The party requesting a writ of mandamus to be enforced should be able to show that they have a legal right to compel the respondent to do or refrain from doing the specific act.
Generally, it is not available in anticipation of any injury except when the petitioner is likely to be affected by an official act in contravention of a statutory duty or where an illegal or unconstitutional order is made.
The grant of mandamus is therefore an equitable remedy, and a matter for the discretion of the court, the exercise of which is governed by well-settled principles.
[3] Mandamus being a discretionary remedy, the application for it must be made in good faith and not for indirect purposes.
It became customary for the Court of King's Bench, in cases where a legal duty was established but no sufficient means existed for enforcing it, to order performance by this writ.
There must equally co-exist a corresponding right in the petitioner entitling him to claim the enforcement of such public duty.
In the administrative law context in the United States, the requirement that mandamus can be used only to compel a ministerial act has largely been abandoned.
In most states acts of administrative agencies are now subject to judicial review for abuse of discretion.
[14] Judicial review of agencies of the United States federal government, for abuse of discretion, is authorized by the Administrative Procedure Act.
These states are Idaho,[17] Montana,[18] Nevada,[19] Utah,[20] Washington,[21] and California,[22] as well as the unincorporated U.S. territory of Guam.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has spoken on the possible course of action in such situations, and confirmed that petitioning for a writ of mandamus is the only available route.
In North Carolina, as elsewhere, the writ is an action against the official, meaning that the petition must be styled "In re Public Figure X" or "In re Judge Y".
[26] Elsewhere, including the Courts of New York, have replaced mandamus (as well as the other prerogative writs) with statutory procedures.