The name of a writ constituting the initial process in an action brought by a judgment defendant to obtain relief against the consequences of the Judgment, on account of some matter of defense or discharge, arising since its rendition and which could not be taken advantage of otherwise.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
A writ applicable to the case of a defendant against whom a judgment has been recovered, (and who is therefore in danger of execution or perhaps actually in execution,) grounded on some matter of discharge which happened after the judgment, and not upon any matter which might have been pleaded as a defence to the action. 2. It is a remedial process, which bears solely on the wrongful acts of the opposite party, and not upon the erroneous judgments or acts of the court. It will therefore, where the cause of complaint is a proper subject for a writ of error. 3. An audita querela is in the nature of an equitable suit, in which the equitable rights of the parties will be considered.