Breve

(plur. Brevia.) L. Lat. [Fr. brief; 0. Fr. bref brief ve, brieffe; Scotch brieve; from Lat. brevis, brief, short.] In old English law. A writ; properly an original writ, {breve originate j) by which all actions in the superior courts of England were once required to be commenced. Hon potest quis sine brevi agere; no man can sue without a writ. Bract, fol.

413 b, 112. Steph. PL 5, 6. 3 BL Com. 272, 273.

In a larger sense, any writ or precept of the king in writing, unaer seal, issuing out of any court, whereby he commands any thing to be done for the furtherance of justice and good order; comprising what were called judicial as well as originad writs. Termes de la leg, Blount. A commission to a judge or iustice of the superior courts of England had, from an early period, the form of a breve, or writ/ and was so called. Bract fol.

108 b, et seq.

See Close writs, Bracton observes that a hreve is so tenned because it briefly, and in few words, sets forth the subject matter of the action and the claim of the plaintiflF; {dicitur ideo breve, quia rem de qua agitur, et intentionem petentis paucis verbis breviter enarrat,) Bract, fol.

112, 413 b.

Theloall describes a breve to be a formal letter or epistle of the kin^, written in Latin on parchment, sealed with his seal, directed to some judge, officer, minister or other subject, at the suit of the king himself, or at the complaint and suit of another subject, commanding or author* izing something contained in the smd letter to be done, for the reason briefly expressed therein, which is to be the subject of judicial examination in some of the king's courts.

TM, Dig, Ub. 1, c. 1. IT 4.

The term breve (Gra Bcobarb. ^geffioy,) occurs in the imperial and pontifical constitutions as early as the third century, in the same sense which Bracton gives it, viz. a brief or summary statement in writing, {scriptum quod summam rei continet.) Speln^n. The breve of the English courts has been called a letter or epistle, because it commenced in the same way as the letters of the ancient Romans did:

Tititcs Aulo tuo

Salutem; Titius to his friend Aulus, Greeting:

Rex

justitiariis suis, <lcc,, salutem; The king to his justices, Greetmg. Our own writs at the present day commence with the same epistolary phrase; — "The People, &c., to the sheriff, &c., Greeting." See Epistola, Litteroe. So a letter of attorney (literoB procuratorice) was called in English, as old as Bracton's time, a "writ," (breve); and in law French, breve d' atturney. Bract, fol.

40. Litt. R, 143.

The modem German Wti has the same sense of letter y and this meaning seems to be of very high antiquity. Hicke's Tlies, Diss, Epist, in notis, p.

3. Steph. PL Appendix, Note (2).

See WHt. The great repository of the old English brevia is that ancient compilation termed Registrum Brevium, the Register of Writs, and usually referred to in the books as " The Register." See Registrum Brevium, The brevia are here arranged under two general heads, originalia and judicialia, comprising in the whole upwards of a thousand forms. They are individually named cither from the subject matter of them, or from one or more emphatic words of the forms themselves. In the former case, the preposition de is usually employed in designating the particular breve; thus, breve de recto, a writ of right; breve de ingressu^ a writ of entry; breve de conventione, a writ of covenant, &c. Most of these writs will be found in this dictionary, under the head of DE, with the proper addition in each case. Breve de recto. L. Lat. [L. Fr. brief de droit.] A writ of right.

Reg. Grig, 1.

Bract, fol.

328.

So called because the words in the writ were, qvx>d sine dilatione plenum rectum teneas, (that without delay you do full right); or because the subject matter of the writ was the riglit {rectum) of property in lands.

Co. Litt. 115 a. 158 b. 3 BL Com, 191, 193.

See Writ of right. Breve originale. L. Lat. An original writ; a writ which gave origin and commencement to a suit, (quod actioni originem jjroestaj). Bract, fol.

413 b. 1 Reeves* Hist, Eng, Law, 319.

Stat, Marlebr. c.

30.

See Breve, Original writ. Breve judiciale. L. Lat. A judicial* writ; a writ issued in judicio, after a suit was commenced.* Crabb*s Hist, Eng. Law, 114. Bract, fol.

413 b.

Any other writ than an original writ.* See Breve, Judicial writ. Breve nomikatum. L. Lat. A writ in which the circumstances of the case (time, place and demand,) were particularly expressed, or named; as distinguished from the breve innominatum, which contained only a* general complaint without particulars. Oilb, C, Pleas, 3, and note.