§ 1085.When Writ May Be Issued

This is the foundation of ordinary, or "traditional," mandamus in California. Subdivision (a) lets a court order an inferior tribunal, corporation, board, or person to do something the law specifically requires as a duty of an office, trust, or station — or to let someone in on a right or office they've been wrongly kept out of. The classic example is a purely ministerial duty: an act the law spells out clearly enough that the official or agency has no real discretion about whether to do it.

That focus on ministerial duties is what separates this general mandate remedy from § 1094.5's administrative mandamus, which reviews a final agency decision reached after a hearing where the agency exercised discretion over disputed facts. Section 1085 mandate instead compels action the law already dictates, or protects entry into a right or office already earned.

Subdivision (b) adds a narrower, more technical rule: the appellate division of the superior court can issue a writ of mandate aimed at the superior court itself, in limited civil cases and in misdemeanor or infraction cases. For that purpose only, the statute treats the superior court as an "inferior tribunal" so the rest of this chapter's procedures apply to it the same way they would to any other respondent.