Legal Definitions - de post disseisina

De post disseisina was a historical legal action, specifically a type of writ, used in English common law to recover possession of land. This writ was available to a landowner who had previously regained their property from an individual who had unlawfully taken possession (known as a 'disseisor'), but was then unlawfully dispossessed of the same land again by the same individual.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Scenario: The Persistent Neighbor
  Imagine a medieval farmer, Arthur, who owned a valuable pasture. His neighbor, Bertram, illegally fenced off a section of Arthur's pasture and began grazing his own livestock there. Arthur successfully sued Bertram in court and, through a legal judgment, recovered his land. However, a few months later, Bertram removed Arthur's fences again and re-established his livestock on the exact same disputed section of pasture. In this situation, Arthur would have sought a de post disseisina writ to compel Bertram to return the land for a second time.

  This illustrates the term because Arthur had previously recovered his land from Bertram (the disseisor) through legal means, but was then dispossessed of the same land again by the very same Bertram.

• Scenario: The Repeated Encroachment
  Consider a wealthy landowner, Lady Catherine, who possessed a small, strategic woodland. A local baron, Lord Desmond, forcibly occupied this woodland, claiming it as his own. Lady Catherine initiated a legal action and, after a lengthy process, secured a court order that restored the woodland to her rightful possession. Sometime later, Lord Desmond, undeterred, sent his men to once again seize and occupy the same woodland. Lady Catherine's recourse in this scenario would have been a de post disseisina writ to address Lord Desmond's repeated unlawful taking of her property.

  This example demonstrates the concept as Lady Catherine had already legally recovered her woodland from Lord Desmond, only to have the same Lord Desmond unlawfully take possession of it once more.