III.   Instruction

A Writ of Certiorari, also known as De Certiorari, is a form of peremptory precept and ecclesiastical indulgence issued under proper Sovereign Authority of a Juridic Person directing an inferior court or forum, tribunal or public authority to send the records and adjudication of a matter to a superior forum and competent authority thereby defeating any claim of the inferior court or forum to hear, administer and adjudicate the matter.

Certiorari is a Latin term meaning “show (me), prove (to me by what reasoning the ruling was) ascertained?”:

(i) Under Roman and Western Law, courts, tribunals and public authorities are required to provide a written ruling of sufficient detail to inform all parties not only of a judgment, but the source and reasoning used to justify it. However, increasingly in the past one hundred years, lower courts, tribunals and administrative authorities have been reluctant to provide such information and in many cases simply refuse to obey their own laws; and

(ii) Historically, a Writ of Certiorari was granted as a command by a superior court to a lower court, tribunal, or public authority to send the records and rulings of a given case for review where the logic, reasoning and evidence used to derive such a ruling has not been disclosed or is wholly inconsistent with the generally accepted operation of the law; and

(iii) The Writ of Certiorari has also historically been used as a means for removing a case from a court, tribunal or administrative authority prior to a final judgment where some claim or evidence exists that a fair and impartial trial could not be had; and

(iv) While a Writ of Certiorari historically has been granted for reviewing matters of inconsistency, unfairness or inadequate information of the lower courts, it is not properly granted nor used as a means of correcting fundamental administrative errors of law. This is the preserve and purpose of a Writ of Coram Nobis, also known as a Writ of Error Coram Nobis; and

(v) Similarly, the Writ of Certiorari has historically ignored any questions of jurisdiction as a matter to be raised earlier in any proceedings through the Writ of Quo Warranto.