Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

writ of assistance

1. A writ to enforce a court's decree transferring real property, the title of which has been previously adjudicated. 2. Hist. A writ issued by the Court of Exchequer ordering the sheriff to assist in collecting a debt owed the Crown. 3. Hist. In colonial America, a writ issued by a superior colonial court authorizing an officer of the Crown to enter and search any premises suspected of containing contraband. 0 The attempted use of this writ in Massachusetts - defeated in 1761 - was one of the acts that led to the American Revolution.