Definition
De certificando is a Latin phrase meaning "for certifying" or "that it be certified." In English legal practice, it describes a writ directed to a court, officer, or body commanding that a matter be certified — that is, formally attested and returned — to a higher tribunal. The writ operates as a mechanism for transferring a record or authenticated statement of proceedings upward for review.
As characterized by the historical sources, de certificando functions as a species of certiorari: where certiorari commands that a record be sent up, a writ de certificando more specifically demands certification of a particular fact, determination, or proceeding. The distinction is one of degree and specificity rather than fundamental kind.
Common Confusion
De certificando is easily conflated with certiorari in historical sources, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably by writers who treat de certificando as merely a synonym. The functional distinction is that certiorari is the broader writ commanding that a record be sent up for review, while de certificando is specifically directed at compelling certification of a particular matter. In modern research contexts, any substantive question about appellate review or record transfer will be governed by certiorari doctrine and modern procedural rules, not by de certificando.
Why It Matters in Research
De certificando is an archaic writ form belonging to English common law practice and appears almost exclusively in pre-modern sources and treatises on original writs. Researchers will encounter the term in English legal history, early American common law materials, and discussions of the writ system predating modern appellate procedure. It is not a living writ in contemporary American or English practice.
The primary research trap is conflation with certiorari. Because all four source dictionaries describe de certificando as "a kind of certiorari," a researcher may assume the terms are interchangeable. They are not: certiorari is the general supervisory writ; de certificando is the more targeted command for certification of a specific thing. The distinction matters when reading historical pleadings or early chancery and King's Bench materials where precision of writ form was legally operative.
The Reg. Orig. citation appearing across all four sources refers to the Registrum Omnium Brevium (Register of All Writs), an English reference work cataloguing original writs. Pages 151 and 152 of that register are where the writ form appears. Researchers working in early English legal history who encounter this citation should understand it points to the writ register, not to a judicial opinion or statute.
Because the term is Latin and appears in no modern procedural codes, it will not surface in post-19th-century case law or statutes. Its appearance in a source signals that the surrounding material is rooted in common law writ pleading practice.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries — Black's (1st and 2nd editions), Bouvier's, and Rapalje & Lawrence — are in complete agreement, reproducing nearly identical definitions. All four identify de certificando as a writ requiring certification of a thing and characterize it as a kind of certiorari, and all cite the Reg. Orig. at pages 151–152 (Black's 2nd and Rapalje & Lawrence add page 151 alongside 152; Bouvier's cites 152 alone, likely an abbreviated reference to the same source).
The uniformity across sources is itself informative: it reflects that by the time these dictionaries were compiled, de certificando was already a historical term requiring only a brief definitional note rather than practical elaboration. None of the sources develop the term further, explain its procedural mechanics in depth, or distinguish it from related writs beyond the bare certiorari comparison. Researchers seeking fuller treatment of the writ's historical operation will need to consult the Registrum itself or English common law treatises on original writs such as Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia: Standards of Review on Appeal (De Novo, Abuse of Discretion, Plain Error) — for the modern framework of appellate review that evolved from and replaced historical writ-based mechanisms including de certificando and certiorari.