n. (-nōt`)

A note at the head of a page or chapter; in law reports, an abstract of a case, showing the principles involved and the opinion of the court.

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Are syllabuses, or summaries, found at the beginning of court decisions. They identify major facts and holdings in a case and give references to pages where specific points may be found. The reporter of decisions of the Supreme Court now generally issues headnotes on the same day that cases are released to the public with the aim of increasing the accuracy by which such cases are interpreted and reported. In two cases, however, United States v. Detroit Timber and Lumber Company (1905) and Burbank v. Ernst (1914), the Court has affirmed that headnotes have no independent legal force or standing. Thus, in Detroit Timber, the Court referred to headnotes as “simply the work of the reporter … prepared for the convenience of the profession in the examination of the records” (p. 337). Reference to this case and its comments on headnotes is now stated in a note at the top of the first page of slip opinions released by the Court. Commercial publishers of cases sometimes include their own headnotes to decisions to clarify major points of law. Like headnotes prepared by the reporter of decisions, these have no independent legal authority.

— John R. Vile

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A brief summary of a legal rule or a significant fact in a case that, among other headnotes that apply to the case, precedes the full text opinion printed in the reports or reporters. A syllabus to a reported case that summarizes the points decided in the case and is placed before the text of the opinion.

Each jurisdiction usually determines whether headnotes are part of the law or only an editorial device to facilitate research. There are, however, exceptions to this rule. For example, the headnotes to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), adopted in whole or in part by every state, were written as part of the law. In states that treat headnotes as merely an editorial device, the UCC headnotes are considered as part of the law.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - indledende resume, kommentar

Français (French)
n. - note directrice, première note

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kommentar, Anmerkung am Seitenkopf

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αρχική σημείωση

Italiano (Italian)
nota in testa a capitolo/pagina

Português (Portuguese)
n. - prefácio (m) breve a capítulo, etc.

Русский (Russian)
краткое введение, краткое изложение вопросов по данному делу

Español (Spanish)
n. - breve nota explicatoria

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - anmärkning i brevhuvudet

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
眉注, 眉批, 头注, 批注

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 眉注, 眉批, 頭注, 批註

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 두주, 두서

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 頭注, 頭書

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סיכום, תמצית, הערה בראש מיסמך‬

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