''De parco fracto'' (
Law Latin
Law Latin, sometimes written L.L. or L. Lat., and sometimes derisively referred to as Dog Latin, is a form of Latin used in legal contexts. While some of the vocabulary does come from Latin, much of it stems from English. Law Latin may also be see ...
"of pound breach") is a historical
common-law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prec ...
writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...
against a person, often an owner, "who breaks into a
pound to rescue animals that have been legally distrained and impounded."
The writ is mentioned in
Blackstone's ''
Commentaries on the Laws of England
The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (commonly, but informally known as ''Blackstone's Commentaries'') are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarend ...
'': "And, being thus in the custody of the law, the taking them back by force is looked upon as an atrocious injury, and denominated a rescous, for which the distreinor has a remedy in damages, either by writ of rescous, in case they were going to the pound, or by writ ''de parco fracto'', or pound-breach, in case they were actually impounded."
[''Black's Law Dictionary'' (9th ed. 2009), de parco fracto (quoting 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 146 (1768)).]
Notes
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Writs