certiorari Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a common law writ issued by a superior court to one of inferior jurisdiction demanding the record of a particular case
writ of certiorari.

So named from the emphatic word certiorari in the Latin form of the writ, which read certiorar volumus we wish to be certified.

(Law) A writ issuing out of chancery, or a superior court, to call up the records of a inferior court, or remove a cause there depending, in order that the party may have more sure and speedy justice, or that errors and irreguarities may be corrected. It is obtained upon complaint of a party that he has not received justice, or can not have an impartial trial in the inferior court. ✍ A certiorari is the correct process to remove the proceedings of a court in which cases are tried in a manner different from the course of the common law, as of county commissioners. It is also used as an auxiliary process in order to obtain a full return to some other process. Bouvier.