mandamus

man·da·mus   (mān-dā'məs)    n.  A writ issued by a superior court ordering a public official or body or a lower court to perform a specified duty. tr.v.   man·da·mused, man·da·mus·ing, man·da·mus·es To serve or compel with such a writ. [Latin mandāmus, we order (used in such a writ), first person pl. present tense of mandāre, to order; see man-2 in Indo-European roots.]

mandamus 

Main Entry: man·da·mus
Pronunciation: man-'dA-m&s
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, we enjoin, from mandare to enjoin
: an extraordinary writ issued by a court of competent jurisdiction to an inferior tribunal, a public official, an administrative agency, a corporation, or any person compelling the performance of an act usually only when there is a duty under the law to perform the act, the plaintiff has a clear right to such performance, and there is no other adequate remedy available; also : an action in the nature of a writ of mandamus in jurisdictions where the writ is abolished —compare cease-and-desist order at ORDER, INJUNCTION, STAY
NOTE: Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy and is issued usually only to command the performance of a ministerial act. It cannot be used to substitute the court's judgment for the defendant's in the performance of a discretionary act. —mandamus verb

mandamus

originally a formal writ issued by the English crown commanding an official to perform a specific act within the duty of his office. It later became a judicial writ issued from the Court of Queen's Bench, in the name of the sovereign, at the request of an individual suitor whose interests were alleged to be affected adversely by the failure of an official to act as his duty required. It is awarded not as a matter of right but rather at the discretion of the court and is thus largely controlled by equitable principles. The writ is not ordinarily granted when an alternative remedy is available, and it is never granted when the official to whom it would be directed has the legal discretion either to perform the act demanded or to abstain from doing so. In Anglo-American legal systems, mandamus is used by courts of superior jurisdiction to compel the performance of a specific act refused by a lower court, such as the hearing of a case falling within the latter's authority.

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