judgment

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For more information on judgment, visit Britannica.com.

noun

1. A position arrived at by reasoning from premises or general principles: conclusion, deduction, illation, illative, inference. See reason/unreason.
2. The ability to make sensible decisions: common sense, sense, wisdom. Informal gumption, horse sense. See ability/inability.
3. The act or result of judging the worth or value of something or someone: appraisal, appraisement, assessment, estimate, estimation, evaluation, valuation. See value/worthlessness/evaluation.
4. An authoritative or official decision, especially one made by a court: decree, determination, edict, pronouncement, ruling. See law.
5. A judicial decision, especially one setting the punishment to be inflicted on a convicted person: sentence. Slang rap¹. See law.

Definition: common sense
Antonyms: ignorance, inanity, misjudgment, stupidity

n

Definition: decision about blame
Antonyms: indecision

At different times philosophers have expressed their concern with the nature of judgement in different terms: the investigation may be called the theory of content, of belief, of propositions, of representation, of sense, etc. depending on which aspect of the matter is taken to predominate. The central problem is that of understanding the capacity of the mind to form, entertain, and affirm judgements, which are not simply strings of words but items intrinsically representing some state of affairs, or way that the world is or may be. The affirmation of a judgement is thus the making of a true or false claim. This capacity has been approached by thinking of the mind as stocked with ideas, or as capable of apprehending universals, or as stocked with inner representations, or by seeing the capacity as essentially linguistic in nature, or as arising from problem-solving behaviour that we share with animals (see animal thought), but no extensive consensus on the matter exists.

A decision by a court or other tribunal that resolves a controversy and determines the rights and obligations of the parties.

A judgment is the final part of a court case. It states who wins the case and what remedies the winner is awarded. Remedies may include money damages, injunctive relief, or both. A judgment also signifies the end of the court's jurisdiction in the case. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and most state rules of civil procedure allow appeals only from final judgments. Finally, a judgment gives the winner the ability to collect damages from the losing party, to place a judgment lien on the losing party's real property, to garnish (collect from an employer) the losing party's salary, or to attach the losing party's personal property. A judgment lien is a claim against the real estate of a party; the real estate cannot be sold until the judgment holder is paid. Attachment is the physical seizure of property owned by the losing party by a law officer, usually a sheriff, who gives the property to the person holding the judgment.

A valid judgment resolves all the contested issues and terminates the lawsuit, since it is regarded as the court's official pronouncement of the law on the action that was pending before it. It must be rendered for or against an actual litigant; individuals who are not named parties to a lawsuit cannot have their rights and liabilities adjudicated.

A judgment must be in writing and must clearly show that all the issues have been adjudicated. It must specifically indicate the parties for and against whom it is given. Monetary judgments must be definite, specified with certainty, and expressed in words rather than figures. Judgments affecting real property must contain an explicit description of the realty so that the land can easily be identified.

Once a court makes a judgment, it must be dated and docketed with the court administrator's office. Prior to modern computer databases, judgments were entered in a docket book, in alphabetic order, so that interested outsiders could have official notice of them. An index of judgments was prepared by the court administrator for record keeping and notification purposes. Most courts now record their judgments electronically and maintain computer docketing and index information. Though the means of storing the information are different, the basic process remains the same.

A court may amend its judgment to correct inaccuracies or ambiguities that might cause its actual intent to be misconstrued. Omissions, erroneous inclusions, and descriptions are correctable. However, persons who were not parties to the action cannot be brought into the lawsuit by an amended judgment. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow a judgment to be amended by a motion served within ten days after the judgment is entered. State rules of civil procedure also permit amendment of a judgment.

Different types of judgments are made, based on the process the court uses to make the final decision. A judgment on the merits is a decision arrived at after the facts have been presented and the court has reached a final determination of which party is correct. For example, in a negligence lawsuit that is tried to a jury, the final decision will result in a judgment on the merits.

A judgment based solely on a procedural error is a dismissal without prejudice and generally will not be considered a judgment on the merits. A party whose case is dismissed without prejudice can bring the suit again as long as the procedural errors are corrected. A party that receives a judgment on the merits is barred from relitigating the same issue by the doctrine of res judicata. This doctrine establishes the principle that an issue that is judicially decided is decided once and for all.

A summary judgment may occur very early in the process of a lawsuit. Under rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and analogous state rules, any party may make a motion for a summary judgment on a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim when he or she believes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that he or she is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. A motion for summary judgment can be directed toward the entire claim or defense or toward any portion of the claim or defense. A court determines whether to grant summary judgment.

A judgment notwithstanding the verdict is a judgment in favor of one party despite a verdict in favor of the opposing litigant. A court may enter a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, thereby overruling the jury verdict, if the court believes there was insufficient evidence to justify the jury's decision.

A consent judgment, or agreed judgment, is a final decision that is entered on agreement of the litigants; is examined and evaluated by the court; and, if sanctioned by the court, is ordered to be recorded as a binding judgment. Consent judgments are generally rendered in domestic relations cases after the husband and wife agree to a property and support settlement in a divorce.

A default judgment results from the named defendant's failure to appear in court or from one party's failure to take appropriate procedural steps. It is entered upon the failure of the party to appear or to plead at an appropriate time. Before a default judgment is entered, the defendant must be properly served notice of the pending action. The failure to appear or answer is considered an admission of the truth of the opposing party's pleading, which forms the basis for a default judgment.

A deficiency judgment involves a creditor and a debtor. Upon a debtor's failure to pay his or her obligations, a deficiency judgment is rendered in favor of the creditor for the difference between the amount of the indebtedness and the sum derived from a judicial sale of the debtor's property held in order to repay the debt.

Once a judgment is entered, the prevailing party may use it to collect damages. Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution, a judgment by a state court must be fully recognized and respected by every other state. For example, suppose the prevailing party in a California case knows that the defendant has assets in Arizona that could be used to pay the judgment. The prevailing party may docket the California judgment in the Arizona county court where the defendant's property is located. With the judgment now in effect in Arizona, the prevailing party may obtain a writ of execution that will authorize the sheriff in that Arizona county to seize the property to satisfy the judgment.

Once a judgment has been paid by the losing party in a lawsuit, that party is entitled to a formal discharge of the obligation, known as a satisfaction of judgment. This satisfaction is acknowledged or certified on the judgment docket.

A court order to pay a party a certain amount of money.

Investopedia Says:
For example, a court may order a person convicted of insider trading to pay a judgment equal to all profits made from the illegal trades.

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1. a legal finding. n 2. the ability to discriminate between or among two or more states or conditions.

• Decisions, Judgments, and Conditions - judgment: court’s final decision on matter in favor of plaintiff or defendant
• Judgments and Critiques - judgment: pronouncement of one’s opinion; process or capacity for forming opinions
• Fate - judgment: Last Judgment

Dansk (Danish)
n. - dom, skøn, bedømmelse, vurdering, opfattelse, dømmekraft, vurderingsevne, straf, lovbud

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    mod bedre vidende
• error of judgement    fejlskøn, fejlbedømmelse, fejlvurdering
• judgement call    personlig vurdering, subjektiv afgørelse
• judgement of character    menneskekundskab, menneskekender
• pass judgement    afsige dom
• reserve judgement    dommen afsiges på et senere tidspunkt
• sit in judgement    dømme, sidde til doms over, opkaste sig til dommer over

Nederlands (Dutch)
oordeel, beoordeling, inzicht, onderscheidings- vermogen, vonnis, uitspraak, (goddelijke) straf, kritiek tegen beter weten in

Français (French)
n. - (Jur, Relig) jugement, (fig) jugement, opinion, avis, discernement

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    tout en sachant que l'on se trompe
• error of judgement    erreur de jugement
• judgement call    cas de conscience
• judgement of character    (être) bon psychologue, (savoir) bien juger les gens
• pass judgement    prononcer/rendre un jugement (sur)
• reserve judgement    réserver son jugement
• sit in judgement    juger, porter un jugement sur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Urteilsvermögen, Urteil

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    entgegen jmds. besserer Einsicht
• error of judgement    Fehleinschätzung, Fehlurteil
• judgement call    subjektive Entscheidung, persönliche Einschätzung, Interpretation
• judgement of character    Charakter Beurteilung
• pass judgement    Urteil abgeben
• reserve judgement    seine Meinung erst nach Erhalt zusätzl. Informationen mitteilen
• sit in judgement    urteilen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κρίση, γνώμη, δικαστική απόφαση, ορθοφροσύνη, λογική, δίκαιη τιμωρία, θεία δίκη

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    παρά τις επιφυλάξεις μου
• error of judgement    εσφαλμένη κρίση, λάθος εκτιμήσεως
• judgement call    προσωπική εκτίμηση, υποκειμενική απόφαση
• judgement of character    εκτίμηση χαρακτήρα
• pass judgement    εκδίδω/βγάζω απόφαση
• reserve judgement    επιφυλάσσομαι να αποφασίσω
• sit in judgement    κρίνω

Italiano (Italian)
parere, giudizio, sentenza

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    contro ogni buon senso
• error of judgement    errore di valutazione
• judgement call    convocazione giudiziaria
• pass judgement    pronunziare una sentenza
• reserve judgement    riservarsi il giudizio/il parere
• sit in judgement    arrogarsi il diritto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - julgamento (m), sentença (f) (Jur.), opinião (f)

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    (fazer algo) contrariando sua própria opinião
• error of judgement    erro (m) de julgamento
• judgement call    juízo (m) de valor
• pass judgement    dar opinião, criticar
• reserve judgement    recusa (f) em decidir-se antes de apurados todos os fatos
• sit in judgement    criticar o comportamento de alguém (injustamente)

Русский (Russian)
слушание дела в суде, критика, осуждение, мнение, взгляд, здравый смысл

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    вопреки своему убеждению
• error of judgement    неверное суждение, ошибочный расчет
• judgement call    решение, основанное на интуиции
• pass judgement    выносить судебное решение, объявлять приговор, критиковать, судить кого-л.(свысока)
• reserve judgement    откладывать решение, откладывать вынесение решения суда
• sit in judgement    судить, критиковать, осуждать (свысока)

Español (Spanish)
n. - opinión, parecer, juicio, apreciación, juicio, fallo, sentencia, criterio

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    contra de lo que a uno le parece mejor
• error of judgement    error de apreciación
• judgement call    decisión tomada sobre bases empíricas
• judgement of character    juicio de la reputación
• pass judgement    pronunciar una sentencia
• reserve judgement    reservarse la opinión, no opinar
• sit in judgement    ser miembro del tribunal

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - dom(slut), straff, bedömning, kritik

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
审判, 判断, 判决

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    明知不可取地, 明知不适当地
• error of judgement    误判, 判断错误
• judgement call    主观判断
• judgement of character    性格判断
• pass judgement    下判决, 判断..., 批判, 做出宣判
• reserve judgement    保留判断
• sit in judgement    裁断评判他人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 審判, 判斷, 判決

idioms:

• against one's better judgement    明知不可取地, 明知不適當地
• error of judgement    誤判, 判斷錯誤
• judgement call    主觀判斷
• judgement of character    性格判斷
• pass judgement    下判決, 判斷..., 批判, 做出宣判
• reserve judgement    保留判斷
• sit in judgement    裁斷評判他人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 판단, 의견 , 벌, 판결, 판단력

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 裁判, 判決, 最後の審判, 天罰, 判断, 判断力, 意見, 見解

idioms:

• judgement call    判定

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حكم, قرار المحكمه, حصافه بيس سالم مع ذلك‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שפיטה, משפט, שיפוט, החלטה, דין, פסק-דין, כושר שיפוט, דעה‬

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