Legal Definitions - writ of quominus

A writ of quominus was a historical legal document used in England, primarily by the Court of Exchequer. This court's main purpose was to manage the King's finances and collect royal revenues. However, the writ of quominus allowed the Exchequer to hear cases between private citizens that didn't directly involve the Crown's money.

It did this by allowing a plaintiff to make a fictional claim that because the defendant owed them money or had wronged them, the plaintiff was "less able" (which is what "quominus" means in Latin) to pay their own debts or taxes to the Crown. This legal fiction expanded the jurisdiction of the Court of Exchequer beyond its original scope. While historically significant, this writ is now obsolete in modern legal systems.

Here are some examples to illustrate its application:

• Merchant Debt Collection: Imagine a cloth merchant named Arthur in 17th-century England who sold a large quantity of fabric to another merchant, Beatrice. Beatrice failed to pay for the goods. Arthur, needing to pay his own taxes to the Crown, might have sought a writ of quominus. He would allege that because Beatrice had not paid him, he was "less able" to fulfill his financial obligations to the King. This allowed him to bring his debt collection case against Beatrice in the Court of Exchequer, even though it was a private dispute.

  This illustrates how the writ created a link, albeit a fictional one, between a private debt and the Crown's revenue, thereby granting the Exchequer jurisdiction over a common commercial dispute.

• Property Dispute Affecting Revenue: Consider a farmer, Charles, whose land was unlawfully encroached upon by his neighbor, David, preventing Charles from cultivating a portion of his crops. Charles, who paid taxes to the Crown based on his agricultural output, could have used a writ of quominus. He would claim that David's trespass had reduced his farm's productivity, making him "less able" to pay his due taxes to the King. This allowed the Court of Exchequer to hear what was essentially a property dispute between two private individuals.

  Here, the writ was used to bring a land dispute into the Exchequer by framing the damage to the farmer's land as an impediment to his ability to pay royal taxes, thus connecting a private wrong to the Crown's financial interest.

• Breach of Contract: Suppose a craftsman, Eleanor, had a contract with a wealthy patron, Frederick, to create a valuable piece of furniture. Frederick breached the contract by refusing to pay after the work was completed. Eleanor, who relied on this payment to manage her workshop and pay her own guild fees (which could indirectly affect her ability to pay royal levies), might have invoked a writ of quominus. She would assert that Frederick's non-payment made her "less able" to maintain her financial standing, thereby potentially impacting her capacity to contribute to the Crown's revenue. This would enable her to pursue her breach of contract claim in the Court of Exchequer.

  This example shows the writ's application to a breach of contract, where the plaintiff's inability to receive payment was fictitiously linked to their diminished capacity to pay the Crown, thus justifying the Exchequer's involvement in a private contractual matter.