Supersedeas

The name of a writ containing a command to stay the proceedings at law.

It is granted on good cause shown that the party ought not to proceed. There are some writs which though they do not bear this name have the effect to supersede the proceedings, namely, a writ of error, when bail is entered, operates as a supersedeas, and a writ of certiorari to remove the proceedings of an inferior into a superior court has, in general, the same effect. But, under special circumstances, the certiorari has not the effect to stay the proceedings, particularly where summary proceedings, as to obtain possession under the landlord and tenant law, are given by statute.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.