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The judgment of a court is simply the decision of the court on a particular matter or case, but the spelling of judgment is not so simple. In fact spelling it with two "E"s can set off some readers, including professors and judges.
judgment
default-judgment
enter-judgment
opinion
More information on the words discussed in the video, including sound files, examples of usage, common mistakes and encyclopaedic information, can be found in TransLegal's Legal English Dictionary.
Hi, This is Peter and welcome to TransLegal's Lesson of the Week.
Here we're going to be talking about judgment, particularly the spelling of judgment.
As you probably know the judgment is the decision of a court on a particular matter or issue before the court. Now the preferred spelling of judgment both in the United Kingdom and the United States is the first one here, J U D G M E N T. But if you look up the word judgment in any English language dictionary except for Black's Law Dictionary, there are two alternate spellings of judgment. Both are acceptable. But the second spelling J U D G E M E N T should not be used in Legal English.
And every one of my American colleagues, in fact every American lawyer I know, can give you at least one example of a professor they had in law school who threatened them with a reduced grade if they used judgement with two Es. So avoid it just to be safe.
One of the other reasons why judgment… in fact two other reasons why judgment with one E is preferred, is because the Associated Press Style Guide recommends that usage and the EU's documents use judgment with one E. But even with this explanation you'll still likely to run across people who do use judgement with two Es and in some areas it's more acceptable than others, but to be on the safe side when you're using legal English, use judgment with one E.
Now one other note about judgment and that is the difference and uses between the term judgment in the United Kingdom and the term opinion in the United States.
Now as I discussed at the beginning a judgment is the decision of a court on a particular matter before the court. Now from the House of Lords in the UK you would get a written judgment which would present the facts of the case and the court's rationale for reaching the judgment that they did reach on the particular matter. In the United States, the US Supreme Court would issue a similar document only it would be called an opinion, containing the same information, facts, rationale and ultimately the judgment or the holding in the particular matter before the court.
That's it for today. If you have any questions as always, please leave your questions or comments in the comments section below the video and myself or one of my colleagues will get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks.
Dear Sir.
I still do not understand why the word judgement cannot be used spelled with two Es if both spellings are acceptable.
Thank you for your attention,
Sylvia
Just for information – in the lecture on “judgment” the House of Lords was mentioned – this court no longer existsand for the last year has been called The Supreme Court (as in the US)
Thanks, Lois.
At least as long as the Supreme Court was still called House of Lords they also referred to the judgments of the individual law lords as opinions: see e.g.
OPINIONS OF THE LORDS OF APPEAL FOR JUDGMENT IN THE CAUSE …
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldjudgmt.htm
Now it seems they’ve gone for “judgment” throughout: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/
Great Explanation
It’s detailed, thorough, covers all regional and usage diferences. I found it very useful, especially the reference to the EU legal documents. Great help for us translators!
Thanks for this great explanation on the word “judgment”. As I teach legal English here in Brazil it is important to keep something like this and also tell students about the two differences.
Great explanation, yes, and memorable short lecture. Thank you!
You’re welcome Peter!