writ of certiorari

See: certiorari

A type of writ, meant for rare use, by which an appellate court decides to review a case at its discretion.  The word certiorari comes from Law Latin and means "to be more fully informed."  A writ of certiorari orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it.  The U.S. Supreme Court uses certiorari to select most of the cases it hears. The writ of certiorari is a common law writ, which may be abrogated or controlled entirely by statute or court rules.

Last updated in June of 2017 by Stephanie Jurkowski.