Definition
A writ directed to justices commanding that an assize be postponed. The writ issued when one of the parties to an assize proceeding was engaged in the service of the king, entitling that party to a continuance on the ground that royal service prevented appearance. The name derives from the Latin for "for proroguing [i.e., postponing] the assize."
Why It Matters in Research
This is a purely historical writ with no modern procedural counterpart. Researchers will encounter it only in medieval and early modern English legal records, Year Books, or treatises on the forms of action. Its practical significance lay at the intersection of two medieval legal realities: first, the assize as a mode of trial (distinct from its modern sense as a court session), and second, the doctrine that a party in the king's service had a recognized excuse for non-appearance that courts were bound to respect.
When reading historical sources, note that "assize" here does not mean a legislative enactment or a court term in the modern sense — it refers to a specific form of real action tried before justices of assize. The writ is procedural in character, belonging to the category of writs of delay or continuance rather than writs going to the merits of the underlying claim.
Researchers working in English legal history who encounter this term should treat it as evidence of the medieval principle that crown service took precedence over private litigation — a principle enforced through formal writ process rather than judicial discretion. The writ also illustrates how litigants in the medieval system could not simply petition the court for a continuance; delay required a specific writ authorizing it.
No American equivalent exists. The writ did not survive into colonial practice or early American procedure, and researchers will not find it operative in any domestic jurisdiction.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both Black's Law Dictionary and the second edition supply identical one-sentence definitions with no elaboration beyond the Latin translation and the triggering condition (royal service). The entries agree completely and neither adds doctrinal depth or cites authority. This consistency reflects the writ's obscurity rather than any genuine synthesis: both editions appear to draw from the same source without independent research into the writ's operation or history.
What the historical dictionaries omit is significant. They do not distinguish between the different types of assize this writ could delay — grand assize, novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor, and related real actions each had their own procedural posture. They do not note how "service of the king" was defined or proved, nor do they address whether the writ was discretionary or issued as of right. Researchers seeking operational detail should look beyond dictionary sources to Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium or Registrum Omnium Brevium, where the writ forms and their conditions of issue are treated with greater specificity.
Jurisdictional Note
This writ is exclusively English in origin and application. It belongs to the pre-modern common law writ system and has no jurisdictional analog in American, Scottish, or other common law traditions.