W A K W A E 371 of Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood of the town. "Warminster was a royal manor in the time of Edward the Confessor, and as such was free of taxes and assessments. In Domesday the name occurs as Guerminster. It then possessed 30 burgesses and probably a total population of over 400. It was bound to provide a night s lodging for the king and all his retinue. Its early importance was chiefly owing to its situation at the junction of the roads from Bath, Frome, Salisbury, and Shaftesbury. It remained a royal manor till the reign of Henry II. WARRANT, in law, is an authority empowering a person to act in a way which would not be lawful without such authority. The term occurs very early in consti tutional documents : it is found in the Assize of Clarendon and the Assize of the Forest, both in the reign of Henry II. A warrant must be under the hand and seal of the person issuing it, unless such formalities be dispensed with by statute. Warrants are of several kinds, and may be conveniently divided into four classes, which may be called the executive, the judicial, the financial, and the private. Executive. A warrant under the sign-manual of the king, countersigned by the lord chancellor or a secretary of state, is still in use for some purposes. It is the means of granting PARDON (q.v.) and letters patent (except those for inventions), and of framing certain regulations for the forces. It was by royal warrant (afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament) that purchase of commissions in the army was abolished in 187 1. 1 By 18 Hen. VI. c. 1 letters patent are to bear the date of the king s warrant delivered to the lord chancellor. The issue of warrants under the sign-manual has been recently regulated by the Great Seal Act, 188-4. Such a warrant must bear a ten- shilling stamp. Royal warrants were at one time in con siderably more frequent use than they are at present. For instance, in 1602 the censorship of the stage was committed to the poet Daniel by royal warrant (see THEATRE). A false representation that any goods were made by a person holding a royal warrant is now punishable under the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887. The issue of warrants under the hand of a secretary of state is now, with two exceptions, confined to cases in which there is suspicion of treason or treasonable practices, and the warrant must name the person whom it is intended to arrest. The ex ceptions are the cases of bringing up a prisoner to give evidence under 16 and 17 Viet. c. 30, and warrants issued under the Extradition Act (see EXTRADITION). By 16 Car. I. c. 10, if any person be imprisoned by warrant of the king in person, of the council board, or any of the privy council, he is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus. By the Habeas Corpus Act, 31 Car. II. c. 2, detention on a legal warrant is good ground for refusing discharge to the prisoner on return to a writ of habeas corpus. General warrants of a secretary of state were decided to be illegal in 1763. A named person may still be committed by a secretary of state s warrant, but his papers cannot be seized (see PRESS LAWS). Power to issue warrants to search for arms and to arrest for treason or treasonable practices in Ireland has been given by various Acts, e.g., 44 Viet. cc. 4, 5, and by the Criminal Law and Procedure Act, 1887. The right of a secretary of state or the lord lieutenant in Ireland by warrant to detain or open letters in the post- office still exists, and has been recognized by orders in council and proclamations in the 17th century, and more recently by various Post-Office Acts, such as 9 Anne c. 10, 35 Geo. III. c. 62, 7 Will. IV. and 1 Viet. c. 36. The right was finally established by the reports of committees of both houses appointed in 1844 on a complaint by Mazzini and others that Sir James Graham, then home secretary, had opened their letters. It was exercised as 1 The warrant officer (so called no doubt from the mode of his appointment) is a distinct rank in both the army and navy. For the warrant officer in the navy, see vol. xvii. p. 293. recently as 1881 over the letters of persons suspected of treasonable correspondence in Ireland. Committal for breach of privilege of the House of Commons is by war rant of the speaker. A warrant of a law officer of the crown for sealing letters patent for invention was necessary under the old patent law, but has been superseded by other procedure since the Patents Act, 1883. The lowest form of executive warrant is the warrant of a sheriff to his bailiff in pursuance of a writ. Judicial. Warrants of this kind are used in either civil or criminal procedure. The only kind used in both seems to be that issued by a judge of the High Court, who has the same jurisdiction as a secretary of state under 16 and 17 Viet. c. 30. In civil procedure the warrant in a county court corresponds very nearly to the WRIT (q.v.) in the High Court. Examples of county court warrants are those of attachment, delivery, execution, and possession. The warrant of arrest in Admiralty is a form of procedure con fined to Courts of Admiralty jurisdiction. The most im portant and frequent use of the warrant is for the appre hension of an accused person to be brought before a court of summary jurisdiction, either in the first instance or on failure to obey a summons (see SUMMARY JURISDICTION, SUMMONS). Such warrants are usually issued by a justice of the peace ; when issued by the court they are called bench warrants. Where issued by a justice for execu tion out of his jurisdiction, a warrant must usually be backed by another justice having jurisdiction where it is to be executed. The warrant of a justice may also issue in some non-judicial matters, e.g., for the compul sory supply of carriages under the Army Act, 1881. There are certain warrants which by common law or statute extend much further than ordinary judicial warrants. Those issued under the Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, if duly backed, extend throughout the British empire. Warrants of a court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy run throughout the United Kingdom. A judge of the Queen s Bench Division has, both at common law and by statute, authority to issue a warrant in certain cases. Such a warrant is valid throughout England. Execution of the decisions of a court of summary jurisdiction is secured by warrants, part of the process of the court, such as warrants of distress or commitment. A warrant may also issue for the apprehension of a witness whose attendance cannot be otherwise assured. A search warrant may be granted for the purpose of searching suspected premises for stolen goods. Special powers for issuing such warrants are given by the Army, Merchant Shipping, Customs, Pawnbrokers, Stamp, and other Acts. The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, allows the issue of search Avarrants where it is suspected that a female is unlawfully detained for immoral purposes. As a general rule no one can be arrested with out warrant. To this rule there are certain exceptions either at common law or by statute.. At common law a justice of the peace, a sheriff, a coroner, a constable, and even a private person, may arrest any one without warrant for a treason, felony, or breach of the peace committed, or attempted to be committed, in his presence. A constable (whether a constable at common law or a police constable appointed under the Police Acts) may arrest a person indicted for felony ; a constable or a private person may arrest on reasonable suspicion that he who is arrested has committed a felony. But in the latter case he does so at his peril, for he must prove (what the constable need not) that there has been an actual commission of the crime by some one, as well as a reasonable ground for suspecting the particular person. What is a reasonable ground it is of course impossible to define, but, in the case of a constable, a charge by a person not manifestly unworthy of credit is
generally regarded as sufficient. An accused person who