Judgment
In Smt. Swaran Lata Ghosh Vs. Harendra Kumar Banerjee and Anr. (AIR 1969 SC 1167), it was inter-alia held as follows (at Para 6):
“Trial of a civil dispute in Court is intended to achieve, according to law and the procedure of the Court, a judicial determination between the contesting parties of the matter in controversy. Opportunity to the parties interested in the dispute to present their respective cases on question of law as well as fact, ascertainment of facts by means of evidence tendered by the parties and adjudication by a reasoned judgment of the dispute upon a finding on the facts in controversy and application of the law to the facts found, are essential attributes of a judicial trial. In a judicial trial, the judge not only must reach a conclusion which he regards as just, but, unless otherwise permitted, by the practice of the Court or by law, he must record the ultimate mental process leading from the dispute to its solution”.
“A judicial determination of a disputed claim where substantial questions of law or fact arise is satisfactorily reached, only if it be supported by the most cogent reasons that suggest themselves to the Judge; a mere order deciding the matter in dispute not supported by reasons is no judgment at all. Recording of reasons in support of a decision of a disputed claim serves more purposes than one. It is intended to ensure that the decision is not the result of whim or fancy, but of a judicial approach to the matter in contest; it is also intended to ensure adjudication of the matter according to law and the procedure established by law. A party to the dispute is ordinarily entitled to know the grounds on which the Court has decided against him, and more so, when the judgment is subject to appeal. The Appellate Court will then have adequate material on which it may determine whether the facts are properly ascertained, the law has been correctly applied and the resultant decision is just. Unfortunately, the learned Trial Judge has recorded no reasons in support of his conclusion, and the High Court in appeal merely recorded that they thought that the plaintiff had sufficiently proved the case in the plant.”
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Mr. Justice (R) Muhammad Bashir Jehangiri
Federal Judicial Academy (Pakistan)
The judgment is not an ornate diction, it is strictly an oracle of findings arrived at by a trained mind. In one way, it wraps justice in words; the Other ways it exposes the worth of the Judge.
In its broadest sense, a judgment is the decision or sentence of the law given by a court of justice or other competent tribunal as a result of proceedings instituted therein, or the final consideration and determination of a court on matters submitted to it in an action or proceeding, whether or not execution follows thereon.
More particularly it is a judicial determination that, on matters submitted to a court for decision, a legal duty or liability does or does not exist, or that, concerning a claim in suit, no cause of action exists or that no defence exists. In a broader sense here defined, a decision of any court is a judgment. In a narrower sense the term “judgment” is limited to a decision of a court of law.
Under most codes of procedure, judgments are defined in substance as the final determination of the rights of the parties in an action or proceedings. In America unlike Pakistan, the terms “judgment” and “decree” are more or less synonymous and inter changeable in code practice. The terms “judgment” and “order” in their widest sense may be said to include any decision given by a court on a question or questions at issue between the parties to a proceeding properly before the court.
A judgment is the judicial act of a Court by which it accomplishes the purposes of its creation. It is a judicial declaration by which the issues are settled and the rights and liabilities of the parties are fixed as to the matters submitted for decision. In other words, a judgment is the end of the law; its rendition is the object for which jurisdiction is conferred and exercised, and it is the power by means of which a liability is enforced against the debtor’s property.
A judgment constitutes the considered opinion of the court and is a solemn record and formal expression and evidence of the actual decision of a lawsuit.
As a general rule, courts are not constituted to make advisory decrees or resolve academic disputes. A proceeding seeking an advisory opinion or judgment will not find favour at the hand of the judiciary. A mere advisory opinion upon an abstract question is not a judgment at all when no parties are to be bound, and the rights of no one are directly affected.
The terms “judgment” and “order” in their widest sense may be said to include any decision given by a court on a question or questions at issue between the parties to a proceeding properly before the court.
Read also:
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- Judicial power vs Judicial decision
- Manual of Judicial Writing: Supreme Court of Philippines (2005)
