Page "Writ" Paragraph 5

Over time, opposition to the creation of new writs by the Chancery increased.

For example, in 1256, a court was asked to quash a writ as " novel, unheard of, and against reason " ( Abbot of Lilleshall v Harcourt ( 1256 ) 96 SS xxix 44 ).

Ultimately, in 1258, the King was forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford, which prohibited, among other things, the creation of new forms of writ without the sanction of the King's council.

New writs were created after that time, but only by the express sanction of Parliament, and the forms of writ remained essentially static, each writ defining a particular form of action.