Definition
Latin: "the return of writs." A term from old English practice referring to the formal act by which a sheriff or other officer certified to the court what had been done in execution of a writ directed to him. This certification was made by endorsing a written statement on the back of the writ itself and delivering it to the court on the appointed return day. The retorna brevium day was historically the third day of term, the fixed occasion on which writs were returned into court.
In practice, the term operates on two levels: (1) the procedural act of returning a writ — the sheriff's official account of compliance or inability to comply — and (2) the designated day or days within a term on which those returns were due.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a term of old English practice that researchers will encounter almost exclusively in pre-modern common law sources: treatises on sheriff's duties, abridgments, Year Books, and early procedural digests. It is unlikely to appear in American materials except in historical discussion or in early state practice inherited directly from English procedure.
The term carries procedural precision that matters for understanding how writs functioned. When a historical source refers to a writ being "returned," it means the officer has completed this formal endorsement and delivered it on the retorna brevium day — not merely that the writ was sent back. Misreading the phrase as a simple postal act rather than a formal procedural step can distort understanding of whether process was properly completed.
Return days are the essential companion concept. Bouvier notes their origin as early as 51 Henry III, with returns set at roughly weekly intervals within term. Burrill places the retorna brevium day specifically as the third day of term. A researcher tracing the history of service of process or the mechanics of execution will need to understand these fixed intervals to reconstruct timelines from historical court records.
The related term retornare (to return a writ) appears in Burrill alongside retorna brevium and surfaces in the Statute of Westminster, making it relevant to statutory interpretation of early English process legislation. Researchers working with Westm. c. 39 will encounter the phrase ad brevia falsum retornant responsum — the offense of making a false return to writs — which connects retorna brevium directly to sheriff accountability and the development of remedies for officer misconduct.
Historical Dictionary Support
The five source dictionaries agree on the core definition: retorna brevium means the return of writs, specifically the endorsement by the sheriff of his actions in executing a writ. Black's (both editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence are bare-bones on the term. Bouvier and Burrill are the substantive sources.
Bouvier adds the procedural texture: the return is a certificate, it must be endorsed on the back of the writ, and it is delivered on a fixed return day. He also roots the institution historically in 51 Henry III, giving researchers a statutory anchor for the origin of fixed return days.
Burrill is the most precise on chronology within term, placing the retorna brevium day at the third day of term with a citation to Crabb's History of English Law. He also separately treats the verb retornare and flags the Statute of Westminster, creating a richer picture of the procedural ecosystem in which this term operated.
What the historical dictionaries collectively miss: any account of how American colonial or early state courts adapted, preserved, or discarded the institution. Researchers should treat retorna brevium as an English practice term and not assume its formal machinery carried over intact into American jurisdictions.
Jurisdictional Note
Retorna brevium is a term of English common law practice with no surviving operational significance in modern American or English procedure. Return requirements for process still exist in modern civil procedure, but they bear no formal resemblance to the old retorna brevium framework. Researchers working in jurisdictions with civil law heritage (Louisiana, Quebec) will not encounter this term at all in local sources.