Editing Prerogative writ (section)

==United States==
In the United States federal court system, the issuance of writs is authorized by the [[All Writs Act]] ({{USC|28|1651}}). The language of the statute was left deliberately vague in order to allow the courts flexibility in determining what writs are necessary "in aid of their jurisdiction". Use of writs at the trial court level has been greatly curtailed by the adoption of the [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]] and its [[State court (United States)|state court]] counterparts, which specify that there is "one form of action".

The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] grants ''certiorari'', while most [[state supreme court]]s grant ''review''.

''Mandamus'' has been replaced in the [[United States district court]]s{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} and many state trial courts by [[injunction]].  In the federal system, it is generally available only to the federal courts of appeals,{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} which issue writs of mandamus to lower courts and administrative hearing panels, while some state systems still allow trial courts to issue writs of ''mandamus'' or ''mandate'' directly to government officials.

''Prohibition'' is also generally limited to appellate courts, who use it to prevent lower courts from exceeding their jurisdiction.