Largely withdrawn by 1947, its use in the administrative court remains one of the two ways in which a Royal Charter can be involuntarily revoked, the other being primary legislation in Parliament.
The writ of scire facias was created in 1285 during the 13th year of the reign of Edward I by the English Parliament in the Second Statute of Westminster.
Its principal uses were to compel the appearance of corporations aggregate in revenue suits, and to enforce judgments against shareholders in companies regulated by the Companies Clauses Act 1845, or similar private acts, and against garnishees in proceedings in foreign attachment in the Lord Mayor's Court.
Some American legal scholars, including William Rehnquist, Saikrishna Prakash, and Steven D. Smith, have suggested that impeachment may not be the sole method to remove a federal judge from office, pointing to scire facias as an alternative.
[7] Under the law of many states, Arkansas, Georgia, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas for example, an action in scire facias may be used to revive a dormant judgment if brought in a timely fashion.