writ of mandamus
1
9.9
- noun
- /rɪt əv mænˈdeɪməs/
- Formal
:
recurso de mandamus
- The court issued a writ of mandamus requiring the city clerk to fulfill her legal duty to provide public records.
- seeking a writ of mandamus
Examples
-
Therefore, the court issued a writ of mandamus precluding DOE from finding that its delay was unavoidable—and thus non-recompensable—on the ground that it had not yet prepared a permanent repository.
Academic text (2000) -
The National Mining Association and the American Petroleum Institute sought a writ of mandamus on November 13, 1995, to force the EPA to vacate the potential to emit definition per this decision.
Academic text (2001) -
Mandatory duties would be subject to a writ of mandamus; directory duties likely would not.
Blog text (23) -
If there is a writ of mandamus, which is the thing I could not afford after Loftin ruled on my hearing,
Blog text (32) -
These laws generally allow respondents to leave stuff out, note that it's left out, and thus force requesters to go to court for a writ of mandamus.
Blog text (11) -
The government petitioned for a writ of mandamus, seeking vacatur of the district court's denial of the motion to exclude time.
Academic text (2017) -
One year prior to the deadline, on January 31, 1997, several utilities filed suit seeking a writ of mandamus to compel DOE compliance with the Indiana Michigan Power decision.
Academic text (2000) -
(n7) Facing growing stores of nuclear waste and limited storage space in which to place it, the utilities responded by filing a suit requesting a writ of mandamus to force the government to honor its obligations under the NWPA.
Academic text (2000) -
A writ of mandamus is proper only if (1) the plaintiff has a clear right to relief; (2) the defendant has a clear duty to act; and (3) there is no other adequate remedy available to the plaintiff.
Academic text (2000) -
On January 31, 1997, several electric utilities operating commercial nuclear reactors petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus to require the federal government to begin accepting highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel from the utilities by a statutory deadline the following January.
Academic text (2000)
Synonyms
2
9.9
A court order that tells a public official or government body to do a duty required by law
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents are legal/technical and their combination is compositional: 'writ' (a legal document directing actions) plus 'mandamus' (a judicial command) straightforwardly denotes a writ that commands performance of a legal duty. This follows predictable legal naming patterns rather than an idiomatic shift, so a learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The legal term writ of mandamus comes from old courts where a judge wrote a paper called a writ to 'command' an official, and mandamus is the Latin phrase meaning 'we command'. That's why today it means a court order telling a government official to do a duty they must perform.