In England and Wales, mandamus was originally known as a writ of mandamus. Historically, direct orders from the monarch to subjects commanding the performance of particular acts were common, and to this class of orders mandamus originally belonged. 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. Mandamus more recently became known as an order of mandamus. This procedure was renamed by the "Civil Procedure (Modification of Supreme Court Act 1981) Order 2004" to become a mandatory order.