Remedies are acts of enforcing rights or preventing or redressing a wrong. It is anything thing which a court of law can do for litigants who has been wronged, about to be wronged or being wronged.
A writ on the other hand is a written order of a competent court of law addressed to a person to do or not to do a thing. A writ is also an order emanating from a competent court of law like a high court specifically giving an order to the addressee relating to the enforcement of a right or prevention of a wrong. A writ is usually an order given by a competent of law through a discretionary power. The same thing a remedy. Therefore, remedies and writ are orders of a competent court of law like a high court usually given through discretionary power of the court and since they are usually through discretionary powers, remedies and writs are called prerogative orders since they are usually given through discretionary power from a court.
In both administrative and constitutional law, remedies and writs are classified under two major categories:
When a person or an aggrieved individual complains that he has been wronged through an unlawful act of a defendant, the person or litigants or complainant can approach a court of law to request for an order declaring that a wrong thing has been done against him or her through an order of declaration. The court may therefore look into his or her petition to declare the unlawful thing done to him or her by giving an order of declaration
If the complainant or the litigants does not want further perpetration of the unlawful act, he or she may therefore ask the court to issue another order restraining the defendant from further perpetrating the act complained of. The court will therefore give an order known as order of injunction. Examples of orders of injunction include interim injunction, permanent or perpetual injunction. An interim injunction means the unlawful act should be stopped temporarily pending the determination of the substantive case or matter. Perpetual Injunction or permanent means the unlawful act by the defendant must be stopped immediately, permanently and forever.
Where the litigants or the complainant has suffered any damage or injury from the unlawful act of the defendant, he or she may proceed to ask the court to give an order of damages against the defendant. Examples of damages include – minimal or minor damage, punitive damage and aggravated damage.
Examples of specific remedies are
This is a Latin phrase which means have the body, let me have the body, give me the body. The writ or order of habeas corpus is a prerogative process for securing the liberty of a person by affording the most effective means of releasing that subject from unjustifiable or unlawful custody. The purpose of the order of habeas corpus is to enable a competent court of law like a high court to inquire into the causes or reasons why the liberty of a person is jeopardy. In other words, by the order of habeas corpus, the high court at the instance of the parent, representative of the detainee are asking the detaining authority for reason or causes of that person or detainee. If there is no very viable, equitable, legal justification, he or she will be ordered to be released immediately. Immediately an order of habeas corpus is issued by a court of law, refusal to obey the writ of habeas corpus amount to a contempt of the court and the offender is liable to punishment such as imposition of fine or a term of imprisonment. Judicial authorities for the writ of habeas corpus are Re-Muhammed Olayori and ors 1969, Agbaje v commissioner of police, okeowo & ors V IGP
This writ has established themselves as the most important and useful prerogative in both administrative and criminal law. Although the two writ differs in their area of use, the two are usually combined because the condition of their availability to the applicants are usually the same. Explaining the use of certiorari and prohibition Lord Atkin in R v electricity commissioner 1924 V1 said whenever anybody or person having legal rights to determine questions relating to the rights and obligation of an order and having the guilt to act judicially; act otherwise, they are subject to the controlling jurisdiction of these writs. The purpose of this is to enable a superior court or tribunal to inquire into the record or from which a…or court has based a decision of judicial or quasi-judicial. The writ shall not lie unless something has been done by an inferior tribunal or court which a superior tribunal can quash.
The writ of prohibition on the other hand will be available as an order to the applicants or litigants to prevent the continuance of an administrative action which must also be judicial or quasi-judicial in nature. The question is, when will an administrative action be judicial or said to be quasi-judicial in nature? Apart from court of law which are traditionally expected to be judicial in their actions, administrative authorities or actions determine the question relating the civil right or personal rights of other person must also act judicially or quasi-judicially in the process where the tribunal is adjudicating in the source of livelihood of the person, that tribunal must act judicially or quasi-judicial by giving fair hearing, enough time to appear, adequate venue and the opportunity to be represented by lawyers of their choice. Where the tribunal has failed to follow those procedures, any decision reached will be declared null and void through the orders of certiorari and prohibition. The judicial authorities for this are:
This is derived from the Latin word Mando meaning I order to be done. This writ of Mandamus is a prerogative order for securing judicial enforcement of a public duty imposed by law. According to Lord Mansfield, the writ of habeas corpus is ordered to prevent disorder and failure of justice because of the defect of police and for all situations and circumstances where the law has not provided effective remedy. Nowadays the writ of Mandamus is usually given to enforce the performance of a public duty either imposed by law or a public duty. For the court of law to issue a writ of Mandamus the following conditions must be followed;
