Capias ad satisfaciendum

The body is the collateral for the debt.

A capias ad satisfaciendum is a legal document that orders a law enforcement officer to arrest a person who has been found guilty of a crime or owes a debt. The person is imprisoned until they satisfy the judgment against them.

The term comes from Medieval Latin, which translates to "you may seize (the person) to (make him/her) satisfy (the claim)". It is usually abbreviated as "ca. sa." .

A capias ad satisfaciendum is a writ of execution that a party may issue after having recovered judgment against another. It is directed to the sheriff or coroner.

(shortly termed a CA.SA.) A judicial writ of execution which issues out on the record of a judgment, where there is a recovery in the courts at Westminster, of debt, damages, &c. And by this writ the sheriff is commanded to take the body of the defendant in execution, and him safely to keep, so that he have his body in court at the return of the writ, to satisfy the plaintiff his debt and damages. Vide 1 Litt Abr. 249 – Tomlin’s Law Dictionary 1835 Edition

In the American legal system, this writ was replaced by the practice of serving process directly to the person of the defendant.