CERTIORARI
A sample writ of certiorari
[Latin, To be informed of.] At COMMON LAW, an original writ or order issued by the Chancery or King’s Bench, commanding officers of inferior courts to submit the record of a cause pending before them to give the party more certain and speedy justice.
A writ that a superior appellate court issues in its discretion to an inferior court, ordering it to produce a certified record of a particular case it has tried, in order to determine whether any irregularities or errors occurred that justify review of the case.
A device by which the SUPREME COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES exercises its discretion in
selecting the cases it will review.
Certiorari is an extraordinary prerogative
writ granted in cases that otherwise would not
be entitled to review. A petition for certiorari is
made to a superior appellate court, which may
exercise its discretion in accepting a case for
review, while an appeal of a case from a lower
court to an intermediate appellate court, or
from an intermediate appellate court to a superior
appellate court, is regulated by statute.
Appellate review of a case that is granted by the
issuance of certiorari is sometimes called an
appeal, although such review is at the discretion
of the appellate court.
A party, the petitioner, files a petition for
certiorari with the appellate court after a judgment
has been rendered against him in the inferior
court. The petition must specifically state
why the relief sought is unavailable in any other
court or through any other appellate process,
along with information clearly identifying the
case and the questions to be reviewed, the relevant
provisions of law to be applied, a concise
statement of facts relating to the issues, and any
other materials required by statute. The rules of
practice of the appellate court to which the petitioner
has applied for relief govern the procedure
to be observed. For example, a petition for
statutory certiorari made to the Supreme Court
of the United States must be prefaced by a
motion for leave, or permission, to file such a
petition. If a common-law writ is sought, however,
the petitioner need only file a petition for
certiorari.
After evaluating the petition, the appellate
court will decide whether to grant or deny certiorari.
Certiorari is issued, designated as “cert.
granted,” when the case presents an issue that is
appropriate for resolution by the court and it is
in the public interest to do so, such as when the
issue has been decided differently by a variety of
lower courts, thereby creating confusion and
necessitating a uniform interpretation of the
law. Certiorari is denied when the appellate
court decides that the case does not present an
appropriate matter for its consideration. In the
practice of the Supreme Court, if a petition has
been granted certiorari as a result of a mistake,
such as where the petitioner misrepresents the
case or the case has become moot, the Court will
dismiss the petition as “having been improvidently
granted,” which has the same effect as an
initial denial of the petition. Practically speaking,
this rarely occurs.
Some states have abolished writs of certiorari
under their rules of appellate practice.
FURTHER READINGS
Brenner, Saul. 2000. “Granting Certiorari by the United
States Supreme Court: An Overview of the Social Science
Studies. Law Library Journal 92 (spring): 193–201.
Garmisa, Steven P. 2003. “Supreme Court Reviews Common
Law on Certiorari, Old Appellate Cases.” Chicago Daily
Law Bulletin 149 (April 15): 1.
Hartnett, Edward A. 2000. “Questioning Certiorari: Some
Reflections Seventy-Five Years After the Judges’ Bill.”
Columbia Law Review 100 (November): 1643–1738.
