Dedimus

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dedimus \Ded"i*mus\, n. [L. dedimus we have given, fr. dare to
     give. So called because the writ began, Dedimus potestatem,
     etc.] (Law)
     A writ to commission private persons to do some act in place
     of a judge, as to examine a witness, etc. --Bouvier.
     [1913 Webster]



From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  DEDIMUS, practice. The name of a writ to commission private. persons to do 
  some act in the place of a judge; as, to administer an oath of office to a 
  justice of the peace, to examine witnesses, and the like. 4 Com. Dig. 319; 3 
  Com. Dig. 359; Dane's Ab. Index, h.t. Rey, in his Institutions Judiciaires, 
  de l'Angleterre, tom. 2, p. 214, exposes the absurdity of the name given to 
  this writ; he says it is applicable to every writ which emanates from the 
  same authority; dedimus, we have given.