Writ of Quominus

In England, the Writ of Quominus was a writ whereby the medieval court of Exchequer obtained a general jurisdiction over common pleas, and was a notable example of the use of a legal fiction.

The plaintiff who wished to sue a debtor was alleged (falsely) by way of legal fiction to owe taxes to the Crown under the Writ. As a "debtor" to the Crown and by reason of inability to recover his debt or damages from the defendant, the plaintiff was thereby less able ("quo minus sufficiens existit") to satisfy the Crown. The common law courts would then have the property of the defendant seized by the sheriff and turned over to the Chancellor's office where the clerk would render it to the plaintiff. Over time, this practice developed to where the sheriff would render the property directly to the plaintiff without going through the Chancellor's office. The process was historically significant because it gave the Court of Exchequer a role in the common law as a means of debt collection.

The device was generally used from the fourteenth century but was only abolished in the nineteenth century.