Cĕr'ti-o-rā'rī, n.

(sĕr'shi-o-rā'rī), n. [From L. Lat. certiorare, to certify, from Lat. certior, comparative of certus, certain, q. v.] (Law.) A writ issuing out of chancery, or a superior court, to call up the records of an inferior court, or remove a cause there depending, in order that the party may have more sure and speedy justice, or that errors and irregularities may be corrected. It is obtained upon complaint of a party that he has not received justice, or that he can not have an impartial trial in the inferior court.

☞ A certiorari is the correct process to remove the proceedings of a court in which cases are tried in a manner different from the course of the common law, as of county commissioners. It is also used as an auxiliary process in order to obtain a full return to some other process. Bouvier.