The ‘Praecipe Quod Reddat’ Writ as a Forerunner of the English Common Law. History

In our previous article we defined the conception of the ‘praecipe’ writ and its significance. This article is devoted to the history of its origin and development. The role of the writs ‘praecipe’ in the development of the English Common Law is exceptionally great. No other type of writ brought so much litigation to the royal courts. We find the writ in Glanvill, but its origins go back very far and its later developments were prolific. ‘Praecipe’ is the writ in which the origin of the common law writs and actions and the sense of their history can be seen most clearly. Indeed, there the process of judicialisation of the old high-handed method of redress, that remarkable joining of power and law, can be grasped most easily. It will also be seen that the vast group of ‘praecipe’ writs was not a ready-made, cleverly invented technique to bring cases to the royal court. In fact, the writs ‘praecipe’ were the outcome of a slow historical development that stretched over many generations. The embryo of ‘praecipe’ was a royal order without a tinge of judicial implication and of a mere police character, whereas its latest forms and ultimate development, was purely judicial, not only in essence but also in forms, being a summons to a law court.