Mandamus is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a superior court, to any government subordinate court, corporation, or public

c authority to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from doing) and which is in the nature of public duty, and in certain cases one of a statutory duty. It cannot be issued to compel an authority to do something against statutory provision. For example, it cannot be used to force a lower court to reject or authori e applications that have been made, but if the court refuses to rule one way or the other then a mandamus can be used to order the court to rule on the applications. !andamus may be a command to do an administrative action or not to ta"e a particular action, and it is supplemented by legal rights. In the #merican legal system it must be a judicially enforceable and legally protected right before one suffering a grievance can as" for a mandamus. # person can be said to be aggrieved only when he is denied a legal right by someone who has a legal duty to do something and abstains from doing it.

$egal re%uirements&edit'
(he applicant pleading for the writ of mandamus to be enforced should be able to show that he or she has a legal right to compel therespondent to do or refrain from doing the specific act. (he duty sought to be enforced must have two %ualities)&*' It must be a duty of public nature and the duty must be imperative and should not be discretionary. Furthermore, mandamus will typically not be granted if ade%uate relief can be obtained by some other means, such as appeal.&+'

,urpose&edit'
(he purpose of mandamus is to remedy defects of justice. It lies in the cases where there is a specific right but no specific legal remedy for enforcing that right. -enerally, it is not available in anticipation of any injury except when the petitioner is li"ely to be affected by an official act in contravention of a statutory duty or where an illegal or unconstitutional order is made. (he grant of mandamus is therefore an e%uitable remedy. a matter for the discretion of the court, the exercise of which is governed by well/settled principles.&0' !andamus, being a discretionary remedy, the application for that must be made in good faith and not for indirect purposes. #c%uiescence cannot, however, bar the issue of mandamus. (he petitioner must, of course, satisfy the 1ourt that he has the legal right to the performance of the legal duty as distinct from mere discretion of authority.&2' # mandamus is normally issued when an officer or an authority by compulsion of statute is re%uired to perform a duty and which despite demand in writing has not been performed. In no other case will a writ of mandamus issue unless it be to %uash an illegal order.

(
mandamus (man/dame/us) n. $atin for 3we order,3 a writ (more modernly called a 3writ of mandate3) which orders
a public agency or governmental body to perform an act re%uired by law when it has neglected or refused to do so. 4xamples) #fter petitions were filed with sufficient valid signatures to %ualify a proposition for the ballot, the city refuses to call the election, claiming it has a legal opinion that the proposal is unconstitutional. (he bac"ers of the proposition file a petition for a writ ordering the city to hold the election. (he court will order a hearing on the writ and afterwards either issue the writ or deny the petition. 5r a state agency refuses to release public information, a school district charges fees to a student in violation of state law, or a judge will not permit reporters entry at a public trial. #ll of these can be subject of petitions for a writ of mandamus. (6ee) writ of mandate)

Sec.

10.

Time

for

filing

memoranda

in

special

cases.

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In certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto and habeas corpus cases, the parties shall file, in lieu of briefs, their respective memoranda within a non-e tendible period of thirty !"0# days from receipt of the notice issued by the cler$ that all the evidence, oral and documentary, is already attached to the record. The failure of the appellant to file his memorandum within the period therefor may be a ground for dismissal of the appeal.
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