WRIT, ORIGINAL - English law. An
original writ is a mandatory letter issuing out of
the court of chancery under the great seal and in
a king's name, directed to the sheriff of the county
where the injury is alleged to have been committed,
containing a summary statement of the cause of complaint,
and requiring him in most cases, to command the defendant
to satisy the claim; and, on his failure to comply,
then to summon him to appear in one of the superior
courts of common law, there to account for his non-compliance.
In some cases, however, it omits the former alternative,
and requires the sheriff simply to enforce the appearance.
