Cer`ti*o*ra"ri (?), n. [So named
from the emphatic word certiorari in the Latin form of the
writ, which read certiorar volumus we wish to be
certified.] (Law) A writ issuing out of chancery, or
a superior court, to call up the records of a inferior court, or
remove a cause there depending, in order that the party may have
more sure and speedy justice, or that errors and irregularities
may be corrected. It is obtained upon complaint of a party that
he has not received justice, or can not have an impartial trial
in the inferior court.
&fist; A certiorari is the correct process to remove
the proceedings of a court in which cases are tried in a manner
different from the course of the common law, as of county
commissioners. It is also used as an auxiliary process in order
to obtain a full return to some other process.
Bouvier.