Legal Definition and Related Resources of Capias

(Lat. capere to take; capias, that you take). A writ directing the sheriff to take the person of the defendant into custody. It is a judicial writ, and issued originally only to enforce compliance with the summons of an original writ, or with some judgment or decree of the court. It was originally issuable as a part of the original process in a suit only in case of injuries committed by force or with fraud, but was much extended by statutes. Being the first word of distinctive significance in the writ, when writs were framed in Latin, it came to denote the whole class of writs by which a defendant”s person was to be arrested. It was issuable either by the court of common pleas or king”s bench, and bore the seal of the court.

What does Capias mean in American Law?

The definition of Capias in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

Literally, “that you take,” the opening words of a large number of old writs addressed to a sheriff by which the person (and less frequently, the property) of a litigant might [be] taken into custody. Very frequently, any such writ might just be called “a capias,” with context supplying which kind it was. See below for some of the most common varieties.

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This definition of Capias Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

Capias in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims

That you take. A common-law writ commanding the sheriff to take a defendant into custody. Named from the emphatic word in the writ when expressed in Latin. Has come to designate the whole class of writs by which arrests are made by a constable, sheriff, or marshal.

Note: This legal definition of Capias in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.

English Legal System: Capias

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Capias :

(Latin: that you take)

One of a group of writs of assistance conferring certain supplemental powers upon the sheriff in respect of the enforcement of judgment. Such writs are now obsolete.

A capias is a warrant or order for arrest of a person, typically issued by the judge or magistrate in a case. A capias may be issued in different forms.

A capias is a warrant or order for arrest of a person, typically issued by the judge or magistrate in a case. A capias may be issued in different forms.

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See Also

• Capere
• Capias

Concept of “Capias”

Traditional meaning of capias in English (with some legal use of this latin concept in England and the United States in the XIX Century) [1]: (in Latin) (That you take.) The general name for a writ of attachment or arrest. 1. The capias ad respondendum, called conmonly capias, was a judicial writ issuing from the C. P. or K. B.; supposed to be founded on an original, directing the sheriff to arrest the person of the defendant, and have him before court on the return day to answer the plaintiff in his suit; see Robinson’s Elementary Law Rev. ed.; § 299. If the sheriff returned non est inventus, or the defendant lived in another county, a testatum capias issued from the C. P. to the sheriff of that county, reciting such fact, and ordering his arrest as before; so, in the K. B.; a Bill of Middlesex; see BILL, I. 8. 2. Capias ad satisfaciendum: a writ of execution of the highest nature, commanding the sheriff to have the defendant before court on a certain day to satisfy judgment; its effect was to imprison the defendant until he made satisfaction; see Robinson’s Elementary Law Rev. ed.; § 347. 3. So, ad computandum, on a judgment that the defendant account. 4. Capias ad audiendum judicium: a writ to bring in a defendant, who has been found guilty of a misdemeanor in his absence, to hear judgment. 5. Capias in withernam: a writ of reprisal granted one whose cattle or goods have been distrained and carried out (eloigned) of the county so they cannot be replevied. It directed the sheriff to take other cattle or goods of the distrainor, of equal value; see WITHERNAM. 6. Capias pro fine: an obsolete writ ordering the arrest of an unsuccessful defendant in cases where a fine was due from him to the King. 7. Capias utlagatum (that you take the outlaw): a writ for the seizure of the goods or person of an absconding defendant who has been outlawed; see EXIGENT.

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Notes and References

1. Based on A Concise Law Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Maxims, “Capias”, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911, United States. It is also called the Stimson’s Law dictionary. This term and/or definition may be absolete.

See Also

Capias