for trial in order to enforce a debt against a person.
[Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), section 130: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-028#sec.130]
References
Writs
Legal documents with Latin names
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