Fieri Fa'cias, WRIT OF. The judgment or order of an English court of law, directing the payment of money or costs, may be enforced by a writ of execution called the writ of fieri facias—often contracted to fi. fa. It is, in form, a command by the sovereign to the sheriff of the bailiwick in which execution is to be levied, to 'cause to be made' (fieri facias) out of the goods and chattels of the debtor the amount of the judgment entered against him, together with interest thereon, as agreed between the parties, or at the rate of 4 per cent. from the day of the judgment or order, or the day from which interest is directed to run. A judgment creditor may sue out this writ immediately after entry of judgment in his favour, except where a time is limited for payment of the judgment debt which has not yet expired, or where the court has ordered a stay of execution. As between the original parties to a judgment or order, execution may issue at any time within six years from the recovery of the judgment or the date of the order.
In regard to the execution of a writ of fieri facias, the sheriff must seize such quantity of the goods and chattels of the debtor within his bailiwick as will, if sold, be reasonably sufficient to pay the judgment debt and interest. Seizure is effected by the sheriff or his officer taking actual possession of the debtor's movable property. In entering upon the premises where the goods and chattels are, the sheriff must request admission, and is liable to an action of damages if he breaks open an outer door of the judgment debtor's house. But, having once effected an entry, he may break open inner doors and chests, if necessary to his purpose. Possession of the debtor's property must be retained after seizure; and the sheriff may—and, where there is any risk of injury or rescue, ought to—remove the goods for safe custody. If the debtor do not at once satisfy the judgment debt, the sheriff may proceed to sell a sufficient quantity of the debtor's property to meet it; and then, as a matter of practice, he hands over the amount to the judgment creditor without bringing or paying it into court. The Bankruptcy Act of 1883 provides that, where the sheriff sells the goods of a debtor under an execution for a sum exceeding £20, the sale shall be by public auction, and shall be publicly advertised by the sheriff on and during the three days next preceding the sale. Seizure and sale of a debtor's goods under a writ of fieri facias amounts to an act of bankruptcy. An execution creditor may levy the poundage fees and expenses of execution over and above the sum recovered.
The property legally available for seizure and sale under a writ of fi. fa. may consist of (1) goods and chattels in the ordinary sense of the term, such as furniture belonging to the debtor; (2) money, bank-notes, bills of exchange, and other securities; (3) chattel interests in land, such as leaseholds; (4) growing crops, subject to the rent accruing due; (5) shares in ships (the only legal method of selling such shares is by bill of sale).
If goods are removed from lands or premises let on lease, the sheriff must levy sufficient to pay to the landlord the sum due for arrears of rent, provided such arrears do not amount to more than one year's rent. A sheriff may not take in execution (1) manure, hay, &c., where by the covenants of the lease the tenant is restricted from removing them; (2) the wearing apparel or bedding or tools of the debtor, where the value of the whole does not exceed £5; (3) such fixtures as the judgment debtor himself has no right to remove. At common law the writ of fieri facias 'bound' the debtor's goods from the teste, or date of issue; the Statute of Frauds provided that no purchaser should be prejudiced till the writ had actually been delivered to the sheriff for execution; while the Mercantile Law Amendment Act, 1856, enacts that a writ of fieri facias shall not prejudice the title to goods acquired bond fide and for value by any person before the actual seizure thereof under the writ.
Where it appears by the return of a writ of fi. fa. that the debtor is a benefited clerk not having any lay fee within the sheriff's bailiwick, the plaintiff may sue out a writ of fieri facias de bonis ecclesiasticis, directed to the bishop of the diocese, commanding the debtor to enter upon and hold the benefice till he shall have satisfied the plaintiff's judgment debt out of the rents, tithes, and profits thereof. See Stephen's Commentaries (ed. 1883, iii. p. 599); Edwards, On Execution; Snow and Winstanley, Annual Practice, 1888-89.—In Scotland the corresponding process for seizing and selling a debtor's goods is termed Pounding (q.v.).